Hutchinson — The small advertisement in The Hutchinson News easily could have been overlooked by readers.
It was 1955, and meaty issues such as the rise in polio cases and strange weather phenomena occupied the minds of most residents that spring.
"Devastating dusters" reminded residents of the Dirty '30s and Dust Bowl days that left western Kansas in a sea of dust. Other areas of Kansas were plagued by floods in 1955, and the odd weather patterns kept residents on their toes.
Those imminent concerns, though, were about to be set aside for Hollywood. And it was just the kind of escape concerned mothers and frustrated farmers sought.
Kansas needed a picnic.
The small newspaper ad in April 1955 sought "extras" for "Picnic," a movie Columbia Pictures planned to film in Kansas. The ad encouraged people to apply for roles at the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce.
The casting call created a buzz among area residents. Entire families applied for roles in the picnic scene.
By May 20, when director Joshua Logan and cinematographer James Wong Howe decided to use Halstead's Riverside Park for the picnic scene, The News reported that an estimated 300 "hopefuls were lined up in front of the city hall by 8 a.m. all ready to sign contracts which would give them work as extras."
The popular movie stars Columbia Pictures brought to Kansas included William Holden, Kim Novak, Rosalind Russell and Cliff Robertson.
The movie's story line revolves around a Labor Day picnic and is based on William Inge's 1953 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Inge was a Kansas playwright who had lived in Independence. He sold the film rights to Columbia for $350,000, according to biographer Ralph Voss.
Logan, a successful Hollywood director, also had directed the Broadway production of "Picnic."
But when scouting locations in Kansas, Logan and Howe bypassed Inge's hometown. They found what they needed in Hutchinson and surrounding communities, including Sterling, Nickerson and Halstead.
"Independence has a nice park and a river, but it didn't have all the stuff they wanted and the logistics of the filming were simply easier in central Kansas," Voss said.
And they were closer to the Wichita airport and the Santa Fe railroad.
But there may have been another reason Logan chose central Kansas, Voss said.
Inge and Logan had artistic differences over the ending of the play and movie. Inge's version didn't have heroine Madge Owens, played by Novak, follow handsome drifter Hal Carter, played by William Holden. Voss speculates that ending might have been too disappointing for "happily ever after" audiences in the 1950s. Logan changed the ending, Voss said, and Inge held a grudge against the director.
Novak preferred the original ending.
"I think that Bill Inge's ending made more sense," she wrote in a recent e-mail response to questions about her time in Kansas. "Yet I could see her (Madge) wanting to live out a fantasy. ... I cannot see how their love could have survived the test of time. Their values and lifestyle were too different."
By late May 1955, heavy rains and flooding replaced dust storms as filming began in Hutchinson at the Security Elevator at the corner of Fourth and Halstead.
From Hutchinson the crew moved to Halstead's Riverside Park, then shot scenes in Nickerson and Sterling.
Hutchinson resident Pat Nichols was a 21-year-old wife and mother living in Nickerson in the spring of 1955. She hadn't seen the newspaper ad or stories about the movie, and she was caught off guard when she and her husband drove down their alley in Nickerson one night.
"We came home after dark and all these lights and people were down the alley," Nichols recalled. "It was lightly raining."
And to the couple's surprise, a partial privacy fence had been built in their backyard.
The assistant location manager with Columbia Pictures handed the Nicholses a contract and offered them $20 to keep the fence in place during filming.
The couple's home was just an alley away from the three clapboard homes on Nickerson Street and K-96 that were used in the film.
One day during filming, Nichols was allowed to stand on the porch of one of the homes to observe the process.
"They went over and over and over it," she said, recalling a scene involving Russell.
"There was to be no coughing, no nothing. Then suddenly we could hear a motorcycle coming down the alley. They had blocked off the street, and my husband was trying to get home."
The scene was reshot.
Bill Brown, a reporter at The Hutchinson News 50 years ago, recalls several experiences involving the Hollywood movie stars.
During a break in filming one day, Brown and Holden enjoyed a cold beer. Rumors persisted at the time that the 37-year-old Holden was a drunk.
"It was a hot day, and he needed a cold drink," said Brown, who lives in Kansas City, Mo.
The waitress in the bar didn't recognize Holden because he was dressed in the clothes he wore on the set. She told Brown she hoped to meet Holden, not realizing the star stood in front of her.
"I think people were intimidated by people of that stature," said Brown, who was granted an interview with Novak during her time in Kansas.
In her dressing room, the 22-year-old Novak took off her dress in front of Brown, and he conducted the interview while she was clad only in her slip.
"She said she was intimidated by Bill Holden," said Brown, who recalled he dropped his pencil just twice during the interview.
Robertson and Novak are among the few cast members still alive.
Novak lives in Oregon and couldn't recall where she stayed during filming of the movie - the cast lived at the Baker Hotel in Hutchinson - but remembered a restaurant that made the best rhubarb and apple pie.
"Picnic" was Robertson's first movie. The nearly 80-year-old actor, who lives on Long Island, completed his 76th film last year.
An intoxicated Holden died alone in 1981. He slipped on a rug, gashed his head on a table and bled to death.
Russell died in 1976 after a long battle with breast cancer.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.