So Long at the Fair (1950)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Directors:

Antony Darnborough
Terence Fisher

Writers:

Hugh Mills (writer)
Anthony Thorne (writer)

Release Date:

29 March 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Vicky Barton and her brother, Johnny, take a trip to the 1896 Paris Exhibition. They both sleep in seperate rooms in a hotel...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Disappearance | Beautiful Woman | Remake | Plague

Cast

Jean Simmons	...	Vicky Barton
Dirk Bogarde	...	George Hathaway
David Tomlinson	...	Johnny Barton
Marcel Poncin	...	Narcisse
Cathleen Nesbitt	...	Madame Hervé
Honor Blackman	...	Rhoda O'Donovan
Betty Warren	...	Mrs. O'Donovan
Zena Marshall	...	Nina
Eugene Deckers	...	Day Porter
Felix Aylmer	...	British Consul
André Morell	...	Doctor Hart
Austin Trevor	...	Police Commissaire
Natasha Sokolova	...	Charlotte
Nelly Arno	...	Madame Verni

Runtime:

Argentina:81 min | USA:86 min | UK:86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Gainsborough Pictures

Trivia:

The studio planned to dupe the public into thinking that the attractive pairing of Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde was mirrored in real life. This backfired suddenly however when Simmons ran off with Stewart Granger.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the end of the film at the hospital, there is a statue of St.Therese of Lisieux. The Exposition took place in 1869 five years before Therese was born, and she wasn't made a saint until about 1925.

Movie Connections:

Follows Verwehte Spuren (1938)

Soundtrack:

Carriage and Pair

Entertaining and suspenseful

Having seen this movie again after many years, I was surprised how well it holds up.

Jean Simmons gave a convincing performance as the young girl, terrified and confused by the disappearance overnight of her brother and the refusal of the hotel staff to acknowledge that he even existed. Dirk Bogarde gives his usual excellent performance as the English artist who comes to her rescue.

Although the plot is fairly predictable, the suspense is maintained right to the end, the setting of Paris during the Great Exhibition is picturesque and both Miss Simmons and Mr Bogarde look delightful What more can you ask for?