State Fair (1933)

Sorry, this movie sucks

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Wonderful! This first and best of Fox's three State Fairs certainly whets my appetite for more King films of this vintage. I always thought of him as a rather stodgy director. And certainly the scenes with Will Rogers and Blue Boy are handled in what I would term as typically lethargic fashion. Fortunately, they succeed because Rogers infuses them with his own gracious charisma, but from a purely filmic point of view, they are dull, static and uninteresting. But what a contrast with Miss Gaynor's scenes, with the camera tracking madly to disclose all the bizarre wonders of the fair! King's powerfully rapid pacing, his evocative sense of atmosphere, his masterful ability to punch the drama home, his documentary-like feeling for vivid realism are all in marvelous evidence here. And what great performances from many in the support cast, including Sally Eilers as the trapeze girl, Norman Foster as the awakened rube, and Victor Jory as the con artist of the hoopla! But it is Miss Gaynor's picture. Hers is a beautifully poignant, translucent performance. She portrays her Margy with a touching simplicity and honesty, far removed from the usual Hollywood trappings of glamour. Unattractively styled and made up, dowdily dressed, she transforms her heart-struck little farm girl into an ethereal creature of rare beauty and absolutely captivating naturalness. Lew Ayres is good too. Interestingly, King was first choice to direct the 1962 remake. He declined. A wise decision, as there was no way he could better his magnificent achievement with this one. Despite the film's disappointing reception in New York, it managed to gross a whopping $1.8 million in rentals throughout the U.S. and Canada in 1933, making it equal seventh of the domestic market's top movies for the year.

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.

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.