Directed by Joshua Logan • 1955 • United States
Starring William Holden, Kim Novak, Betty Field

William Holden and Kim Novak make sparks in this torrid adaptation of William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play. Holden is the handsome stranger who drifts into a small Kansas town to visit an old fraternity buddy, stirring up trouble and emotions when he becomes involved with a local beauty queen (Novak in her star-making role) who’s tired of being appreciated only for her looks. Things get heated during a Labor Day picnic dance between Holden and Novak, one of the most erotically charged scenes in Hollywood history.