Let's be realistic.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Outside of The Sound of Music, this is my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein film. I probably don't have much to add to the many reviews already posted about this film. But I wanted to impress on you, the reader, that, if you haven't seen this already, then you really need to see this story of an average all-American family on the way to their state fair, with games and rides, cotton candy and candied apples, contests for baking, livestock, etc., and a lot of fun and angst too. The music is just great, including the Oscar-winning song, "It Might As Well Be Spring" sung by Jeanne Crain, who made many a man's heart go a-twitter. At the fair, she meets Dana Andrews. Dick Haymes is her brother who meets singer Vivian Blaine, and Charles Winninger and Fay Bainter are their parents. The film feels like home to me. That's just about the best compliment a film can get, and they don't come any better than this one.

I've seen this musical several times before and enjoyed it well enough, but it never really impressed me. Until this time. I put on the 1962 version, watched about 10 minutes, and decided to switch to the 1945 original. Within five minutes it had introduced the theme and had me hooked, and by 10 minutes it had me laughing at some of the same scenes that left me cold with the remake.While I am a great fan of Rodgers & Hammerstein, I hadn't paid much attention to State Fair before. I had always considered Oklahoma! the beginning, and it is, as far as Broadway goes with a debut of 1943, but the film didn't come out until 1955. Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote mostly musicals with an edgy social commentary and included some tears, which are missing from State Fair, which looks weak by comparison. When viewed as their first film, and second musical, the perspective changes. And I'm not so often in the mood for an emotionally stressful musical. State Fair is Rodgers & Hammerstein's most cheerful musical, and their only light comedy, though there is some comedy in all their works. I think in the old broadcast TV rerun movie days, we took this genre for granted, and when I saw State Fair, I basically said, nice movie, and promptly forgot about it. Now I appreciate how delicately and effectively the director Walter Lang worked in the comedy, as well as developed the heart-warming romantic subplots, which modern movies so often flub. I really laughed and chuckled at many scenes, especially the pickle contest tasting, and I genuinely cared about the characters. All the acting was on the mark, even the minor parts, and every scene generated the appropriate emotion, without feeling manipulated. You have to remember when this was made, near the end of WWII, and when it was released, Aug. 30, 1945, shortly after the surrender of Japan. With such timing, Americans must have rejoiced at the return to normalcy State Fair embodied. An edgy, violent musical like Oklahoma! would been wrong for the time. I was just re-watching the Harvey Girls, which came out in January 1946, and it, too, was a light Americana musical. What you see in these two is the birth of the modern film musical, with singing and dancing and a strong plot, but without the crutch of having the leading actors play professional musicians or dancers, as in the 1930s Astaire musicals. The Wizard of Oz in 1939 was actually ahead of these two movie musicals, though it was aimed at children. There is a tip of the hat in State Fair to an even earlier musical, also for children, Disney's enormously successful, but enormously risky, Snow White, the first full-length color animated movie in 1937. Listen to the orchestration and style of the music as Mrs. Frake prepares the mincemeat in the kitchen, particularly as she is grating something -- it matches the style as Snow White is cleaning the kitchen of the seven dwarfs. Their song My State Fair even seems similar to the chords and pace of Disney's Whistle While You Work. I bet audiences in 1945 caught the reference. I guess Rodgers and Hammerstein are giving credit to Snow White as a great musical, and the first to so fully integrate music and plot, as well as including some edgy conflict from the evil queen, perhaps influencing their own approach. The orchestration style reappears briefly near the end of the movie. When I finished watching State Fair, I felt good. This is one of a handful of films that I think you can count on to cheer you up if you are feeling bad, including Princess Bride and Dave. I came away with a new appreciation for the craftsmanship of director Walter Lang, whose credits include The King and I, and No Business Like Show Business.I was also surprised to find that the same Vivian Blaine who plays Emily Edwards also played Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls in 1955. Now that's acting. As a footnote, the philosophizing by Dave Miller was a reference to Ralph Waldo Emerson's great essay, Compensation. This is the underlying theme of the story, and the bet establishes a certain tension that carries through the film. But we see that bad does not have to balance good, if we choose happiness. With its focus on bringing a pig to the state fair, this is an obvious companion to Charlotte's Web; another is Friendly Persuasion. All are fine family movies. I think it is safe to say the original is the best. But this is not to put down the 1962 remake. Actually, I think it would be a fine thing to remake State Fair every couple of decades, setting the story in a new generation. State fairs are in at least their third century now. The fundamentals haven't changed much. I think this is a tradition Rodgers & Hammerstein would have approved.

This film has been filmed many times (there's also a Will Rogers and a later Pat Boone version—and probably several others) and it's the Rogers and Hammerstein musical version of the story. My reason for watching it was simple…it had Dana Andrews in it. He's a wonderful and mostly underrated actor and I try to see everything in which he appears. He is assisted by a fine cast including Jean Crain (who is simply radiant), Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Frank McHugh, Percy Kilbride, Charles Winninger, Harry Morgan, Donald Meek and Fay Bainter.The film is about the adventures of a nice farm family, the Frakes, going to a fair in the Midwest United States. Each has a story that is explored in the film. Dad (Winninger) has a sow who he thinks can take the grand prize. Mom hopes to win the prize for her homemade recipes. The son (Haymes) wants to get back at a carnie but ends up finding a beautiful girl (Blaine). And the apparent star, Crain, is vaguely disaffected with her farm life and her fiancé. When she meets the newspaper man from the big city (Andrews), he offers the prospect of excitement…which is wonderful and a bit scary at the same time.Some might find the old fashion story and music a bit corny, but I felt it actually had a lot of charm. It's the sort of nice old fashioned tale that Hollywood did so well in the old days—and the sort of picture they just don't make any more. I think it's all very sweet and a slice of pure Americana—and first-rate all the way. This is a bit of a surprise for me, actually, as I am not usually a fan of musicals. I think some of the reason I liked it is that the songs are secondary to the wonderful plot. And, secondly, you really, really care about the characters—they are well-written and charming.Although the music in this film is nice, the lyrics frankly sometimes made no sense at all. Clearly this is not among the best by the famed duo of Rogers and Hammerstein, though a few songs were lovely (such as "Falling in Love" and "Maybe"). Here are a couple excerpts from their dopier songs--"I feel so gay in a melancholy way" and "Our state fair is the very best state fair in the state". If this makes sense to you, please let me know what they meant!! Fun songs…occasionally insane lyrics! In fact, had it not been for these sometimes weird lyrics, I might have even given this song a 10—it was that enjoyable.

The 1962 version. This one is so much better.Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Harry Morgan, Fay Bainter, and a few quirky characters and animals.Given the subject matter, a state fair where everyone is going to accomplish something for the summer. Fay Bainter as Mom, with her mincemeat pie competition; Dad and his prize hog: Blue Boy. And of course the siblings, who want only to find love. Agreed some of the Rogers and Hammerstein lyrics are a bit hard to swallow "Dollars to Donuts"" etc., but the surroundings give that sense of rural America and Iowa.Another good song is "I owe Iowa"...has a nice feel to it. Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain make an unlikely but pleasant couple. The visuals of the fair in the evening are effective and somewhat reminiscent of a dream sequence.All's well that ends well. It is a nice story and gives us a slice of Americana that is hard to find these days, although it still can be found in parts of the mid-south, and middle America if you look. Very good film for children and families. 9/10