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(More customer reviews)This lovely new 60th Anniversary DVD edition of STATE FAIR is a must for all musical fans and Rodgers and Hammerstein II enthusiasts. Featuring the duo's only score written exclusively for Hollywood, and based on the novel by Phil Stong (which had been previously filmed, very successfully, in 1933 with Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers), the musical STATE FAIR is full of homespun charm and lovely performances, enhanced by Technicolor photography and of course the accomplished R&H score.
During their annual visit to the Iowa State Fair, the Frake family enjoy many adventures. Proud patriarch Abel (Charles Winninger) has high hopes for his champion swine Blueboy; and his wife Melissa (Fay Bainter) enters the mincemeat and pickles contest...with hilarious results. Their children, however, have romance on their minds. Wayne (Dick Haymes) falls head over heels for flashy bandstand singer Emily (Vivian Blaine), whilst Margy (Jeanne Crain) finds the man of her dreams in the worldly-wise journalist Pat (Dana Andrews). Rodgers and Hammerstein's score features the beautiful Academy Award-winning song "It Might as Well Be Spring", not to mention a rich tunestack of "That's for Me", "All I Owe Ioway", "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" and "It's a Grand Night for Singing".
The cast is simply superb. Charles Winninger, who had been the original Capt'n Andy in Oscar Hammerstein II's "Show Boat", is a warm presence as the father, with Fay Bainter (Oscar-winner for "Jezebel") also heavily scoring as the wife. Dick Haymes, with his clean-cut good looks and smooth crooning voice, is likewise a perfect fit for Wayne. Vivian Blaine, in probably her best film appearance up to that time, is a postive delight as Emily, and with her flaming red hair and gorgeous gowns, we can understand completely why Wayne would fall so quickly under her spell! Her film career all but ended with this movie but she later went on to find her greatest role as Miss Adelaide in the original Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls", later reprising her efforts for the film version.
Just as the 1933 version was intended as a star vehicle for Janet Gaynor, so too was this 1945 version. Jeanne Crain was the main starlet at Twentieth Century-Fox and the studio tailored this film as a showcase for her beauty and all-American wholesomeness. But, Crain was not a singer, so her voice was dubbed by Louanne Hogan (who later made a career out of dubbing for Crain in other films like "Margie" and "You Were Meant for Me").
The DVD looks fabulous and the original Technicolor negatives have been beautifully-restored for this new release. Audio commentary is provided by film historian Richard Barrios and Tom Briggs who co-wrote the subsequent 1996 Broadway version of the musical.
But the fun does not end there...
This new DVD set also includes the seldom-seen or heard 1962 remake of STATE FAIR. Since Oscar Hammerstein had by this point passed away, Richard Rodgers went back to the drawing-board and wrote several new songs for the score ("This Isn't Heaven", "Willing and Eager", "More Than Just a Friend", "Never Say 'No' to a Man", "The Little Things in Texas") joining the classic numbers from the '45 version.
Apart from the re-setting of the story to the annual Texas State Fair, the rest of the story plays out mostly in the same way including all the favourite storylines (the lovesick Blueboy and the spiking of Melissa's mincemeat). But to keep in step with modern audiences, a few of the characters were slightly changed with Wayne (played by Pat Boone) now a race car driver.
The performances here are also very fine. Tom Ewell, as Abel, gives a wonderful gravity to the story and Alice Faye (returning to movies after a 30-year retirement) invests a lot of heart, sincerity and knowing comedy to the role of Melissa. Young starlet Pamela Tiffin, as Margy, is the very picture of wide-eyed innocence and Pat Boone brings a lot of depth and earnestness to Wayne. Ann-Margret (at the very apex of her sex-kitten phase) and Bobby Darin are likewise wonderful as the objects of affection for Wayne and Margy respectively.
Filmed primarily on location, this STATE FAIR is a lot more expansive and cinematic than the 1945 version. The musical numbers are very well-executed, the big highlight perhaps Ann-Margret's steamy rendition of "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" with a group of red velvet-clad beatnik male dancers. Pat Boone's jubilant "That's for Me" and the aching ballad "It Might as Well Be Spring" (dubbed for Tiffin by voice double Anita Gordon) are also well-staged. Of the new numbers, perhaps the best is "This Isn't Heaven", a perfect dreamy ballad for crooner Bobby Darin. Pat Boone and Ann-Margret also make good with the pretty "Willing and Eager". "The Little Things in Texas" could have turned into a throwaway number but Alice Faye and Tom Ewell hit the mark beautifully.
The CinemaScope image has been cleaned up very well for the film's DVD debut. Audio commentary is provided by Pat Boone who offers some cherished memories of working with his co-stars and director Jose Ferrer.
Also featured on this 2-disc set is a documentary "From Page to Screen to Stage" charting the making of the various STATE FAIR's as well as the 1996 Broadway musical version; the pilot for the TV series starring Vera Miles and an excerpt from the 1954 Rodgers and Hammerstein/General Foods TV special, of Mary Martin performing "It Might as Well Be Spring".
An amazing DVD package and highly-recommended.
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