Picnic and Written on the Wind

Kim Novak and William Holden.

Picnic (1955). Joshua Logan, who directed the stage version William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, also directed this screen adaptation. Set in a small Kansas town, the story revolves around Hal Carter (William Holden), a charming drifter who arrives in town seeking employment and a fresh start. He reconnects with his old fraternity friend, Alan Benson (Clift Robertson), the son of a wealthy businessman. At the town's annual Labor Day picnic, he attracts the attention of Madge Owens (Kim Novak), the local beauty queen and Alan's girlfriend. As Hal and Madge's attraction grows, it causes tension and reveals the hidden desires and frustrations of several townsfolk. At age 37, Holden was perhaps a little old for the role of Hal, but he projects weariness and vulnerability masked by Hal's bravado. Holden and Novak sizzle in their scenes together, particularly a dance at the picnic. As they draw closer to one another, their fingers interlocking momentarily, the music (the 1933 standard "Moonglow") merges into composer George Duning's exquisite Picnic love theme. It's a magical movie moment that lingers long after Picnic ends. Rosalind Russell and a teenaged Susan Strasberg get the best scenes among the supporting cast. Russell is almost too overpowering as a spinster teacher desperate for marriage. However, her outburst toward Hal at the picnic--in which she unleashes her sexual frustrations--shows Russell at her best. In contrast, Strasberg delivers a beautifully understated performance as Madge's bookish younger sister, who surprisingly understands her sibling better than anyone else. Picnic was adapted as a TV movie in 2000 with Josh Brolin and Gretchen Mol as Hal and Madge. It's pleasant enough, but lacks the urgency and sexual tension of the 1955 version.

Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone.

Written on the Wind (1956). Alcoholic, millionaire playboy Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack) seems to have found meaning in life after falling in love with and marrying secretary Lucy (Lauren Bacall). However, jealousies are simmering beneath the surface. You see, Kyle's best friend Mitch (Rock Hudson) is already smitten with Lucy and Kyle's sister Marylee (Dorothy Malone), who loves Mitch, resents her brother's bride mightily. Based on a novel by Robert Wilder (Flamingo Road), Written on the Wind is a melodramatic big-screen soap that exemplifies director Douglas Sirk's signature stylistic flourishes. It is filled with bright colors, exaggerated sets that don't hide their artificiality, and over-the-top performances courtesy of Stack and Malone (who won a Supporting Actress Oscar). In contrast to their co-stars, Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall take a low-key approach. That works well for Hudson, but not Lauren Bacall, whose character fades into the background after a promising introduction. Sirk's fans contend that he wanted to subvert American postwar materialism through his films. I prefer to view his work as character-driven stories told on a broad, bright canvas. Written on the Wind lacks the polish of Sirk's best dramas (All That Heaven Allows, Imitation of Life), but I do love the opening (and closing) scene where dead leaves blow into Stack's house through an open door. Incidentally, Wilder's novel was loosely based on the R.J. Reynolds family and dealt with the tobacco industry in North Carolina. For the film adaptation, the setting was changed to Texas and the family business to oil.