State Fair (1933)
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State Fair Movie Review
State Fair is a 1933 Pre-Code drama film directed by Henry King and starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers and Lew Ayres. It’s a pretty slight stuff.
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“Wayne’s got a girl.
So did Henry VIII, eight of them,
but he always showed up at every state affair with a new one“
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It follows a farm family’s multi-day visit to the their state fair where the parents seek to win prizes in agricultural and cooking competitions while their teenage daughter and son each find unexpected romance. Needless to say, this movie is very much a product of its time as the fairs aren’t all that popular nowadays, though they are an essential part of Americana, I guess.
I did not mind its dated feel, but I did have a problem with the weakness of the overall plot. Nothing of true significance happens here and it’s all rather inconsequential. The romantic and especially sexual elements worked for me, but the rest of the drama was underdeveloped and simply uninteresting.
The film has a pretty strong cast and I wish that these actors got more to do as none had a memorable role. Will Rogers is typical and Sally Eilers is also a familiar character, but both Janet Gaynor and Lew Ayres give very good, charming performances in boring roles.
State Fair is actually very well shot with its competent cinematography being its biggest asset. The fair itself is well utilized and it made for a fine romantic setting of a kind. The score is forgettable though and the direction from Henry King is rather unremarkable. The Academy obviously liked his movies as evidenced by a high number of Best Picture nominees that he directed, but in my opinion he’s a rather weak director.
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Now, State Fair was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay which it thankfully lost on both accounts. And I cannot even begin to tell you how unreasonable either of those nominations are as the script is so weak and the overall movie has no bigger merits and it did not stand the test of time at all. It has its charming moments for sure, but nothing more than that in my opinion.
State Fair has its charming romantic moments for sure and it’s certainly very well shot, but the overall plot is a rather uninteresting and slight stuff. The cast is strong, but they weren’t given much to do owing to a weak script and characterization. Henry King’s unremarkable direction and the film’s obviously dated material led to what is probably the worst Best Picture nominee from this year.
