Editing State Fair (1933 film)

{{Short description|1933 film by Henry King}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = State Fair
| image          = State Fair (1933 film poster) - Restoration.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]
| producer       = Henry King
| based_on       = {{based on|''State Fair''|[[Phil Stong]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Sonya Levien]]<br>[[Paul Green (playwright)|Paul Green]]
| starring       = [[Janet Gaynor]]<br/>[[Will Rogers]]<br/>[[Lew Ayres]]
| music          = Louis De Francesco
| cinematography = [[Hal Mohr]]
| editing        = Robert Bischoff
| distributor    = [[Fox Film Corporation]]
| released       = {{Film date|1933|02|10}}
| runtime        = 97 minutes
| budget         = $600,000<ref>"Film Costs Hit Both Extremes: Poverty Row Spends Less, Big Studios More Million-dollar Features 'Shoot the Works' Inexpensive 'Arty' Hit Due to Make Appearance" Schallert, Edwin. ''Los Angeles Times'', October 16, 1932: B13.</ref>
| gross          = $1,208,000 (rentals)<ref name=Variety>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|title=All-Time Film Rental Champs|date=October 15, 1990|page=M150}}</ref>
}}

'''''State Fair''''' is a 1933 American [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] [[comedy-drama]] [[feature film|film]] directed by [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]] and starring [[Janet Gaynor]], [[Will Rogers]], and [[Lew Ayres]].<ref name="ModeMoveie">{{cite book |title=Filmfacts: 1962 |volume=5 |page=75 |year=1962 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sr0vAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> The film tells the story of a farm family's multi-day visit to the [[Iowa State Fair]], where the parents seek to win prizes in agricultural and cooking competitions, and their teenage daughter and son each find unexpected romance.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9vNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |page=92 |title=Detour Iowa: Historic Destinations |author=Mike Whye |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2020|isbn=9781467143455 }}</ref>

Based on the [[State Fair (novel)|bestselling 1932 novel]] by [[Phil Stong]], this was the first of three film adaptations of the novel; the others were ''[[State Fair (1945 film)|State Fair]]'' (1945) starring [[Jeanne Crain]] and [[Dana Andrews]], and ''[[State Fair (1962 film)|State Fair]]'' (1962) starring [[Ann-Margret]] and [[Pat Boone]].<ref name="ModeMoveie"/> The 1933 film was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]], losing to ''[[Cavalcade (1933 film)|Cavalcade]]'' and ''[[Little Women (1933 film)|Little Women]]'' respectively.

==Plot==
In the fictional town of Brunswick, Iowa, farmer Abel Frake prepares to transport his [[Hampshire pig]], Blue Boy, to compete at the hog contest at the Iowa State Fair. Confident he will win the first-place prize, and nothing bad will happen, Abel bets five dollars against his neighbor Fred Cramer. Abel's wife Melissa, is preparing pickles and mincemeat for the food competition. Against his wife's insistence, Abel secretly adds apple brandy. Unsure about her chances of winning, Melissa adds the remaining brandy. Meanwhile, Abel's daughter Margy reconnects with childhood friend Harry Ware. He is unable to attend the fair because he is preoccupied with his dairy farm. Margy's brother, Wayne, arrives home from college to attend the fair.

After the Frakes arrive at the fair, Abel notices Blue Boy appears ill. At a carnival hoop toss game, Wayne throws the rings perfectly and meets Emily Joyce, a trapeze artist. Later that night, Wayne and Margy venture out to the circus fair. Wayne separates from his sister, and sees Emily perform a trapeze stunt. Meanwhile, Margy rides the roller coaster ride, seated next to Pat Gilbert, a newspaper reporter. When the roller coaster descends rapidly, Gilbert holds her tightly. After their ride together, the two bond over their connection to Brunswick, and have lemonade.

The next morning, Melissa notices how emotionally elevated her two children are. Abel inspects Blue Boy, in which the hog appears to be healthy again. Back at the circus, Pat reconnects with Margy, in which they decide to be friends rather than romantic lovers. They plan to meet again at Melissa's competition, which Pat is covering for his newspaper. At the food competition, Melissa wins the first-place prize for both her pickles and mincemeat. Having fallen in love, Pat and Margy then watch a [[Harness racing|harness horse race]] and walk through the woods later that night.

Back at Emily's place, she and Wayne share drinks. Emily changes into her nightgown, and the two sleep together. The next morning, Abel tries to wake up Blue Boy for the hog contest, succeeding at the last minute. The hog judges inspect Blue Boy and award Abel first prize. Later that night, Wayne apologizes to his father for missing the hog contest. Wayne and Margy both leave for their final night at the fair. Alone with Melissa, Abel reads in the newspaper that one of the food judges is sick from delirium after eating Melissa's brandy-spiked mincemeat.

Despite their love, Emily decides not to marry Wayne. On their final night, Margy tells Pat about her feeling for Harry back home. Meanwhile, Abel and Melissa enjoy the amusement rides together. As the Frakes leave the state fair, Melissa notices her children's despondent demeanor. Back home, Melissa confesses putting apple brandy in her mincemeat. Abel collects his five-dollar bet from Fred. Margy, still depressed, receives a phone call from Pat and runs out into a rainstorm to reunite with him.

==Production==
Though the adaptation deleted a storyline about a sexual relationship between the daughter and a journalist, it retained a similar storyline about the seduction of the son ([[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]]) by a trapeze artist ([[Sally Eilers]]). This caused trouble with the [[Hays Code|Hays Commission]] when Fox re-released the film in 1935. The censors insisted on the deletion of a scene where Foster and Eilers are heard talking off screen while the camera shows a rumpled bed and a discarded negligee. The cut scene has never been restored.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?id=455912%7C463931|title=State Fair (1933)|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222221413/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?id=455912%7C463931 |archive-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Janet Gaynor]] as Margy Frake
* [[Will Rogers]] as Abel Frake
* [[Lew Ayres]] as Pat Gilbert
* [[Sally Eilers]] as Emily Joyce
* [[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]] as Wayne Frake
* [[Louise Dresser]] as Melissa Frake
* [[Frank Craven]] as Storekeeper
* [[Victor Jory]] as Hoop Toss Barker
* Frank Melton as Harry Ware
* [[Erville Alderson]] as Martin (uncredited) 
* [[Hobart Cavanaugh]] as Professor Fred Coin (uncredited) 
* [[Harry Holman]] as Professor Tyler Cramp (uncredited)

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive film|id=state-fair-1933|title=State Fair}}
*''State Fair'' essay [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/state%20fair.pdf] by Aubrey Solomon at [[National Film Registry]]
*[http://www.flyrope.com/sections/shows/index.php?var=100000836 Flyrope.com page] (stage version)
* {{IMDb title|id=0024610|title=State Fair}} (1933 version)
* {{TCMDb title|id=91336}}
* {{AFI film|id=3442|title=State Fair}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|state_fair1933|State Fair}}
* [https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_53-01-04_ep134-State_Fair.mp3 ''State Fair''] on [[Theatre Guild on the Air]]: January 4, 1953
* [https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_50-12-31_ep056-State_Fair.mp3 ''State Fair''] at ''Theatre Guild on the Air'' December 31, 1950

{{Henry King}}
{{State Fair}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Fair (1933 Film)}}
[[Category:1933 films]]
[[Category:1933 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films based on American novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Henry King]]
[[Category:Films set in Iowa]]
[[Category:Fox Film films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Sonya Levien]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:State Fair (franchise)]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]