I've seen this movie many times and I always wonder what triggered Rosalind russel's desperation for Howard to marry her????? At first it seemed like she couldn't stand him but I suspect she was just saying that so nobody would really know how lonely she was?
any thoughts
She had dreams of finding someone a little better than Howard.
In the end she realized the clock was ticking away, so she decided to settle for Howard....who was really an all right guy anyway.
I think that up until the night of the picnic, she had always believed that she would one day be swept away by "Mr. Right". The night of the picnic, she came to the realizations that 1) her dream of falling in mad, passionate love with someone was never going to come true, and that 2) Howard is, in fact, probably her only hope of getting married. At that point she was so afraid of never getting married, and growing old alone, that it really didn't matter so much whether she was in love or not - she must throw away that dream and take hold of what well may be her very last opportunity to get married and grow old with someone.
Just because I'm distractable doesn't mean I
RRozxa, I've seen this film dozens of times over the years, and your explanation captures best of the R. Russell character and her needs.
Frank S.
I seem to remember that the character warned Howard that time was running out for him, too. The truth is, Hal would not put up with the schoolteacher. A lot of the time, you have to find someone that will put up with the real you and vice versa. That is probably real love!
I put Russell's performance up there with Agnes Morehead's in The Magnificent Ambersons. People don't like women to express themselves to begin with. Au contraire, these two single and middle aged female characters had something to SAY!
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
I think that you got the key words right: desperation and loneliness.
There was also something very lively about that character that seemed to come alive even more on that one special day. The new guy in town had an effect on several people living there, didn't he?
I also think from her comments during the movie that she was not entirely 100% happy being a school teacher at that particular school. Ha! The movie didn't spend a lot of time explaining that. But as an ex-teacher, I picked up on that. The new school year coming seemed to be a bad thing to her.
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Note-Card -
Thank you very much for taking this big movie and explaining it so well
I have tried and tried over the years to like the film "Picnic". I like the way it looks, I enjoy the characters and all but something is amiss for me. I look forward to it when TCM plays it (which is not often) and I always set it to DVR. And then a funny thing happens.. I stop right in the middle of the film and think "what am I watching this crap for?" and it gets deleted! William Holden (whom I love) ruins it for me every time! He's just too damned good of an actor to be playing this softball stuff.Too damn old to be acting like a teenage boy grabbin at trees and being embarrassed around girls and proving how strong he is by overloading himself with junk like barrels of ice or watever and trying too hard bla bla bla. It's an embarrassment! He's disgusting to me. He should have taken his gut feeling and his Own advice and NOT done this picture.
And that old woman makes me sick too. Her romantic bullsh!t and secret lusts... I hate this flippin film! I'm sitting here typing and realizing more and more that watching this movie makes me feel like... what a cat must feel when you rub it's fur backwards.
"IF THEY MOVE, KILL'EM"
I just watched it and concur with most of your points, but it was common in that era for "older" guys to play young...sometimes it just did not work and many times that included great actors (Wlliam Holden, Humphrey Bogart, etc.)
Boy, It sure didn't work in this one! I liken this film to someone using a clothes washer for the first time. Overloading the washer tub and then stuffing and stuffing more in, mixing whites with color, pouring a half bottle of bleach and an extire bottle of Tide then turning it on full blast.
I felt sorry for poor Howard.
All along he loved her and when she made her about face, he changed her mind.
When he went to tell her he couldn't marry her, because he was a stand-up guy, she
told everyone they were eloping and he was in so deep the poor guy didn't know what hit him, lol.
Yeah, Mr. Holden was seriously too old for the part but that's bad casting, can't hold it against him.
Ben M. from TCM said Holden and Novak hated each other. Anyone know why?
Always the officiant, never the bride. http://www.withthiskissitheewed.com
I'd say it wasn't just the years of frustration and lonliness but also the arrival of Hal Carter that seemed to have all of the women enchanted or perplexed, from young Millie to Flow and Helen. Even Rosemary the schoolteacher after watching Hal romance Madge at the picnic, was affected enough to throw herself, first at Hal then at the only guy who was giving her any attention, Howard. It seemed to convey the affects of having a charming bachelor and a strong gentleman amongst a group of lonely and unwed women.
shareI think she REALLY wanted Hal, but settled for Howard as sort of a consolation prize.
shareWhen Hal resists her flirting, she's suddenly forced to realize something she'd been avoiding for years -- that she's over the hill. That makes her turn on the "young," becoming so angry that she can never again have what they have.
I know what you're thinking: "Who cares?"
"When Hal resists her flirting, she's suddenly forced to realize something she'd been avoiding for years -- that she's over the hill."
Yes, exactly. She kept hoping she'd find some cute, sexy, knock-her-socks-off kind of guy. It never occurred to her that such a guy might not want her. It's a chilling moment when a woman realizes "I'm too old to attract the sort of man who attracts me."
So she flings herself at Howard to blot out that fact....
I think there was some pragmatism on her part as well, in wanting to marry once she had slept with Howard. She knew how word gets out in small towns, about a woman being loose. That'd be especially disastrous for her, as a teacher. And even if that didn't happen, if she weren't fired, imagine a life of no position, no status, no future, just Howard coming 'round and banging her every Saturday. That'd be pretty dreary, and humiliating -- that she couldn't even land a mild-mannered middle-aged guy.
Saw this today for the first time as part of Oscar month.
First, I looked up who was nominated and was shocked that Russell wasn't.
The only one nominated with O'Connell.
She kept Howard just to have someone to see on Sat night, but the entire time dreamed of having someone better.
She thought she found that in Hal, and I guess it took the liquor to bring it out.
When he rejected her, that's when she nearly had a breakdown, but came to the conclusion that it was going to be Howard or face a life of lonliness living in rented rooms.
I didn't see Holden as being to old for the role, but, I think many might because of pairing him up sort of with Millie. He was definitely to old for Millie.
Russell had been a big star for years. She was used to being the headliner. When she found that her name would be under Kim Novak's, someone whose body of work was laughable compared to her own, Russell was more than miffed.
Yes, her portrayal of Rosemary deserved an Oscar!! It is brilliant. But she did not want the Oscar for Supporting Actress, and declined a nomination. What a shame.
But Rosemary was a supporting role.
.
Yes, it was.
shareSo WTF was Russell's problem?
shareEgo, I guess. It would probably be difficult to relinquish the "crown" after receiving top billing for so long. From my point of view, it's sad, because her performance deserved to be rewarded. As everyone knows (including Rosalind), "there are no small roles..."
share" any thoughts "
I've never been a big fan of RR, but in Picnic, she was nothing short of magnificent. It's one of my favorite films.