Picnic (1955)

For all my interest in old movies, I haven't reviewed many Academy Best Picture nominees from before 2014 on this blog. That's because I've already seen most of the promising ones and don't normally review what I saw years ago. But I got in the mood for another one.

Hal (William Holden) hitchhikes to small-town Kansas to ask old friend Alan (Cliff Robertson) to pull nepotistic strings and get him a job. It works, but their friendship gets put to the test, particularly at and after the titular picnic, when Alan's girlfriend, Madge (Kim Novak), gets too close to Hal for others' comfort. People are concerned about Hal's alleged past behavior....

I had gone in thinking of a "picnic" as a one- or two-family outdoor meal. This picnic, in honor of Labor Day, looks more like a county fair. Pretty much the entire town shows up and engages in numerous activities, some of them amusing to watch. Probably the most memorable scene is a dance that drives the conflict. (Holden was actually tipsy at the time to relax.)

The above synopsis leaves out some key subplots. One concerns Madge's younger teen sister, Millie (Susan Strasberg), who serves as Hal's picnic "date" despite him being about 20 years older than her (and about 15 older than Madge, which makes things a little awkward). I rather like Millie, a brash, brainy semi-tomboy seemingly more concerned with reading Carson McCullers than attracting boys, but she resents Madge for being the pretty one. Ironically, Madge isn't all that happy with her prettiness and envies Millie's strong suits and the attention their mom (Betty Field) gives her, however justifiably. Both sisters need to decide where they're going in life.

The other big factor is Rosemary (Rosalind Russell), a middle-aged teacher worried that she doesn't have much time left for romance. She brings a bibulous date, Howard (Arthur O'Connell), who injudiciously brings out the worst in her at the picnic, magnifying the main conflict. Her interactions with Howard are sometimes dramatic and sometimes played for laughs, with mixed results. Only O'Connell got an Oscar nod among the cast, but I can see why some viewers wish Russell had been nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. (She turned down Columbia Pictures' promotion because she didn't respect "supporting," rather foolishly in my book.)

What surprises me most about the film is how risque it was for 1955, on multiple counts. Millie even says "slut," which I didn't think was permitted. Nowadays, it'd get a PG rating.

What does not surprise me is that it proves something of a melodrama. Not only were the '50s big on such, but the same playwright, William Inge, gave us Splendor in the Grass.

One of the won Oscars was for Best Film Editing. The Best Sound Editing award didn't exist until later, so I wonder whether the Academy factored sound into their decision. If so, they chose wrongly: Picnic has two of the most blatantly mistimed sounds I've noticed. The other Oscar, for set decoration, may well be deserved. (They did shoot in actual Kansas areas.)

In the end, it's not bad, but I don't count myself among the big fans. For all that it seems to do just what it's supposed to do, I rarely felt all that moved. Maybe it would've helped if I thought any of the romances had a likely future -- or if the film were more forthright that they didn't. At best, it's a credible story with a hit-and-miss presentation.