State Fair (1933)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Having previously watched both the 1945 and 1962 musical versions of this film, and knowing YouTube had this non-musical version on its site for the last several years, I finally watched this version of State Fair just now. Other than the added songs in the later versions, this is basically the same story for all three...well, except since this one was produced before the Production Code became more strict, it's implied the male teen had something of a real affair with a female performer. (Though I didn't see the scene of them talking off-screen while the bed on-screen was messed up with another scene of a lingerie on the floor during that. Must have been cut after the Code was enforced.) The humor is both verbally subtle and occasionally visual like when the Janet Gaynor character is on somebody's shoulder and she unknowingly plays with that someone's head when she gets excited about a certain horse in a race. Will Rogers as the father is his charming self as he looks after his pig he hopes wins the big contest. And I always loved when the mother (in this version, Louise Dresser) enters her pickles and mincemeat in another contest because of what is in those foods when they're entered! By the way, I like all three versions but if you don't want to hear those songs, I definitely recommend this version of State Fair.

The thing about summer love is that it is uncertain and often temporary. Normally, only the young are afflicted, and, as such a powerful emotion is a novelty to the recipient, it can be very hurtful. "State Fair" chronicles two of these.The Frake family is preparing for the Iowa state fair, all with different expectations. Pa (Will Rogers) hopes his prize boar, Blue Boy, can win first prize and Ma (Louise Dresser) pins her hopes on her pickles and mincemeat. Teenagers Wayne and Margy are just hoping for... they're not exactly sure, but something exciting.The nominal star here is Will Rogers and he gives a folksy, homespun performance as Pa - makes you wonder if he's acting or not. Louise Dresser is Ma just as you would imagine Ma would be. She was one of our best actresses and retired too soon. The story, though, focuses on the two young players, Norman Foster (Wayne) and Janet Gaynor (Margy) and their adventurous encounters with complete strangers.This is a 'Pre-Code' picture and tame by todays (lack of) standards, and so both are seen conversing in bedrooms with above-mentioned strangers (smelling salts, please), but the picture is so well-written that the breach of decorum is hardly noticeable. The story is true to life and shot through with vignettes of family life from an earlier time in America. If you were not alive in the 1930's and did not live in the Midwest, you should see this movie. It is a quintessential family picture with lots of heart, as well as exceptional performances by all parties.

This is an ensemble piece, so Will Rogers must share screen time not only with top-billed Janet Gaynor as the daughter but also future director Norman Foster as the son (for those who care, Foster is OK but his slow speaking style and overage juvenile manner probably would've ended up limiting his roles even if he hadn't switched to directing). There was a notable technical moment, where we see and hear the midway barkers telling us it's the last performance of the fair, the last night, last chance, etc... Then we go to the next scene of Janet Gaynor and Des Moines reporter Lew Ayres bittersweetly visiting the isolated spot of their tryst the night before -- and we still hear the barkers' warnings of "last night" and "last chance". A few moments remind us this was made pre-code. Just before the family leaves for the fair, an antsy Gaynor tells Foster, "Haven't you ever felt like going someplace and raising hell?" But the real jaw-droppers come in the relationships between the farm kids and their big city romances. It's clearly implied that Gaynor and Ayres have sex. As far as Foster and carny acrobat Sally Eilers are concerned, it's a lot more than implied: it's even the subject of a joking exchange between Foster, oblivious mother Louise Dresser and a possibly suspicious Rogers. This seems like an odd thing to include in what is presented as a family film, but perhaps the term "family film" meant something different in 1933, and rural audiences weren't quite so naive as we like to think. Another moment near the end gives us an earthiness missing in the squeaky clean musical version. Leaving with the family in their truck the morning after the fair, Rogers tell his hog, "Well Blueboy, you're a prize winner today, and ham tomorrow." This reminder of the reality of farm life also recalls the famous story where somebody asked Rogers if he actually ate the hog after the film wrapped production. Rogers replied, "No, I just couldn't bring myself to eat a fellow actor". 60 years later Billy Crystal would steal this line re: the calf in City Slickers.

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.