This 1933 film based on a novel of the same name is the first of many setting the theme of an Iowa state fair in Olden Days a slice of life in which many people expect many things to experience unexpected turns taking each in different directions. Laid back idealist Will Rogers is married to work and worry all day Louise Dressler in another brilliant portrayal of the couple as leads. Oscar winning daughter Janet Gaynor leads an ensemble cast in which no performer is written for a stronger role focus than is the other. She is unwillingly courted by Lew Ayres who in the end convinces her he can make her happy. Her brother is future director Norman Foster who interestingly enough in pre code film says racy lines not again permissible in Hollywood for generations yet never strips off his street clothes for the camera which seems more the norm once racier language and inferences ended with the Hays code. He is helped out of a jam by Sally Eilers, a hard boiled circus girl who wants from him a good time only while she works this gig. There is very strong panning photography of the farm and fair scenes which add visual interest as well as solid ensemble acting by the tight cast. The musical which premiered 12 years later with a lot of the 1933 dialogue between musical interludes features a score by Rodgers and Hammerstein perhaps the only one not opening as a stage musical. An enticing slice of life for those who remember this era brilliantly filmed.
Review of State Fair
