Dunham16 A well crafted play of Inge brilliantly filmed with all the drama of the stage play which is set almost entirely on two front porches. Kim Novak shines in one of her finest performances and William Holden as too old to play onstage the younger man who shocks audiences by appearing onstage shirtless though no longer a shocker in modern theater easily playing in tight movie closeups a part younger than his real age.. A drifter hitchhikes to town to milk his college roommate and in the end leaves town after causing havoc among those he knows from before and those me meets there. I guess this is the premise which recently propelled MANCHESTER BY THE SEA to honors. this is in many ways one of the finest filmings of an Inge play and one of the finest films of its year.

Kirpianuscus a small town. an old friendship. a dramatic love story . a picnic as axis. a film who remains, after decades, example of freshness. for the splendid performance of William Holden , in a role who remands James Dean's characters, for the first role of Cliff Robertson who does a great job and, sure, for Kim Novak. the precise exploration of details, the manner to present the state of an age/condition/status of each character, for the atmosphere and for the wise art to use the clash between meetings are the virtues of a beautiful film, useful lesson for rediscover the old fashion cinema's high convincing art. a film about need of certitude, it has the gift to remain memorable. and one of movies who are best choice for understand the reflection in cinema of the strange air of South.

kenjha A former college football star drifts into a small town on Labor Day, disrupting the lives of the locals. Director Logan came from a stage background and he never adapted to the film medium. He did not understand that film acting requires more subtlety than stage acting. Holden is certainly not known for overplaying, but Logan pushes him in that direction. He's not helped by some of his lines, particularly his repeatedly calling Novak "Baby." Yes, Inge's play won the Pulitzer Prize, but it is overly dramatic and contains some really corny lines. Russell is quite energetic. Novak, on the other hand, seems to be on a sedative. O'Connell and Strasberg come off best.

horsedreamer-486-936009 Top rating of the film with one major flaw. This film was originally released in anamorphic (widescreen) and 4 track stereo. All of the DVD releases use pan-scan, which in today's world is ludicrous. You can view the widescreen on Netflix watch instantly when it is available, but if you buy or rent it in it's currently available versions, you get only half of the incredible cinematography. Why would they destroy such a wonderful film? I believe that in order to experience a film of this stature, one should at least be able to see all of what Joshua Logan intended. Aspect ratios aside, this film is a remarkable experience, especially the soundtrack by George Duning. Novak is perfect for the role, and to be realistic William Holden is a bit old for the role of Hal. The subplot romance between Rosalind Russell and Arthur O'Connell just about steals the show. James Wong Howe's spectacular cinematography is the final touch to a really great Hollywood version of the Broadway play. Dated, yes, but still beautiful.