STATE FAIR--the 1962 version--is barely watchable. If it weren't for the Rodgers & Hammerstein songs, it would be a complete misfire. As it is, it just makes you yearn for the simple charm of the 1945 version that starred JEANNE CRAIN, DANA ANDREWS, DICK HAYMES and VIVIAN BLAINE in the roles occupied here by PAMELA TIFFIN, BOBBY DARIN, PAT BOONE and ANN-MARGRET.
Jose Ferrer really struck out with this one, eliminating all the charm of the Technicolored version starring Crain as Margy, the girl who meets a newspaper man and falls hard. Then too, FAY BAINTER was ideal as the homespun mother worried about her chance of winning the prize at the fair for her jam, while here it's an ill-used ALICE FAYE making a sentimental return to Fox after years of retirement from the big screen.
The songs are done only adequately, no more, and ANN-MARGRET cheapens the story with her interpretation of the singer at the fair. And even ALICE FAYE's throaty way with a song seems diminished by time.
Summing up: Completely tasteless, boring version of the "American as apple pie" musical that first surfaced in 1945.
Jose Ferrer really struck out with this one, eliminating all the charm of the Technicolored version starring Crain as Margy, the girl who meets a newspaper man and falls hard. Then too, FAY BAINTER was ideal as the homespun mother worried about her chance of winning the prize at the fair for her jam, while here it's an ill-used ALICE FAYE making a sentimental return to Fox after years of retirement from the big screen.
The songs are done only adequately, no more, and ANN-MARGRET cheapens the story with her interpretation of the singer at the fair. And even ALICE FAYE's throaty way with a song seems diminished by time.
Summing up: Completely tasteless, boring version of the "American as apple pie" musical that first surfaced in 1945.