Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

State Fair Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 22, 2022

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.

It may be salient to note that the 1933 non musical film gave top billing to Will Rogers, and emphasized the part of the father figure to a degree that the two musical versions don't. That said, the 1945 version offered Jeanne Crain, whom Fox was intent on building into a superstar, the top spot in the credits. This 1962 offering kind of hilariously offers a kind of "perfect storm" of pop music stars in the pole positions of casting, with Pat Boone, then under a relatively rare multi-year contract to Fox, in the top spot, followed by Bobby Darin. The billing may indicate at least a subtle shift in focus, at least on the part of the marketing mavens behind attracting attention to the film, but there's a more important, if perhaps more subtle, difference: 1962 vs. 1945. By 1962, the "jet age" was in full swing, and the Kennedy Era had pretty much fully replaced the more staid and stolid Eisenhower Era, and the fact is probably inarguable that, if anything, State Fair is more Eisenhower-ian than Kennedy-esque, if I may be permitted to coin a couple of presidential adjectives.

The general outlines of the 1945 musical are still intact in this version, which again may point to a certain temporal disconnect in terms of anyone attempting to capture any kind of genuinely au courant feeling. The Frake family is making preparations to attend the State Fair, with pa Abel Frake (Tom Ewell) hoping for a blue ribbon for his prize hog, ma Melissa Frake (Alice Faye) hoping for a blue ribbon for her highly alcoholic mincemeat, and with kids Wayne (Pat Boone) and Margy (Pamela Tiffin) tagging along (this version has the added sidebar of Wayne engaging in a roadster racing event). The bulk of the film involves the romantic escapades of Wayne and Margy. Margy gets interviewed by a kind of sleazy reporter named Jerry Dundee (Bobby Darin, in the Dana Andrews role from 1945), while Wayne finds himself entranced by a gorgeous girl named Emily Porter (Ann-Margret, subbing for 1945's Vivian Blaine).

It's almost incredible to think of State Fair arriving in the wake of much more visceral and innovative screen musicals like West Side Story, and yet it's best to remember that even given the "shock" to the system that Wise-Robbins collaboration gave to cinematic "tuners", 1962 also had another "small town" "old fashioned" musical film come out, The Music Man. But there's something just unabashedly stodgy feeling about 1962's State Fair, though undeniable pluses actually include Pat Boone, who is less stiff and more natural than Dick Haymes was in the 1945 version. You can feel the filmmakers attempting to do something with "sex kitten" Ann-Margret, but even her supposed show stopper "Isn't It Kind of Fun?" doesn't invest the film with sustained energy. Pamela Tiffin is frankly kind of bland, and either by dint of direction or some inherent quality, Bobby Darin comes off as way too slimy for anyone to hope that Margy Frake is really going to fall for him.

Note: Trivia fans may be interested to know that Meat Loaf, who passed just as this review was being written, appears (as a young kid) as an extra in a fair scene.

State Fair Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

State Fair Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• From Page to Screen to Stage (SD; 29:51) is a fun archival overview that gives some background, while obviously acting as a bit of a marketing video for the then new stage adaptation of the film.


• State Fair TV Series Pilot (HD; 50:04) features Vera Miles, Tim O'Connor, Mitch Vogel, Julie Cobb, Dennis Redfield, and Jeff Cotler in what looks to have been an attempt to recreate The Waltons.


• Original Theatrical Trailer #1 (SD; 3:47)


• Original Theatrical Trailer #2 (SD; 1:14)


• Isolated Music Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and is accessible under the Setup Menu.


• Audio Commentary with Actor Pat Boone is accessible under the Setup Menu.

State Fair Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.