Picnic | 
 enlarge | Director: Joshua Logan
Actors: William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field, Susan Strasberg, Cliff Robertson
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $7.95 (40%)
New (41) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $11.36
Rating:  117 reviews
Sales Rank: 6662
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Chinese (Subtitled), Thai (Subtitled), Portuguese (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 115
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: COLD82879D
ISBN: 0767827791
UPC: 043396828797
EAN: 9780767827799
ASIN: 0767827791
Theatrical Release Date: January 1, 1955
Release Date: April 18, 2000
Availability: Pre-Order (0-0 Business Days)
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Product Description
A drifters plan to finally settle down quickly goes awry when his animal magnetism attracts every woman in town. Special features: subtitles in english spanish portuguese chinese korean and thai languages: english spanish and portuguese production notes talent files theatrical trailers and more. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/27/2008 Starring: William Holden Kim Novak Run time: 113 minutes Rating: Pg
Amazon.com
William Holden is the hunky drifter who rides the rails into a small Midwest town with dreams of landing a "respectable" job with his rich college buddy (Cliff Robertson). Kim Novak is the small-town beauty queen engaged to Robertson who falls for the cocky dreamer, as do repressed schoolmarm spinster Rosalind Russell and Novak's tomboyish kid sister Susan Strasberg. Their unleashed passions reach a crescendo at the Labor Day picnic. Joshua Logan directed William Inge's play on Broadway and carried it to Hollywood, earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in his screen-directing debut. 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 by a boozing Russell), and Novak is a lovely lost girl yearning for something she can't quite grasp. Arthur O'Connell earned an Oscar nomination as Russell's tippling boyfriend. The film was a huge popular and critical hit, but Logan's stiff and strident direction hasn't dated well. He makes his points in big capital letters--subtlety was never his strong point--and loses the natural beauty of the Kansas locations when he takes the climactic picnic scenes into an obviously artificial soundstage. Picnic remains a loved American classic, largely for Holden's tough-guy vulnerability and James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen color photography. --Sean Axmaker
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| Customer Reviews: Read 112 more reviews...
 Erotic without the Sleeze December 31, 2008
The dance scene played to moonglow must be the ultimate depiction of sexual attraction between a man and woman Hollywood every did.
The depiction of small town America in summer is priceless.
A classic in many ways......enjoy it.
 Not Widescreen! December 24, 2008
Picnic is a fabulous movie, but do not buy this DVD version as it is in standard screen format - not the original widescreen (like the VHS tape version). The standard screen does not do justice to this movie at all. I don't understand why the VHS (which I have) is widescreen and the much newer DVD (which I bought from Amazon) is standard screen. I should have read the description more carefully.
 Widescreen now available November 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Both Borders and Barnes and Noble now carry a widescreen version of Picnic:
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Picnic/William-Holden/e/043396828797/?itm=4
Widescreen on one side, fullscreen on the other. It says "Columbia Classics" across the top of the package.
I wish Amazon would carry this version, as I don't want to open a new account at one of those other places just for one item.
 picnic November 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I ordered this film on DVD last week, and was very excited that I had finally purchased it on DVD. Sat down to watch it, and was horrified that it was butchered (i.e. the full screen, pan-and-scan thing). I went online today to see if I had accidentally chosen the wrong format, and found to my shock that this version is the only one out there.
I have to give it at least 3 stars, because the movie is so damned good. But this is a lousy transfer. I find it hard to believe that at this late date in the DVD game, a new, improved, widescreen, digitally enhanced version has not been made. How could such a classic film be ignored like this? I strongly urge the powers that be to do this classic film justice - with maybe a "making-of" special, while some of the folks involved in its production are still alive, to add insight.
Please, PLEASE come out with a better version, and soon!
Too Stagey October 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Picnic is the story of a drifter (William Holden), an ex-football hero who has never had trouble with women. He feels doomed to repeat his father's life, a life of alcoholism and jail. When he stumbles upon an old college friend, things seem to be looking up, that is until he meets his friend's girlfriend (Kim Novak). The sexual tension is outrageous between them and they don't do a good job at covering it up. Naturally, this spells problems for the drifter and the girl who desires to be something more than just a pretty face.
Unfortunately, this movie just doesn't hit the spot. The acting is melodramatic across the board, a fault of the director, I suspect. The women suddenly throw themselves onto beds for a good long cry or they exaggeratedly turn away from the men they love. It is all too hokey and unrealistic to do the film any justice. Fortunately, the personalities of the actors make this movie worth seeing anyway. Aside from Holden and Novak, Susan Strasberg and Rosalind Russell make memorable appearances in supporting roles. Strasberg is youthful and charming and Russell is overbearing and desperate (appropriately to the character).
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