The 1955 American film ‘Picnic’ was a romantic comedy-drama film adapted for the screen from William Inge’s (1913-1973) 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. A number of Hollywood stars appeared in the film including William Holden (1918-1981), Kim Novak (born 1933), and Rosalind Russell (1907-1976) with Susan Strasberg (1938-1999) and Cliff Robertson (1923-2011) in supporting roles.

It was nominated for a total of six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. The other two nominations that resulted in wins were Best Art Directing - Color and Best Film Editing.

Set in the 20th century, the film’s plot dramatizes a 24 hour time period in the life of a small Kansas town around a national fall season holiday- Labor Day. As the film progresses, an outsider, a former college football star (William Holden), adrift and unemployed after his U.S. Army service and failed acting career in Hollywood, arrives by train to visit his fraternity friend (Cliff Robertson). Everyone who interacts with the drifter finds their life disrupted.

For Kim Novak, ‘Picnic’ was one of her early film roles that propelled her to stardom.

Filmed in the state of Kansas, the scenes highlighted the naturalistic, small-town drama of the movie that was 115 minutes.

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