State Fair

For 45 years or so, this remake of State Fair has been unfairly judged going back to the original reviews. In spite of that, it was a hit then and it should be a hit today. It's a great family film, the kind they don't make anymore, plus morals - something we don't have in movies today!! Jose Ferrer really outdid himself as a director. He keeps his young actors in line and the cute little plot moving along. It's got beautiful photography and wonderful choreography from Nick Castle.

For even longer than 45 years, the world has been pretty critical of Pat Boone which has been undeserved. Well, he shines in this one! Those acting lessons from Sandy Meisner really paid off in his scenes with Ann-Margret. He's simply terrific and "in the moment". Not only does he have a great set of pipes, he looks wonderful without his shirt, he does acrobatics and that duet with Ann "Willing and Able" is just about the sexiest... no, the hottest number to come out of a musical from that era. West Side Story didn't have a number like that! Wow-wee! Pat should have been a big movie star based on what I saw in this movie as well as a the great recording artist he was at that time.

Ann looks awesome is shorts and her big number, "Isn't it kind of fun" is really well done.

All in all, the movie has really aged well and people should check it out with their families and decide for themselves. Don't listen to those grumpy people who don't like this movie (or Pat).

I think this 62' remake of STATE FAIR doesn't deserve the bad rap it's been getting and has in the past. While it is not a great musical, it certainly has its credits. Yes, the original is better, but let's give credit where credit is due for this re-make. First of all it was great to see Alice Faye back on screen. She did a more than admirable job, as did Tom Ewell as Abel. They are definitely on par with the orginials. Pat Boone is quite wonderful as Wayne, better that Dick Haymes. Bobby Darin was his usual egotistical self which fits the character well, although I like Dana Andrews a bit more. The real standout is Ann-Margret. Not only is her one splashy number great, but she really shows her acting chops, especially in her final scene with Pat Boone. You can certainly see why she became a huge star and has been working for over 40 years and still is. Sorry to see her in her drunken frumpy roles, however. The only real disappointment is Pamela Tiffin. She looks the role but is unlovable as Margy. She looks and acts a bit snooty. Jeanne Crain was terrific in the original. The new songs that were added were good to great. The story changes were also interesting, although it looks like bits and pieces might have landed on the cutting room floor. Interesting that in both versions of the film, the parents never meet or have scenes with the kids boy/girlfriends. Now that this movie is on DVD, it should be a must seeing for all fans of STATE FAIR. Stero sound, wide screen a real fair as opposed to the orginals matte studio sets. A nice commentary by Mr. Boone as well.

I saw this film in the theater as a nine-year old and loved it. I saw the film again the other night on DVD and what do you know? I still loved it. The silliest criticism that I saw about this film concerned the location filming at a real Texas State Fair. This criticism offered the theory that the people at Fox couldn't afford to build proper sets for the film due to the financial drain of "Cleopatra", so they had to settle for cheaper location filming! The location filming and the wide-screen sweep of the fairgrounds are what add to the appeal of this film. Also, not one review that I read commented on the exciting auto racing sequences which were certainly well-staged. The five additional songs written by Richard Rodgers were lovely and in the tradition of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The performances were uniformly good, especially Ann-Margaret, whose first movie filmed this was. ("Pocket Full of Miracles" was released first but filmed second.)

The third film version of 'State Fair' (and the second musical version) is only partly successful, although it is nowhere near as bad as reviews of the time would have you believe.

Margy Frake this time round is played by newcomer Pamela Tiffin, who is rather colourless (and has her voice dubbed as Jeanne Crain did 17 years earlier). Her squire at the fair this time round is called Jerry and works for that new-fangled media, the 'tube' or TV. He's played by Bobby Darin who looks far too old to be chasing Tiffin - perhaps that is why a couple of references were added in this version about her age.

Pat Boone, in one of his few film appearances, is really rather good as Wayne Frake, who is now a racing driver, and of course he does his own songs and rather well. As the show singer Emily, Ann-Margret is embarrassing and too trashy; I always find her a bit OTT, as she is here.

The Frake parents, Tom Ewell and Alice Faye are charming and both have songs created for this version which were not in the '45 film, including a charming duet when they are out on the midway.

The new songs, written by Rodgers alone as Hammerstein had died by the time the film was created, are a mixed bunch. 'Never Say No To A Man' is just plain odd, although is a nice number for Faye's voice. 'Sweet Hog of Mine' fits perfectly, although some of the others feel like padding. Now the Sate Fair has relocated to Texas, we have a new song to replace 'All I Owe Ioway', this time it is 'The Little Things In Texas I Love'.

Although watchable, the relationship between Jerry and Margy in particular does not have the easy romance we saw in previous versions; while Emily does not gain the audience sympathy her character should.

A misfire, then, but a fascinating companion piece to the earlier version and it is useful to see them released together on DVD.

I see the reviews, I see the number ratings, I don't understand.

In my opinion this is an excellent movie. I'm not a movie critic, I don't have a degree in film arts or even drama. I'm just a retired high school math teacher. That said, I find so many things about this film to be so positive and endearing.

Pat Boone is great, Ann Margaret is beautiful and the the rest of the actors were so enjoyable. The songs and music are outstanding and best of all you can understand every word of every song. Yep, you guessed it, I'm an old guy, I'm 63 and I had the pleasure of seeing this film on its first run in the theater in Nashville, Tennessee. I loved it then and I loved it tonight after watching it for the first time in 40 years on the new DVD widescreen Cinemascope release. I still have the LP vinyl 33 1/3 RPM original movie soundtrack. Love it too.

Some critics seem to feel that everything is too polite, too sweet, too clean to be realistic, but I'll tell you, that's the way it was where I grew up 40 years ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did tonight. 10/10