Discussion of "Picnic"

Picnic (1955) is an American drama film directed by Joshua Logan and starring William Holden, Kim Novak, and Rosalind Russell. The film is based on the Broadway play of the same name by William Inge. The movie features Susan Strasberg, Cliff Robertson, Betty Field, Arthur O’Connell, and Reta Shaw.

Hal Carter (Holden) arrives by freight train to a small Kansas town on Labor Day morning to visit a fraternity friend, Alan Benson (Robertson). While staying with Helen Potts (Verna Felton), he meets Alan’s girlfriend Madge Owens (Novak), Madge’s younger sister Millie, and their mother Flo (Field). Alan promises Hal a job at his family’s grain elevator operations.

Things don't go well at the Labor Day picnic for Hal. An intoxicated Rosemary Sydney (Russell) forces herself on Hal and creates a scene that makes him look bad in front of Alan and the picnic crowd. Hal flees the party and is followed by Madge. Will Madge trade rich boy Alan for an uncertain life with Hal?

To learn more about the film and to preview the discussion questions, click here.
To watch the film on YouTube, click here.