Dmytryk’s picnic is a traditional affair on the rocky ledge of the Shawmucky River: a blanket, food, and a demijohn of corn liquor. It begins happily and ends with a kiss.
The day’s happiness is a prelude to John Shawnessey’s love affair and unfortunate marriage to Susanna Drake, a southern belle with a wobbly character whose family is tainted with undiagnosed insanity. Shawnessey, a poet and abolitionist and poet, is snookered by Drake’s beauty.
When Drake claims she is pregnant, Shawnassey marries her and regrets it. It’s a mistake because he’s in love with Nell Gaither, etc. the rest of the story is romantic suds, which Dmytrk is good at.
The cast: Elizabeth Taylor as Susanna Drake; Montgomery Cliff as John Shawnessey; Jarma Lewis as Barbara Drake; Nigel Patrick as Professor Jerusalem Stiles; Eve Marie Saint as Nell Gaither.
See Edward Dmytryk. Raintree County (1957). Screenplay by Millard Kaufman based on Ross Lockridge Jr.’s 1948, one-thousand-and-sixty-seven-page novel.