State Fair (1933)

One of my all time favorites.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The musical version of "State Fair" (1945) is one of my favorite films of the 1940s. Because of this, I really wanted to see the original version from 1933, but it took me years until I was able to find it. Now that I've seen it, I feel a bit let down. It was a good film--but after all that wait, I had hoped for more. In fact, it's a decent film but not as good as the 1945 version.For the most part, the plot is exactly the same in both versions. However, since the 1933 film came out before the new Production Code was adopted, the movie clearly has a much more adult portion of the story. When the family is off at the state fair having fun, the son has A LOT of fun--and clearly it's implied that he was having sex with a performer he'd met there. The film had the same plot (except for the huge exception above) but it lacked the sweetness and homespun feel that the later version had. It is good--just not as good.

Initially Janet Gaynor hadn't wanted to make "State Fair". She was Fox's top female star but a steady stream of waif like, child / woman roles in films with names like "Delicious" and "Adorable" showed why she was unhappy. Fox even hired Marian Nixon for the films she had refused to do with Charles Farrell. "State Fair" is just a wonderful film - I haven't seen many of Janet's films (but I plan to) but I thought she was just perfect as Margy Frake, the sweet farm girl who finds romance at the State Fair.There is much anticipation as the Frake family drive off to the State Fair - Pop (Will Rogers) is worrying about his prize hog, Blue Boy, Ma (Louise Dresser) is fussing over her pickles and mincemeats (nothing that a half a bottle of Apple Brandy won't put right). Margy and her brother are just eager to arrive. It doesn't take long for romance to surface - Wayne (Norman Foster), after an altercation with a smart aleck side show barker (Victor Jory in an early role) meets the dazzling Emily (Sally Eilers) star of the high wire, who proceeds to knock him off his feet (in the romantic sense). She falls in love with him also, but realises that she could never adjust to farm life. Margy meets Pat Gilbert (Lew Ayres), a jaded reporter, on a roller coaster ride. Could Lew Ayres have been her perfect leading man - they have such chemistry together, that's why I believe Lew Ayres is so great in this movie. I think they would have made a great romantic team and it is a shame they didn't make more movies together.The "official" star of the movie was Will Rogers and even though his films are not remembered today he was Fox's biggest star. He originally was a star of the Ziegfeld Follies, where he performed rope tricks and talked to the audience with home spun philosophy about politics and events of the day. He spoke with wit and sincerity and was soon know around Broadway as Mr. Everyman. With talking pictures he went to the top of the box office and was still there when he died in an air crash in 1935. "State Fair" is perhaps his best know film although he doesn't have much to do but try to coax his prize hog "Blue Boy" out of a love sick depression. Louise Dresser was so real in her part - she played mother roles with the least amount of sugar and sentimentality and was often paired with Will Rogers as a contrast to his "ah shucks" personality.They return to the farm with Blue Ribbons for hogs and preserves but the youngsters are sorrowful. Surely the both of them are not going to be unlucky in love!! - but No! Wait! - Margy gets a phone call - and it's not her loyally pompous boyfriend, Harry Ware. For me, this is a memorable movie moment - as Margy runs through the spring rain and into Pat's waiting arms.Highly, Highly Recommended.

This wonderful film from Fox is rarely seen these days, and it is such a shame. In the 1930s Janet Gaynor was a huge star, veteran of a number of silent features with Charles Farrell and others; while Will Rogers was one of the best-loved actors and personalities in the USA.'State Fair' teams Gaynor and Rogers as daughter and father, and adds Norman Foster as her brother, and Louise Dresser (another silent screen veteran) as mother. They're all off to the State Fair; Wayne and Margie to look for fun and frolics, Mother to try to win a prize for mincemeat, and Father to get a prize for his hog, Blueboy. Will they all find the things they wish for? Lew Ayres and Sally Eilers might just have the answers! I really liked this version; I'm very familiar with both musical adaptations but this film is more folksy, more fireside, more farm ... and it works very well. It's a superior product which deserves a clean-up and a decent video release.The print I have is not brilliant, but is watchable. From what I can see this looks like a film which had high production values and I'm sure it would look great if it is was in pristine condition.

This 1933 film of STATE FAIR is nearly impossible to see except on one Fox cable channel, but is the best of all versions, with genuine and unsentimental writing and acting. Director Henry King propels the leisurely plot with a thrilling moving camera that efficiently depicts the varied sensations of a state fair, from wholesome contest fun to the menace of barkers and carnies. King has a consistent handle on the theme, that the state fair is a quick microcosm of life, an event that thrusts persons together in a venue that makes possible the "rollercoaster" of infatuation (and sex--this is pre-code pleasure), the tension of competition, and the diversion from hard work in this depression era America. Even "Blue boy" the hog and "self object" of Will Rogers' likeable character discovers the same conflicted feelings of sexual attraction. The cast is excellent, with standouts of Rogers, a most natural performer, in a film that is unpolluted by awkward stereotyped supporting players common to his films. A truly stunning-looking Lew Ayres is a dream of a roller coaster partner, and Victor Jory in his silk shirt perfectly embodies the carnie whom small children fear to encounter outside the midway. But it's the quiet moments that register the most--the pensive characters driving at dusk to the fair, full of private anticipation, still totally one as a family. Modern films rarely dare such introspective glimpses, but this film doesn't bore because it is so true. These rural citizens are proud and flawed, but like the wonderful characters in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, they embrace the chance to take in the fun and mystery of life.