|
Post by kijii on Sept 2, 2017 1:55:46 GMT
Spider, As I remember (I was in high school when the movie was released), this movie sort of made Kim Novak. That dance at the picnic was really considered sensual at the time. That slow rhythmic dance to "Moonglow" with Novak and Holden, slowly their snapping fingers and their clapping hands was magic enough to be talked about then... www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DBoMIi8bYc
|
|
spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,525
Likes: 9,325
|
Post by spiderwort on Sept 2, 2017 2:05:33 GMT
You're so lucky, kijii. I didn't get to see it until the sixties on tv. I'd love to see it on the big screen one of these days. And that dance is very sensual and beautiful, even today, I think, and the score is just wonderful. I also think you're right about Kim Novak: it really put her on the map. So glad you share my love of this film.
|
|
|
Post by kijii on Sept 2, 2017 2:35:28 GMT
=======SPOILER ALTER=========Here is a video of the final scene from Picnic (which I have been referring to in this thread). The theme song and final scene have often given me goosebumps www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq2DCQ8BnaQ
|
|
|
Post by outrider127 on Sept 2, 2017 4:00:33 GMT
Given that it's Labor Day weekend, I wanted to acknowledge this film set in a small midwestern town during a Labor Day celebration. Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play by William Inge, shot by the great James Wong Howe, directed by Joshua Logan, and starring William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell, Cliff Robertson, and Susan Strasberg, it is one of my personal favorites. Because it was shot on location in Kansas, where Inge was from, it has a wonderfully authentic 1950s small midwestern town feel to it. As long as I live I'll never forget the beautiful scene in which Holden and Novak dance beneath colored lights to the tune of George Duning's great original score married to the popular song "Moonglow." Dance scene in PICNICAnyone else a fan of this classic film? The Dance Scene with that classic music behind it, is one of the greatest scenes in movie history
|
|
|
Post by telegonus on Sept 2, 2017 7:29:08 GMT
Picnic is classic. Everything came together perfectly, with William Holden at the top of his game,--and the rest of the cast as well. When I first saw the movie I thought that Holden looked ten years too old for the part and was way too world weary as a type, but his performance has grown on me,--it helps that he's one of my favorite actors of the classic studio era--but it's not just my liking for him. That he looks and indeed is several years older than Cliff Robertson (also perfect) is not so odd if you think about it: he may well have gone to college with Cliff but may also have been a world war veteran, gone on the GI Bill, got distracted by all the girls and the partying. Or else he might have gone to college on an athletic scholarship, suffered an injury. Who knows? I don't think it matters that much. The actor was right for the part for reasons that are clearer now if one knows anything about Holden. A golden boy he might have been, in his youth, and through his thirties, but as he grew older he became more or a footloose wanderer, global division, and a man with many demons. In some ways his Hal Carter reminds me a bit of David Janssen's Richard Kimble, but without the air of respectability. The rest of the cast is fine, including, for my money, Kim Novak, who didn't really have to act so much as look right for her part; and so she did. Susan Strasberg's fun as her brainier and in some ways luckier little sister. Betty Field, sadly, like Holden, aged badly. So lovely in her youth her looks just went, and I can't pinpoint why. Maybe the sharp profile, fine for a younger woman, hatchet-looking on an older one . But seriously, she was a terrific actress who left Hollywood for the Broadway stage, returning only occasionally to films as a character actress. Cliff Robertson's role should have been star making, and it did boost his standing in Tinseltown but neither Picnic nor a couple of other good shots at major stardom put him into the big leagues. I guess was A list, just not a superstar. It's fun seeing Nick Adams scooting around in the film, sort of a reminder that James Dean had arrived, even as he was, I believe, gone by the time Picnic made it to the theaters. In any case, there he is. Rosalind Russell made the best of her spinster schoolteacher, and it's my favorite of her performances, dramatic or comedic. I've never been able to warm up to her but in this film she damn near steals the show, and rightfully, a sad reminder that middle age lies down the road for even the young and the beautiful. A few words of praise for director Josh Logan. An old Broadway workhorse by the time he directed the film, he was the right man for the job, emphasizing, rightly, the pictorial, and making it feel at times like a musical. Carousel maybe.
|
|
spiderwort
Junior Member
@spiderwort
Posts: 2,525
Likes: 9,325
|
Post by spiderwort on Sept 2, 2017 13:34:28 GMT
telegonus , I'm so glad to see another Picnic fan. And thanks for your wonderful comments. You've covered every point beautifully, especially about the character of Hal. I've decided to take another look at this treasure of a film this Labor Day weekend. I only have a disc recorded off of TCM, because I've never been able to find a commercial letterbox disc, but it doesn't matter anyway. One look at the opening shot of the freight train coming into town and Holden jumping off, and I'm hooked. Thanks again for the great post.
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Sept 2, 2017 14:03:14 GMT
I saw it once many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it even if I don't recall the details. Wish it would turn up on tv again.
|
|