State Fair (1933) User Reviews (20)

the original State Fair, still hogs and pickles but no music

[didi-5 · 7/10 · 19 April 2007]

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.

Our State Fair Is A Great State Fair

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 26 October 2008]

Overshadowed in this day and age by the two musical film versions that succeeded it, this version of State Fair provides a great showcase for the personality and talent of American institutions Will Rogers. Although I was surprised to see that in the billing, Fox's main female star at the time, Janet Gaynor, was billed above him. The power of what winning the first Best Actress Oscar can get you.

It was probably only natural that the two would eventually be in a project together. Gaynor always played good girls, fresh from the farm like Melissa Frake, her best example of that is Esther Blodgett in A Star Is Born. As for Rogers, his patented brand of homespun humor had already established his legend.

When I did a review of Junior Bonner, I said that the film was simply the story of a rodeo family's day at the Presscott Frontier Rodeo. State Fair is a simple film, without any pretensions; the story of the Frake Family and its visit to the State Fair where all of them have an unforgettable time.

I wouldn't believe it, but Will Rogers never had a better straight man than his prize hog Blue Boy who perks up and struts his stuff when an attractive sow comes to his attention. But he's far from the only one who finds romance.

Janet Gaynor meets small city reporter Lew Ayres who says that even though the paper is a Republican one, don't blame him and the rest who have to work there to make a living. Republicans were not highly thought of in the wake of the Depression back in the day. Her wholesomeness attracts him.

As for son Norman Foster he gets quite a lesson in love in a most explicit before the Code encounter with trapeze artist Sally Eilers. Surprising for a Will Rogers film in my humble opinion.

Even Louise Dresser comes home a winner, taking first prize in just about everything she prepares due to Rogers spiking her cooking liberally with some schnapps. He knew the best way to the judge's heart.

State Fair is a great piece of nostalgic Americana and a great showcase for that American institution named Will Rogers.

a pre-code slice of rural life

[thewebbiest · 8/10 · 9 February 2012]

I was glad I caught this sweet movie on TCM. It is a marvellous early talkie, which seems a lot more real and honest that the subsequent musical version of State Fair. The movie captures the affections, frustrations and longings of the Frake family. In the case of the younger Frakes, it's a longing for love and sex. (The Frake parents are mostly concerned with winning blue ribbons for their preserves and hog.) The pre-code element is clearly seen in the son's scenes with the lady trapeze artist, which strongly suggest that they're having sex.

The romance between Janet Gaynor and Lew Ayres is really touching. Gaynor is torn between her desire for fun and passion versus the security her beau at home will offer her. Ayres asks if she loves the hometown boy and she replies "I know he will always love me." Lew Ayres is just gorgeous in this movie. A real sharp dressed city sophisticate that Gaynor is terribly attracted to but also a little bit afraid of, particularly when he talks about having been with many other women.

State Fair also conveys Will Rogers' tremendous likability better than his other cinematic outings. He was incredibly popular in his day, king of all media: the stage, print (through his syndicated newspaper column), radio and film.

Precode Americana

[jozefkafka · 5 March 2011]

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.

Simple Charm and Honesty

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 8 February 2012]

I never found a lot about the musical versions of this story which I liked. Now that I have found the original non-musical version,I don't understand why it has never been remade this way. Granted it has been a long time since 1933, but that doesn't take away from this story being done without music.

This is an American farm family going to the State Fair. It is direct, it has funny moments, it has charm. Will Rodgers shows in this one why he was so popular in the public in films and writing wit.

He gets second billing here to a young attractive Janet Gaynor. This movie shows her off very well. The relationships are more mature here than a few years later when the codes made films slip a little.

Louise Dresser and Lew Ayres are along in a good supporting cast. What is special here is how much they get done in just over 90 minutes. There are a lot of good points, and a few rough spots that were not intended by the filmmaker but have to do with the films age.

Gaynor, a top star at FOX when this was made is very lucky to be in a pre-code starring role. The camera is allowed to enhance her image on film here by showing her off in camera angles that were banned with a few years until Babs Streisand discovered those same angles later with her own films. Gaynor exhibits an adult charm.

The romances are simply drawn but effective. This is a film worth a look and I warn you, once you watch this one, the musical versions later will not compare to this, the better original version.

Surprisingly adult.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 March 2014]

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.

One of the greatest depictions of Americana

[nealvelgos · 10/10 · 11 July 2002]

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.

How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm

[blankenshipdk · 7/10 · 14 August 2016]

Having seen the rather sappy 1962 version of this story, I was intrigued by the cast of this film and decided to check it out. I knew I was in for something special when Janet Gaynor as Margy asks her brother Wayne, played by Norman Foster, if he ever feels like " raising hell " on the eve of their departure for a week at the state fair. Meanwhile Pa Frake ( Will Rogers ) obsesses over his prize pig Blue Bell and Ma Frake ( Louise Dresser ) spikes the mincemeat recipe in anticipation of scoring blue ribbons. Upon arrival at the fair, the Frake Family goes full Merry Prankster mode, setting up a tent and diving into the free love and entertainment festival full bore ( boar? ). Both kids are given loose rein by Ma and Pa who are hip to the fact that animal husbandry may necessarily involve human breeding as well as the four legged kind. Ma's mincemeat trips out a judge who lands in the psych ward while Blue Bell gets turned on by a hot sow and goes hog wild. A story this cool could only exist in pre - Hayes Hollywood and the sophisticated outlook of the Frakes runs counter to farm family character expectations. At the heart of this movie are fully developed, endearing figures who get lost in lust, love and longing just like real people. The conclusion of the fair features some fantastic cinematic shots of carnival barkers who remind us that, along with this movie, the good stuff has to wrap up eventually, like it or not.

Romance and Blue Ribbons!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 13 December 2010]

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.

Finding Love at the State Fair

[view_and_review · 3/10 · 16 August 2023]

If I thought I was sick of high society romances I found the only thing worse: a state fair romance. And still, whether it's the city or the country, high society or working class, people fall in love in hours if not minutes in 1930s Hollywood films.

I still have to get used to the term "making love." Now it most definitely means sex while back then it meant as much as kissing to as little as sweet talking.

In the movie "State Fair" the Frake family attended the annual state fair. Paw (Will Rogers) was entering a hog to compete for a blue ribbon. Maw (Louise Dresser) was entering her pickles and mince meat into a competition for whatever prize they issue for that. The kids, Margy (Janet Gaynor) and Wayne (Norman Foster), were along for the ride.

While the parents busied themselves with fair business Margy and Wayne found love. They found two mates who were unlike them. While Margy and Wayne were sheltered, unworldly, innocent country folks, the mates they found were the total opposite. And as they say, opposites attract. Wayne fell in love with Emily (Sally Eilers) while Margy fell in love with Pat Gilbert (Lew Ayres). They were anything but romantic. It actually seemed perverse to me. I envisioned Pat and Emily as prowlers looking for the most innocent prey they can find just to satisfy some perverse curiosity or to add them to a list of conquests. It was a romance movie so it didn't turn out that way, but I still saw it as such.

Free on YouTube.

Janet Gaynor, Hogs & Will Rogers, Too!

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 9 January 2000]

A farm family encounters situations both poignant & hilarious when they leave home to spend time at the exciting STATE FAIR.

Janet Gaynor gives a sensitive performance as a country girl eager for romance amid the attractions of the Fair. She is both fetching and delightful. She was a big celebrity at the time and gets top billing here even over Will Rogers.

Will gets his own back by deftly underplaying his role as her farmer father. By keeping the corniness to a minimum, he gives the film a special touch of bedrock sensibility and good humor.

The Production Code had obviously not taken effect quite yet, as can be seen by some of the language and situations. These will come as a surprise to some, but were not rare before 1934.

All of Will's scenes are fun - especially those with Miss Gaynor or the hogs. The formidable Louise Dresser appears as his wife. Lew Ayres makes a fine romantic interest for Gaynor & Victor Jory is very good in a small role as an honesty-challenged barker.

This is great pre-code Americana- all around best Will Rogers' film

[phlbrq · 8 February 2012]

I was really surprised how much this film moved me. It's really Gaynor and Ayers' movie with Will in more of a supporting role. Well directed with good effects for the era, my enjoyment was genuine and heart felt. Others might enjoy it in terms of sociology or film history,I hated the Pat Boone version and the Dana Andrews' was only alright. I watched it on TCM where the print had several breaks and audio pops.

Aside from the John Ford/Will Rogers films (embarrassing stereotypes aside) Will's sound films are very mixed. They're tailor made for his persona but weak casts, low production and stage bound screenplays have you reaching for the FF. He redeems most of them but I'm happy to find this solid work made shortly before his death. Surprised it escaped my attention until now.

By far, the best version!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 1 November 2014]

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.

Summer Holiday

[lugonian · 9/10 · 24 April 2016]

STATE FAIR (Fox, 1933), directed by Henry King, the original screen adaptation to Phil Stong's popular 1932 novel, stars Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers, the studio's top box-office attractions, for the first and only time. Basically an all-star cast of then familiar named performers as Lew Ayres, Sally Eilers, Norman Foster (in a type of role that makes one think of Henry Fonda) and Louise Dresser (Rogers' frequent co-star) in support, this is one of those rare occasions where the legendary Will Rogers is not the center of attention, allowing other members of the cast to perform their individual scenes at length. While STATE FAIR rightfully belongs to the Academy Award winning Janet Gaynor, it's become noted by film historians solely as a Will Rogers movie.

Opening title: "A State Fair is like life – begins hastily – offers everything – whether you go for sheep and blue ribbons – or shape and blue eyes, and too soon it's over." The story opens at a farm in Brunswick, Iowa, where the Frake family prepare themselves for their annual trip to the State Fair. Abel (Will Rogers) intends on placing his pig, Blue Boy, in a contest while Melissa (Louise Dresser), his wife, works on pickles and mincemeat for the upcoming food tasting competition. Other members of the family include their daughter, Margy (Janet Gaynor), engaged to a man she does not love, Harry Ware (Frank Melton), and son, Wayne (Norman Forster), having just been jilted by his girlfriend, Eleanor, practicing to perfect his hoop tossing method. Before driving off to their journey for a week at the fair, the neighborhood storekeeper (Frank Craven) wages Abel five dollars that the family will return home a week later in bitter disappointment. After camping on the State Fair grounds, Wayne gets even with a barker (Victor Jory) who made a fool of him the previous year cheating him out of his $8, soon to find romance with Emily Joyce (Sally Eilers), a trapeze artist who introduced herself to him as the sheriff's daughter. As for Margy, she encounters Pat Gilbert (Lew Ayres), a newspaper man for The Register, while riding on a high speed roller coaster, followed by both happiness and disappointments for the Frakes before returning home to the farm where the storekeeper awaits to hear the family's final verdict.

While immensely popular at the time of its release, even to a point of being nominated for Academy Award as Best Picture, STATE FAIR has been eclipsed by the musicalized 1945 Technicolor remake by 20th Century-Fox featuring Jeanne Craine (Margy), Dana Andrews (Pat), Dick Haymes (Wayne), Charles Winniger (Abel) and Fay Bainter (Melissa), with excellent songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, including the Academy Award winning, "It Might as Well Be Spring." Though there's no such "Grand Night for Singing" involved here, the original STATE FAIR does contain its very own beautifully underscored theme song titled "Romantic." Interestingly, STATE FAIR was revamped and musicalized a second time by 20th Century-Fox (1962), the reason why the original title to the 1945 edition was changed to "It Happened One Summer" for television showings during the sixties and seventies before restored to its original title by the 1980s. With the new cast for 1962 headed by Pat Boone, Ann-Margret, Tom Ewell and Alice Faye, it was believed that this slice of Americana belonged to another era and out of place for the 1960s. Yet nothing comes close to Will Rogers' laid-back style and genuine humor for which he is famous.

The first time I've ever heard of the existence of STATE FAIR was when mentioned on a game show, "The Movie Game" (1969-70) during a broadcast on New York City's WOR, Channel 9, where the panelists from that program were surprised to learn there was an ever a STATE FAIR movie starring Will Rogers prior to the better known 1945 musical. For one of the finest films for both Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor, STATE FAIR has been out of circulation for many years. A slow process of availability began sometime the 1970s when presented in revival movie houses, television stations as Hartford, Connecticut's WFSB-TV, Channel 3, around 1974-75; public television's WNET, Channel 13, New York City (1991-92); the Fox Movie Channel and finally Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere" February 8, 2012). Never distributed to video cassette as some other Will Rogers movies during his Fox Film Studio period (1929-1935), distribution on DVD is long overdue for such a fine wholesome movie from a bygone era. (***1/2)

After years of only seeing the filmed musical versions, I finally got to watch this mostly non-singing version of State Fair

[tavm · 8/10 · 16 February 2018]

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.

Summer Love

[GManfred · 25 February 2013]

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.

A Hard Film to Find

[ctrout · 8/10 · 7 March 2005]

State Fair is actually a pretty good movie that's mostly just a vehicle for Janet Gaynor. But it ends up being more than that with the help of Will Rogers and Lew Ayres.

The story revolves around a farming family who enters a prize pig in the State Fair. The two children of the family go off on their own separate adventures while the two parents stay with the pig.

Gaynor is one of the children and she meets and falls in love with Ayres. Their chemistry together is a very intriguing one. Will Rogers is the father who is mostly the comic relief.

You'll most likely like the film and it deserves to be liked. Its a great gem from the early '30s that isn't seen much anymore.

I was able to finally watch the film when it was on The Fox Movie Channel last year. It might be on again soon. I suggest you find out.

Pre code Americana at its best

[Dunham16 · 9/10 · 14 August 2016]

This 1933 film based on a novel of the same name is the first of many setting the theme of an Iowa state fair in Olden Days a slice of life in which many people expect many things to experience unexpected turns taking each in different directions. Laid back idealist Will Rogers is married to work and worry all day Louise Dressler in another brilliant portrayal of the couple as leads. Oscar winning daughter Janet Gaynor leads an ensemble cast in which no performer is written for a stronger role focus than is the other. She is unwillingly courted by Lew Ayres who in the end convinces her he can make her happy. Her brother is future director Norman Foster who interestingly enough in pre code film says racy lines not again permissible in Hollywood for generations yet never strips off his street clothes for the camera which seems more the norm once racier language and inferences ended with the Hays code. He is helped out of a jam by Sally Eilers, a hard boiled circus girl who wants from him a good time only while she works this gig. There is very strong panning photography of the farm and fair scenes which add visual interest as well as solid ensemble acting by the tight cast. The musical which premiered 12 years later with a lot of the 1933 dialogue between musical interludes features a score by Rodgers and Hammerstein perhaps the only one not opening as a stage musical. An enticing slice of life for those who remember this era brilliantly filmed.

On the face of it, as wholesome as it gets. On the FACE of it.

[BatonRougeMike · 8/10 · 8 July 2022]

Can I be slightly crude here and say that an alternate title for this wonderful pre coder could be 'Rutting Season'? I have always been unable to stomach the saccharine 1945 version and the 1962 version is just awful, but this one seems to me far more 'real'. It certainly is quite frank regarding sexual attraction, and not just between hogs and sows. If you pay attention there's more spice to be found in the subtext than in Ma's prize winning pickles. A fascinating film and one that deserves to be shown more than it is.

Grandaddy of all State Fair Movies

[springfieldrental · 8/10 · 9 January 2023]

State fairs are an annual tradition throughout the nation, especially in the more rural states. Back in the 1930s, there was no other anticipated yearly ritual greater than attending and participating in the state fairs, where social gatherings allowed isolated farmers and their families living in remote areas to mix with one another. Fox Films took a look at this popular annual rite in February 1933 "State Fair," one of Will Rogers' most famous movies. Based on Phil Strong's best selling 1932 novel of the same name, "State Fair" has the patriarch of the Frake family, Abel (Rogers), excited about his prized pig, Blue Boy, who's a good bet of winning a first-place prize.

"State Fair," nominated for the Academy Awards Best Picture, was a sanitized version of Strong's book which also detailed the going-ons of Frake's late teenager kids, Margie (Janet Gaynor) and Wayne (Norman Foster), who are raring to mingle with the opposite sex. The studio initially hoped to retain some of Strong's passages describing the siblings' loss of innocence during the fair when it bought the movie rights to his book. But when Rogers was hired for the lead, the scriptwriters were told to dull the descriptive scenes of his character's children while the pair are frolicking in their newfound relationships. Innocent son Wayne meets and falls for a street-wise trapeze artist, Emily (Sally Ellers), who was no stranger to men. The comfortable robe Emily slips into once she persuades Wayne up to her pad sports the symbolic embroidered butterfly. Meanwhile, Margie meets newspaper reporter Pat Gilbert (Lew Ayres) on a roller coaster ride, and that relationship is off and running, even though she's wise to his wandering eyes.

Director Henry King was permitted by the Iowa State Fair and Exposition organizers in Des Moines to film B-Roll, including the harness racing scenes during its summer huskings. The studio bought three hogs to be in "State Fair," including the 1932 fair's grand champion, Dike of Rosedale. Named Blue Boy, his handlers were wary of the pig's temperamental behavior, some who refused to get near the beast while the camera hot lights were blazing. When Rogers was told of the giant pig's volatile temper, the actor said, "I've always been on friendly terms with hogs. Me and him'll get along all right." A few days later, King was ready to direct Rogers in his first scene for the movie. But the actor couldn't be found anywhere, even in his dressing room. A member of the film crew spotted him in the livestock pen where Blue Boy was kept. Rogers was seen fast asleep with his head resting against the pig's side. Later on when the filming wrap up, the studio offered Rogers the hog to buy, most likely for his meat. The actor didn't feel comfortable about the purchase, telling the sellers, "I wouldn't feel right eatin' a fellow actor."

"State Fair" has been remade twice, both as musicals. The 1945 version with Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews contained the Academy Awards Best Song, "It Might As Well Be Spring." The second featured Ann-Margret and Pat Boone in 1962's "State Fair."