It’s the beginning of summer, so that means it’s time for picnics, parades, and fairs. One compelling story about a farm family’s visit to the yearly state fair was adapted into three very different classic films, in 1933, 1945, and 1962, all called “State Fair.”
The story, from a 1932 novel of the same name by Phil Stong, focuses on a farmer’s daughter and son during their weeklong visit to the state fair. Each film reflects the cinematic styles and mores of its era.
Pre-Code Roots
The original novel was scandalous. The story depicts wholesome Iowans who have affairs with much worldlier people they meet at the fair. The movie, made a year later, retained much of that plotline. It was a Fox Film, and Stong himself worked on the screenplay.
Will Rogers plays the father, Abel Frake. As one of Fox Film’s biggest stars, Rogers’s character is a bigger focus in this movie than in subsequent versions.
Farmer Frake is excited about entering his prized Hampshire boar, Blue Boy, in the hog contest. His wife, Melissa (Louise Dresser), is entering her pickles and minced meat in the fair’s cooking contests.
