7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A farming family, the Frakes, go to the Iowa State Fair to show the father’s prize hog, Blue Boy, and enjoy the big event of the year.
Starring: Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Charles WinningerMusical | 100% |
Romance | 94% |
Comedy | 22% |
Drama | 4% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is currently available only as part of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection.
Most theater geeks and fans of Glee could probably correctly pair Strouse with Adams, Bock with Harnick, Adler with Ross,
Kander with Ebb, and Maltby with Shire, but even the relatively unwashed masses would have no problem recognizing
the vaunted partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein. These two titans of the Broadway musical achieved their renown
though a combination of both incredibly artistry, providing the Great American Songbook with untold treasures from their
musicals, and fairly rare business acumen, which preserved their creative control over their properties but, due at least
in part to their role as producers as well as composer-lyricist-librettist, above the title billing which is usually reserved for
the acting talent. Rodgers and Hammerstein had each had their own individual successes prior to teaming with each
other, Rodgers most notably with Lorenz Hart and Hammerstein with Jerome Kern, but together they seemed almost
ideally suited to remaking the American musical in their own sophisticated yet homespun combined images. From the
1943 premiere of Oklahoma! on Broadway through 1960’s stage version of The Sound of Music, Rodgers
and Hammerstein enjoyed an almost unparalleled string of successes (despite occasional lackluster outings like
Allegro or Pipe Dream), with several of their shows still acclaimed as unmatched masterpieces to this
day. Because Rodgers and Hammerstein were so hands on in the curating of their properties, it actually took over a
decade for the first of their immense hits to even make it to the screen, but 1955 proved to be a stellar year for the
team on the silver screen, with not just that show, Oklahoma!, appearing in not one but two formats (and
versions), but their follow up Broadway smash Carousel also lighting up the screen with some of the same cast
as Oklahoma!. The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are all models of expert plotting and precise
characterizations, and they all benefit from the somewhat sardonic but mellifluous genius of Richard Rodgers, one which
acted as a sort of slightly bittersweet gin to Oscar Hammerstein’s effervescent tonic.
State Fair is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. While the elements here have succumbed to the same "brown fade" that afflicts other releases in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection, it's not quite at the same level, and I would probably be prone to up the score on this title to around a 3.75 if I were able to. While there's a definite shift in the color space, blues are still quite strong most of the time and even reds don't have the dirty rust coloring they tend to get when this kind of fade reaches greater proportions. That said, flesh tones can be fairly problematic here, though at times they approach a more natural look, if only for a moment or two. The image is nicely stable and the elements have no untoward damage to report. There appears to have been no aggressive digital manipulation of the image, and an organic looking grain field is intact.
State Fair's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track is obviously fairly narrow sounding, and has hints of a boxy quality that reveal the recording technologies of the day, but overall it's a surprisingly full bodied track, one which delivers the music with a nicely satisfying midrange which helps to overcome some anemia in the highest registers. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and there's not even any overly egregious hiss to get in the way here. This won't win any awards for "reference quality" audio, but it's a solid, problem free rendering of the original theatrical mix.
While other releases in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection port over all the supplements from their respective 50th Anniversary DVD sets, State Fair omits the 1962 version of the film (with optional Pat Boone commentary) that came with its 60th Anniversary DVD set. Otherwise, the supplements include:
State Fair is admittedly a bit on the bland side, at least when compared to Rodgers and Hammerstein's more penetrating, serious works like South Pacific or Carousel. While some might accuse the film of being figuratively "beige", ironically its big, bright Technicolor ambience is one of its chief assets, along with a good (and at times excellent) Rodgers and Hammerstein score. This is "pleasant" entertainment, in both the positive and pejorative uses of that terms. This Blu-ray exhibits the same faded elements that are a problem on some of the other films in this new Rodgers and Hammerstein boxed set, but the audio is surprisingly spry sounding. Oddest of all, this is the only film in the collection not to port over all of the supplements from its previous DVD release, and the 1962 version of the film is missing.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1956
1956
1955
50th Anniversary Edition
1958
80th Anniversary Edition
1942
1961
1982
1964
Warner Archive Collection
1943
1935
1975
Warner Archive Collection
1971
Director's Cut
1977
1934
2020
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1975
Warner Archive Collection
1955
Warner Archive Collection
1933
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1944
Warner Archive Collection
1949