Picnic

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Picnic

PG,

1955,

1h 55m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

45%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

2,500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

45%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

54%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

Charming Hal Carter (William Holden) turned to wandering after a failed acting career left him loose in the wind. Interested in reuniting with an old college friend, Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson), Carter bums a train ride to a tranquil Kansas town. Alan greets him warmly, and together they join the community in a picnic celebration of Labor Day. However, his welcome quickly sours when sparks ignite between him and Alan's girlfriend, Madge Owens (Kim Novak).

Derek Prouse

Sight & Sound

Mar 30, 2020

If any integrity of intention was there at the beginning, it has somehow hopelessly miscarried.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

2/4

Clunky and awkward, with inane dialogue, it's a movie to show how attitudes have changed.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Jan 7, 2023

[William] Holden is years too old for the role but oozes sex appeal and makes a swoony stud when he takes his shirt off (or when, better yet, it’s ripped from his back...

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Sep 22, 2022

7/10

Though the film sticks with few sets and characters, resembling its stage origins, it’s still effective as a theatrical relationship drama.

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Jul 14, 2021

B

For its day, Picnic caught the mood of an uptight America in what goes for an edgy 1950s drama.

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Andrew Sarris

Film Culture

Feb 3, 2021

All in all, Picnic is an interesting failure. It is always visually attractive even when it is artistically unfaithful to its theme.

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Feb 2, 2019

The best romance movie ever made! With the best movie score ever composed!

Kylo L

Feb 25, 2018

Corny and dated. Good for a few glipses of how folks lived in the mid fifties. Supposedly intended to expose the stultifying lack of choices women had then. Ironically both the Kim Novak (a busty young beauty queen) and William Holden, who instantly fall fo reach other, are sort of superficially attractive but not otherwise compelling or very appealing characters. Holden himself is Mr Beefcake, a male sex symbol in torn shirt or shirtless. And the Roz Russell character, a teacher who is a bitter and rather venomous old maid, may make you cringe! One of those old movies that just does not age well. I did like Mrs Potts, the kindly elderly neighbor with a sunny disposition, and the sultry intellectual 17 year old little sister who was college bound.

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Joshua Logan

Director

William Holden

Hal Carter

Kim Novak

Madge Owens

Rosalind Russell

Rosemary

Betty Field

Flo Owens

Susan Strasberg

Millie Owens

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Synopsis

Charming Hal Carter (William Holden) turned to wandering after a failed acting career left him loose in the wind. Interested in reuniting with an old college friend, Alan Benson (Cliff Robertson), Carter bums a train ride to a tranquil Kansas town. Alan greets him warmly, and together they join the community in a picnic celebration of Labor Day. However, his welcome quickly sours when sparks ignite between him and Alan's girlfriend, Madge Owens (Kim Novak).

Director: Joshua Logan
Producer: Fred Kohlmar
Screenwriter: William Inge, Daniel Taradash
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 1955, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $24.0K
Runtime: 1h 55m

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