This adaptation of William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play earned six Oscar nominations for its daringly frank depiction (by 1950s standards) of the emotional havoc wreaked on the women of a rustic Kansas town when a sexy itinerant joins their Labor Day picnic. William Holden (not ideal for the role, but nonetheless giving a polished performance) is the attractive cat among the pigeons - tomboy Susan Strasberg, frustrated spinster Rosalind Russell and town beauty Kim Novak. Directed for maximum cinematic effect by Joshua Logan, this is enjoyable drama with an edge.

Labor Day in a small Kansas farm town. Hal, a burly and resolute drifter, jumps off a dusty freight train car with the purpose of visiting Alan, a former college classmate and son of the richest man in town.