6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
A brother (Pat Boone) and sister (Pamela Tiffin) find romance and good clean fun at the state fair in Dallas.
Starring: Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, Pamela Tiffin, Ann-Margret, Tom EwellMusical | 100% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Rodgers and Hammerstein were still a fairly newly minted duo in 1945 when their one and only original film musical was released, but the pair had had the good fortune to establish their "brand" with a one two punch of perhaps the mightiest "opening act" in musical theater history, with the 1943 debut of Oklahoma! on Broadway followed two years later by Carousel. As Ted Chapin, erstwhile president of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, mentions in an archival supplement included on this disc, State Fair was a "logical" follow up to Oklahoma!, once again dealing with "simple" country folk and frankly without any of the darker material that underpins both Oklahoma! and Carousel (which Chapin, perhaps wanting to establish his thesis, kind of artfully skips over). State Fair had begun life as a successful 1932 novel by Phil Stong, one which was almost immediately optioned by 20th Century Fox and made into a non-musical film starring then immensely popular pundit and comedian Will Rogers, as the somewhat cantankerous paterfamilias of the Frake family. The 1945 musical version was evidently the brainchild of some Fox bigwig after Oklahoma! opened, and Fox screened the 1933 version for Rodgers and Hammerstein at a private event held in New York City. Both the famed composer and lyricist were interested, but didn't want to live or work in Los Angeles, and so were granted permission to write the score in New York. The resulting film is undemanding pablum, certainly nowhere near as challenging as some of the pair's stage musicals, and yet it was probably just what a war weary audience in the United States needed at that time, a sweet, simple Technicolor musical stuffed full of memorable songs and aside from a little romantic intrigue not a care in the world. Which brings us to this 1962 remake.
State Fair is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. This has an occasionally faded appearance which can lead to some noticeable changes in color temperature, though on the whole the palette pops quite nicely, even if what I'm assuming are supposed to be true reds can veer slightly toward orange territory on more than one occasion. Walter Lang uses the wide framings offered by CinemaScope smartly throughout the picture, though there are again some noticeable quality fluctuations between studio shot material and some on location material, including what I assume were second unit sequences like some quick shots of Dallas. Some of the process photography shows considerably more color drainage than the bulk of the feature (see screenshot 19), and the increased resolution of this presentation can sometimes show the literal seams of some process work (I hadn't noticed before how a POV shot of Ann-Margret looking out at her State Fair audience looks like it was composited). When this presentation is firing on all cylinders, it has a nicely warm and well detailed appearance, with a tightly resolved grain field.
State Fair features DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks. I frequently have a bit of a problem with some Fox musicals with multi-channel tracks because I often feel like dialogue is emanating from the bottom of some unseen well, and I have to say that's once again the case here, though both of these tracks offer rather nice, clear and naturally reverberant accountings of the score. Oscar Hammerstein II had passed by the time this film went into production, and so as he would with both his Broadway musical No Strings and additional material for the yet to be filmed The Sound of Music, Richard Rodgers wrote both music and lyrics for some new numbers here, none of which understandably entered the general lexicon of his other standards. All of this said, there's some good immersion in the 4.0 track in particular courtesy of the fair sequences, whether musical or non musical. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Fox would have to wait three more years to really hit the jackpot with a Rodgers and Hammerstein film musical (and if you need to ask what that was, you should go to the hills and fill your heart with something or other). This was a probably needless remake that simply doesn't offer enough new or exciting, despite good intentions. Technical merits are generally solid for those who may be considering making a purchase.
1961
Fox Studio Classics
1969
1964
2020
Limited Edition to 3000
1967
1963
Warner Archive Collection
1968
1945
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
1999
1948
Warner Archive Collection
1949
Limited Edition
1961
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1943
1973
Warner Archive Collection
1953
1983
Warner Archive Collection
1971
Warner Archive Collection
1956
Warner Archive Collection
1957
1982