State Fair

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State Fair

1945,

1h 40m,

Musical

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Watchlist

83%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

6 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

The small-town Frake family attend the Iowa State Fair, the annual highlight of their summer. Son Wayne (Dick Haymes) plots revenge on a midway barker (Henry Morgan) who had embarrassed him the summer before and falls for the beautiful singer Emily (Vivian Blaine), while his melancholy sister Margie (Jeanne Crain) becomes smitten with slick city-boy reporter Pat (Dana Andrews). Meanwhile, mother Melissa (Fay Bainter) and father Abel (Charles Winninger) plot to win their respective competitions.

Rachel Wagner

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

Jul 2, 2019

Maybe the romantic elements are pretty corny and very predictable but... I think the the the actors have enough personality to pull it off.

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Walter Chaw

Film Freak Central

Feb 11, 2007

1.5/4

Even among dyed-in-the-wool fans of R&H, this one's largely remembered, if remembered at all, as a dud.

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Dec 21, 2005

3/5

Rodgers and hammerstein's songs are great, but this musical version of the 1933 Will Rogers' vehicle is poorly directed by Walter Wang and poorly acted by Jeanne Crain, whose voice is dubbed by Louanne Hogan.

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Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Aug 7, 2005

4/5

Brandon Judell

PopcornQ

Apr 1, 2005

3/5

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sep 5, 2003

4/5

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Ron S

Apr 16, 2019

Jeanne Crain teenager. Dana Andrews 37. Says Blobbo, kinda sick. (Music good. Technicolor good. Blobbo like carnivals.) Blobbo thumb 1/2 up, 1/2 down.

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Luke S

Dec 21, 2017

When one gets sick of the crap that is put out by Hollywood these days, it's nice to get back to a film like this. It has a plot! It's well edited! It's clever! It's fun! The songs are, unsurprisingly if you know anything about Rodgers & Hammerstein, exceptional, backed up by high quality voice talent. It has such a warm, hearty, classical feel to it, and not simply due to its age. The "ultra-modern scientific farm" lament could be applied to films now. No more charm, the beautiful old home with its warmth (and carpets!) has been replaced by linoleum-in Hollywood, every room is the bathroom now. Anyone who gets a kick out of familiar people popping up may be surprised to come across a young Harry Morgan (and if you don't know who he was, shame on you). Is it quaint? Yes, on purpose, and in a good way. Are the series of positive outcomes highly implausible? Yes, but you still believe in them, and just enough tension is there to make you wonder if things really will turn out for the best (which, of course, is classic Hollywood, so it's not actually surprising). It's the kind of movie that makes you wonder why nobody seems to make anything like that anymore. Seriously, why don't we?

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Walter Lang

Director

Jeanne Crain

Margy Frake

Dana Andrews

Pat Gilbert

Dick Haymes

Wayne Frake

Vivian Blaine

Emily Edwards

Charles Winninger

Abel Frake

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Synopsis

The small-town Frake family attend the Iowa State Fair, the annual highlight of their summer. Son Wayne (Dick Haymes) plots revenge on a midway barker (Henry Morgan) who had embarrassed him the summer before and falls for the beautiful singer Emily (Vivian Blaine), while his melancholy sister Margie (Jeanne Crain) becomes smitten with slick city-boy reporter Pat (Dana Andrews). Meanwhile, mother Melissa (Fay Bainter) and father Abel (Charles Winninger) plot to win their respective competitions.

Director: Walter Lang
Producer: William Perlberg
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 19, 2013
Runtime: 1h 40m

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