Regardless, Holden was "happy to finish his Columbia Pictures contract with such a prestigious project" despite the film paying him $30,000 instead of the $250,000 he would have otherwise earned. When Picnic was cast, William Holden was already 37-too old according to some to play the role of Hal Carter. Paul Newman was under contract to Warner Bros and was unable to reprise his role as Alan so Logan cast Cliff Robertson who had been in a touring company of Mister Roberts. Eileen Heckert played the school teacher on Broadway but Harry Cohn wanted a bigger name so Rosalind Russell was cast. Kim Stanley played the youngster sister on stage but Logan thought she was too old on film and cast Susan Strasberg. William Holden was already cast when Logan came on board. Novak screen tested twice and was given the part. Writer Daniel Taradash pushed for Carroll Baker and who tested but Logan felt she was too young. Janice Rule, who played the part on Broadway, did a screen test but Logan said it went poorly. He says Cohn suggested Logan cast Kim Novak but did not insist on it the director felt Novak was very close to the character she played. Logan was grateful as he had just had a manic breakdown. Harry Cohn offered the job of directing to Joshua Logan, who had directed the stage version. Production Drive-in advertisement from 1956.Ĭolumbia acquired the rights to the play for $350,000 in September 1953. Madge packs a small suitcase and, despite her mother's tears, boards a bus for Tulsa. Hal runs to catch a passing freight train, crying out to Madge, "You love me! You love me!" Upstairs in their room, Millie tells Madge to "do something bright" for once in her life and go to Hal. Owens finds them by the shed and threatens to call the police. He tells her that he loves her and asks her to meet him in Tulsa, where they can marry and he can get a job at a hotel as a bellhop and elevator operator. While Howard and Rosemary happily drive off to the Ozarks, Hal and Madge meet by a shed behind the house. Hal is able to slip away before the other women gleefully decorate Howard's car. As Howard passes Madge on the stairs, he tells her Hal is hiding in the back seat of his car. He wordlessly goes along with the misunderstanding. The next morning, Howard comes to the Owens house, intending to tell Rosemary he wants to wait, but at the sight of him she is overjoyed, thinking he has come to take her away. Back at the Owens house, Madge and Millie cry themselves to sleep in their shared room. Howard is very understanding and now has his own worries: Rosemary has begged him to marry her. He shows up at Howard's apartment, asking to spend the night there. Hal flees the house in the car with the police following close behind. Hal drives back to Alan's house to return the car, but he has called the police and wants him arrested. Outside Madge's house, they promise to meet after she finishes work the next evening. By the river, he tells her he was sent to reform school as a boy for stealing a motorcycle and that his whole life is a failure. Madge follows Hal to Alan's car and gets in with him. By now a crowd is watching, and Hal flees into the darkness. Alan unjustly blames him and says he is embarrassed that he invited him. After Hal dances with Madge, an intoxicated Rosemary accosts him, tearing his shirt and causing a scene. He promises Hal a steady job as a "wheat scooper" and invites him to attend the town's Labor Day picnic.Īt the picnic, Hal divides his attention among Madge, Millie, and middle-aged schoolteacher Rosemary, who is accompanied by her gentleman friend Howard Bevens. Alan is happy to see the "same old Hal" and shows him his family's sprawling grain-elevator operations. While he stays with kind Helen Potts, he also meets Alan's girlfriend Madge Owens, her sister Millie, and their mother. On the morning of Labor Day 1955, a freight train brings vagrant Hal Carter to a Kansas town to visit his fraternity friend Alan Benson. It is the story of an outsider whose appearance disrupts and rearranges the lives of those whom he encounters. The film dramatizes 24 hours in the life of a small Kansas town in the mid-20th century during the Labor Day holiday. Picnic was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won two. Joshua Logan, director of the original Broadway stage production, directed the film version, which stars William Holden, Kim Novak, and Rosalind Russell, with Susan Strasberg and Cliff Robertson in supporting roles. It was adapted for the screen by Daniel Taradash from William Inge's 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. Picnic is a 1955 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film filmed in CinemaScope.
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