Joshua Logan brings the Broadway play to the big screen in Technicolor and Cinemascope. This adaptation of the stage play has stars; William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell, Arthur O'Connell, Cliff Robertson, and a very young Susan Strassberg in the major roles. It is a sampling of Midwest small town Americana, where neighbors knew each other and sat on the back porch at night. However, this drama is much more than that. This disc of the film is another casualty of film colors fading unfortunately.

A young drifter (Holden)comes to a small town in search of work from his old college buddy(Robertson). While trying to earn a little money for a meal he meets the sisters next door (Strassberg and Novak) who are preparing for the Labor Day Picnic that evening. It happens that the older girl ( the pretty one) is his college buddy's girl. Holden is believable as the hapless drifter who is a hunk but not too bright. Novak plays the girl who everyone loves to look at but yearns for someone who who will appreciate what's inside. Strassberg is the brainy sister, who wants to be pretty. Russell plays the spinster school teacher who Arthur O'Connell has been trying to court for years. They all meet up at the Picnic where things get a little out of hand. Novak is crowned queen of the picnic, while Strassberg yearns to be more grown up. Russell gets drunk and totally loses it in his drunken stupor, telling everyone else their weaknesses. Novak, tired of Robertson's constant compliments of her beauty seeks out Holden in a dance number that is immortal on film. This film and story are about people and all there hang-ups. It is as moving today as it was in 1955 when it was released. Stellar performances from the entire cast make this a true work of art.

Picture-While the film is relatively clean, it suffers from the same plight of a lot of Technicolor films from the 50's, that of loss of color. While this loss is not as apparent in Picnic, in some scenes the flesh tones are nearly entirely washed out. The sky scenes and darker scenes also suffer from graininess. While only a few film blemishes such as vertical lines and scratches are present, the washed out color and graininess remind us throughout the film how old it is. The characters are in focus and sharp. Sound-The disc has a Pro-Logic surround two channel quasi-stereo sound that is probably a duplication of the original soundtrack. It is full and rich and separation between front channels and sounds shift imaging is rather remarkable for this films age. Crude but effective.

The film has few extras besides the numerous subtitle choices and alternative soundtracks, which are more than what we usually get from an older film. It does include a photo montage, vintage advertisements, talent files, and trailers though . The film really deserves a commentary soundtrack from someone. It is a powerful film.

A fantastic cast of stars, superb writing, a quaint set, and powerful acting make this a true classic movie lover's disc. While the colors have faded, the sound is well preserved and the dialog is very important in this film. Presented in widescreen, the film is rich in scope and includes some of the best performances by Kim Novak and William Holden I have ever seen. Pick this one up. It's as good as it is ever going to be without total restoration.