CLASSIC MOVIE REVIEW: Passions flair in a mid-western community on Labor Day, when a drifter who rides the rails sets his sights on the prettiest girl in town, in director Josh Logan's adaptation of William Inge's Pulitzer Prize winning play; PICNIC (1955). The lives of all the women he encounters are deeply changed by this strange, restless and charismatic young man. William Holden and Kim Novak lead a stellar cast including Broadway veterans Susan Strasberg, Betty Field and Oscar nominee Arthur O'Connell. Also making an indelible impression is Rosalind Russell, heartbreaking as a lonely schoolteacher unable to let go of the summer, or her one last chance at love. Shot on location in Cinemascope and Technicolor, beautifully acted and directed, with a haunting score by George Duning, PICNIC remains one of the most memorable, romantic films of the 1950's.
