by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Though filmed in France, this Pathe one-reeler had all the earmarks of a British farce. A well-to-do elderly couple arrive in the country for a genteel picnic. Alas, things go from bad to worse thanks to a battalion of marauding mice, a sudden cloudburst, and a most disagreeable "ghost." Even though its revealed that the ghost was actually a very-much-alive prankster in a sheet, the couple is sufficiently frightened to swear off picnics for good. Panicky Picnic was color-tinted by hand, but it hardly mattered; the audience could still see the amateurish actors.
