New Limited Edition Blu-ray: PICNIC (1955) starring William Holden, Kim Novak and Cliff Robertson
From the moment he hit town she knew it was just a matter of time. Electrically attracted to each other; overwhelmingly engulfed by it... Guiltily in love!
An award-winning film adaptation of the William Inge play. Hal Carter is an arrogant drifter who sets off dramatic fireworks when he visits a quiet Kansas town to see an old friend. Before long he has managed to steal Madge Owens, the most attractive girl in town, away from his pal. Much of the drama takes place in the midst of the town's annual Labor Day picnic. Among the many other memorable characters in the film are a spinster school teacher who desperately longs for the security of marriage, and Madge's jealous younger sister, Millie.
Director Joshua Logan's superb adaptation of William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play focuses on a golden-boy-turned-drifter (William Holden) whose unexpected arrival in a small Kansas town ignites explosive passions in a discontented beauty queen (Kim Novak), a waspish schoolteacher (Rosalind Russell), an insecure bookworm (Susan Strasberg), and an ambitious mother (Betty Field).
"One of the sexiest pictures I've ever seen."
— Jack Moffitt, Hollywood Reporter
"A kind of pure movie glamour. There are CinemaScope compositions on the river-bank… as great as Renoir." — David Thomson
"A down-to-earth, throbbing drama of average small-town Americans…a sure-fire prize-winner." — Boxoffice Magazine
"PICNIC exudes the irresistible pull of nostalgia... PICNIC is a classic." — Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"Holden and Novak dancing to 'Moonglow' is still among the moments that define '50s pop cinema." — Mike Clark, USA Today
Emotions are ignited amongst the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labour Day picnic.
PICNIC tells the story of an ex-college football star turned drifter who arrives in a small Kansas town on Labor Day and is drawn to a girl who is already spoken for. The screenplay was adapted by Daniel Taradash from William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of 1953.
Directed by Joshua Logan, the film's leading roles were taken by William Holden and Kim Novak, with Susan Strasberg, Cliff Robertson, Arthur O'Connell, Nick Adams, Betty Field, Rosalind Russell, Verna Felton and Raymond Bailey in support. The film is sometimes cited as a richly detailed snapshot of life in the American Midwest during the 1950s. It won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more.
Produced by Twilight Time
Available Exclusively from:
Screen Archives Entertainment
Limited Edition of 3,000 Units
- also from SAE's store on Amazon.com
SRP - $34.95
Special Features:
- Isolated Score Track
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Twilight Time onscreen catalogue
- Extensive 8-page Julie Kirgo liner notes and film art packaged with the Blu-ray disc
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition
FILM RATIO: 2.55:1 Cinemascope
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1955 / Color (Technicolor presentation)
115 Minutes
PICNIC is one of 10 classic films recently released in high-def; sold exclusively thru Screen Archives Entertainment. View Twilight Time's other Limited Edition Blu-ray Releases — Buy Now before they go out of print!
Limited Edition Blu-ray Releases:
- click link above for more info
SWAMP WATER - 1941 (Feb)
PAL JOEY - 1957 (Feb)
THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN - 1958
RAPTURE - 1965
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND - 1961
THE EGYPTION - 1954
THE ROBE - 1953
PICNIC - 1955
THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL - 1976
AN EVENING WITH DAVE GRUSIN - 2009
Limited Edition of 3,000 Units each!
(more images further below)
FILM SYNOPSIS:
From the moment he hit town she knew it was just a matter of time. Electrically attracted to each other; overwhelmingly engulfed by it... Guiltily in love!
A study of the impact of a handsome, virile and egotistical drifter on the lives of five women in a small Kansas town over Labor Day Weekend.
It's Labor Day weekend, and fresh off a freight train is Hal Carter (William Holden), a happy-go-lucky drifter who's looking for a brand new start in life. A robust, handsome show-off, Hal has come to Kansas to seek gainful employment in his old fraternity brother Alan's family granary. But despite his high hopes and expectations, Hal's ambitious plans soon go away when his sexual magnetism attracts every woman in town, including 19-year-old Madge Owens (Kim Novak) -- the alluring young beauty queen who also happens to be Alan's girlfriend.
Also starring Rosalind Russell, Arthur O'Connell, Susan Strasberg, Nick Adams and Cliff Robertson, Picnic was nominated for six 1955 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Joshua Logan), Best Supporting Actor (O'Connell), Best Music, Best Color Art Direction and Best Editing. "A down-to-earth, throbbing drama of average, small-town Americans" (Boxoffice), Picnic is an "excellent film. ***-1/2" (Leonard Maltin)
