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DVD State Fair (60th Anniversary Edition)
"I've got that nice, tired old feeling," says Pa Frake near the end of the gentle, sunny 1945 film, State Fair. The Rodgers and Hammerstein music, commissioned while Oklahoma was still making musical-theater history, feels tired too, like the result of a hastily written score. The state of Iowa just can't seem to inspire the same quality music as its more memorable, southern cousin. Remember that State Fair gem "All I Owe Iowa"? Still, it is R and H, and "It Might as Well Be Spring" is here as well as some other decent ditties. There's a country-mouse feeling as the Frake family journeys to the big city for the annual harvest celebration. Young daughter Margy (Jeanne Crain) has her eye on something more exciting than her bore of a fiancé, while her brother meets a lovely big-band singer with a secret. But the bucolic, Old Farmer's Almanac feel is genuine, and it's most obviously a picture of a bygone era when someone expostulates gleefully, "You're gonna be the wife of a journalist!" Not a "don't miss" but not a dismiss either. --Keith Simanton
Review(s): DVD State Fair (60th Anniversary Edition)
Warm and Wonderful
This warm and wonderful film is one of the truly great American musicals, yet is also the least talked about. A terrific cast and some of the best songs Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II ever gave birth to make this Walter Lang film a real treat. It will always bring a smile to your face no matter how many times you see it. It is much like "On Moonlight Bay" in that it is a fine family film with a rural setting, nearly bursting with traditional American values. The fact that it contains some great songs that are worked into the story in a natural and not artificial way is a big bonus.
The Frake family in Iowa are all ready for their annual and much beloved trip to the State Fair. Young and pretty Margy Frake (Jeanne Crain) is excited that she might meet the fella that will change her life. Her brother Wayne (Dick Haymes) has been practicing the ring-toss all year so he can get even with the carny who gave him a bum prize last year. Their pa, Abel (Charles Winninger), is excited about his pet boar, Blueboy, winning the grand prize this year. Percy Kilbride has a fine part as Abel's old pal, Dave Miller. They have a five dollar bet on whether they'll all have a good time at the fair this year.
Their mother, Melissa (Fay Bainter), is entering her pickles and mincemeat and has dreams that she will win this year over the snooty Mrs. Metcalf. Pa sneaks some brandy into her mincemeat when she's not looking that might just give her the edge this year. Donald Meek has a funny role as one of the judges, Hippenstahl, who is delighted by the taste, and the aftereffects, of Melissa's mincemeat!
Dana Andrews is a reporter for the Des Moines Register named Pat, who thinks he's seen the world until he meets the sweet Margy. They spend the three days together as much as possible, but once their time is over, he is on his way to Chicago for a big promotion. Margy loves him, of course, and he may discover he can't live without her either.
Wayne will meet and have a romance of sorts with a beautiful singer, Emily Edwards (Vivian Blane). But his taste of the real world will make him appreciate his girl back home, Eleanor (Jane Nigh). It is very funny as he and his sister make up excuses to ditch each other and have their romances. Even Blueboy gets hit by the love bug, as the "pretty" Esmerelda catches his eye!
The spectacle and fun of the State Fair and what it means in the lives of the Frake family is captured beautifully by the color photography of Leon Shamroy. It should get listed as one of the stars of this film. Adapted by Sonya Levien and Paul Green from a novel by Philip Stong, this is a heartwarming and happy look at America's heartland and all that is good about our past.
Songs like "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "It's A Grand Night For Singing" are easy to take and don't seem forced at all. You never get that "they're going to sing now" feel for any of the numbers. They are very enjoyable and help move the story along. "It Might As Well Be Spring" won the Academy Award. The music is marvelous, and so is this film.
Everyone is just great here, with the lovely Jeanne Crain a particular standout. Harry Morgan has a nice bit as the carny Wayne gets even with, and if you look quick for Coleen Grey you might catch her. Charles Winninger is winning, as are Fay Bainter and Dick Haymes. Percy Kilbride was always amusing and this was one of Dana Andrews' best roles after the magnificent "Laura."
This film will make you nostalgic. It has the feel of sitting on your front porch in the middle of summer with a glass of iced tea, the scent of honeysuckle in the air and Virginia Creepers twisting around the arbor. This is one of the best American musicals and one you don't want to miss.
Step back in time to the good old state fair
"State Fair" is a sweet and charming musical from Rogers and Hammerstein. As the story opens, the Frake family leaves their farm to go to the grand Iowa state fair. Dad Abel is entering his prize hog in competition, Mother Melissa is hoping her mincemeat will win a prize, and kids Wayne and Margy are looking for love. They both meet special someones at the fair, but what will happen when the fair closes?
Jeanne Crain and Dick Haymes are just great as the naive siblings, full of clean-cut country charm. They sing their way down the midway with tunes like, "It Might as Well be Spring" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing." The lovely Vivian Blaine plays the sophisticated singer that catches Wayne's eye, and Dana Andrews is the reporter who sweeps Margy off her feet. It's all as predictable as can be, and yet it's fun instead of sappy. The stars are beautiful and talented, the songs hearken back to a gentler time, the technicolor is vibrant, and the old-fashioned fun of the summer fair is contagious. Turn your way-back machine to 1945 and enjoy this nostalgic family film.
Kona
why both movies
Normally my title for this review would seem weird. However, most of us who want the 1945 version on dvd already have it. I've been waiting for the 1962 version for long time, and now it's coming out, but the only way I can get it is to purchse the 1945 version again. The 1962 version should also be available by itself.
I won't say much about the 1945 version (Jeannie Crain/Dana Andrews) since there are already a lot of reviews for this movie. I will admit that the 1945 version is probably the best.
The 1962 version (Ann-Marget, Pat Boone) is enjoyable, but for some reason isn't as entertaining as the 1945 version. However,
it does have it's moments. One of them is the song/dance number that Ann-Margret does in the Fair Park Bandshell. This is one of the best song/dance numbers in the movies. Another great thing for me is the fact that the 1962 version was mostly filmed at Fair Park (the home of the Texas State Fair) in Dallas, Texas. The opening, and ending, are filmed at their farm (located somewhere), and the car race scene I've heard was filmed at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds as Fair Park no longer had a racetrack (2 previous ones had been torn down). The rest of the movie was filmed at Fair Park, which has been in it's current location since 1886. I'm from the Dallas area, and it is nice seeing Fair Park as the setting of a movie.
Also of interest in the 1962 version is that Alice Faye came out of a self-imposed retirement (during WWII) to do this film, and supposedly hated the experience. She was used to making movies in a studio, and by 1962 things had changed dramatically.
The movie was made on location, in the Dallas summer heat. You can't tell that she was unhappy with the situation. In fact, her acting is probably the best in the movie. After all, she is, and always has been, a very good actress.
To sum up, both movies are enjoyable to watch, if for different reasons. The 1962 version even has a few new songs written for it.
Related DVD's State Fair (60th Anniversary Edition)
The hit Broadway musical from the 1940s gets a lavish if not always exciting workout in this 1955 film version directed by old lion Fred Zinnemann (High Noon). Gordon MacRae brings his sterling voice to the role of cowboy Curly, and Shirley Jones plays Laurie, the object of his affection. The Rodgers and Hammerstein score includes "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," and "People Will Say We're in Love," and Agnes DeMille provides the buoyant choreography. Among the supporting cast, Gloria Grahame is memorable as Ado Annie, the "girl who cain't say no," and Rod Steiger overdoes it as the villainous Jud. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gordon MacRae - Gloria Grahame Director(s): Fred Zinnemann DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 1999 Usually ships in 6 to 8 days
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Like its immediate predecessor, Oklahoma!, this 1956 screen musical boasted then state-of-the-art widescreen cinematography, stereophonic sound, a starring romantic duo with onscreen chemistry, and the Rodgers & Hammerstein imprimatur. Adding to its promise was a source (the venerable Ferenc Molnar play Liliom) that had already been filmed three times. Yet unlike the original Broadway production, and despite evident craft, Carousel proved a box-office disappointment. Why? Hindsight argues that '50s moviegoers may have been unprepared for its tragic narrative, the sometimes unsympathetic protagonist, and a spiritual subtext addressing life after death.
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The dazzling Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, brought to lush life by the director of the original stage version, Joshua Logan. Set on a remote island during the Second World War, South Pacific tracks two parallel romances: one between a Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) "as corny as Kansas in August" and a wealthy French plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi), the other between a young American officer (John Kerr) and a native girl (France Nuyen). The theme of interracial love was still daring in 1958, and so was director Logan's decision to overlay emotional moments with tinted filters--a technique that misfires as often as it hits. The comic relief tends to fall flat, and an overly spunky Mitzi Gaynor is a poor substitute for the stage original's Mary Martin. But the location scenery on the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Rossano Brazzi - Mitzi Gaynor - John Kerr (II) Director(s): Joshua Logan DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The third Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway hit to go before the cameras, The King and I boasts a career-making performance from Yul Brynner, repeating his stage triumph as the titular monarch and proving to moviegoers that bald can be beautiful. It's Brynner's proud king that provides the fulcrum to the plot, and it's Brynner himself, with his piercing gaze and graceful physicality, that demands our attention.
The story line, adapted from an earlier, nonmusical stage hit, follows widowed English teacher Anna Leonowens (Deborah Kerr) to her new posting as tutor to the Siamese king's formidable mob of children. The collision of East and West affords its winning mixture of drama and humor, and the warm friendship that grows between the king and the patrician teacher provides a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Deborah Kerr - Yul Brynner Director(s): Walter Lang DVD Release Date: Released the 27 April 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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