I think this is the worst movie musical I've ever seen, especially for its time, when so many great musicals were made. This must be the worst Rodgers & Hammerstein work ever. The songs were forgettable, the acting was terrible, the story was almost non-existent. It wasn't funny, it wasn't dramatic, it wasn't anything. Really, the only good thing I can say is that Jeanne Crain was a beauty. Too bad she couldn't act.
shareI actually agree with you for the most part. This film does have one redeeming quality though. The song "It Might As Well Be Spring" is one of the best Rodgers & Hammerstein songs ever written. Then again, I'd much rather listen to the Margaret Whiting or Dick Haymes recordings of the song.
shareYou seem to be forgetting:
-"A Grand Night For Singing" is another of R & H's greatest songs/waltzes.
-The other songs are above average and very memorable, in comparison to most song scores, and all the songs were well performed.
-Dana Andrews is always a plus.
Believe me. I didn't forget the other songs in the score. I just never liked them, including "It's a Grand Night for Singing". I find it just ordinary. "It Might as Well Be Spring is a great song. The rest of the score is ordinary (That's For Me and Isn't It Kind of Fun) and sometimes annoying (All I Owe I Owe Iowa). Again, it's just my opinion. Just the same, I am a big fan of Richard Rodgers music, but two scores of his that I never really cared for were "State Fair" and "Me and Juliet", except maybe for one song in each. If you were to ask me what were Rodgers best waltzes, they would include "Hello Young Lovers", "Out of My Dreams", "Falling In Love With Love", "This Nearly Was Mine" and "Do I Hear a Waltz?". I find "It's a Grand Night for Singing" clunky and contrived.
shareYou are entitled to your opinion--we disagree.
You dare omit from a list of Rodgers' best waltzes "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "The Carousel Waltz"???
How dare I! LOL!
He really was a master at writing beaurtiful waltzes.
'Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" is one of his best and "Carousel Waltz" was, of course, a masterpiece. To add a couple of more, we can also add "Lover", "Ten Minutes Ago", and "Wait Til You See Her". In addition to not caring for "It's A Grand Night for Singing", another waltz by Rodgers that does nothing for me is "This Was a Real Nice Clambake", but I think the rest of the score to "Carousel" is mostly wonderful.
This doesn't directly relate to this thread, and I'm very late to the party, but I had to tell someone (someone who cares about R&H 2.0) a personal revelation I recently had, which was that, not only do I actually have a favorite R&H score (something I would've thought akin to a good mother choosing a favorite among her children), but that favorite is, of all things, FLOWER DRUM SONG (a score that only barely even sort of contains a waltz, in "You Are Beautiful"). I realized it after going on a FLOWER DRUM SONG binge, listening on headphones to the original Broadway cast recording, the movie soundtrack, and the Broadway revival recording (a revival of which I disapproved on principle, but couldn't help loving, when I saw the tour of it), while doing relatively mindless chores (something I recommend). I felt kind of like Mr. Darcy, realizing to his surprise that he loves Elizabeth Bennett, of all women! Anyway, I feel FLOWER DRUM has no duds (duds like, imo, "This Was A Real Nice Clambake") and many delights, and I love it best. There-- I said it. Now tell me why I'm wrong, if you feel like it, and have the time. And go listen to FLOWER DRUM SONG.
Multiplex: 100+ shows a day, NONE worth watching. John Sayles' latest: NO distribution. SAD.
"Flower Drum Song" has a wonderful score. Can't go along with it being as good as "Carousel" or "The Sound of Music."
If by "duds" you mean below R & H average, I'd include "Fan Tan Fannie," "Gliding Through My Memories," "I am Going To Like It Here" and "Like a God."
Sorry to disappoint you, but "You are Beautiful" is not a waltz--it's in 4/4 time. There are no waltzes in this score--I believe the only R & H score not to include a waltz.
Thanks for your reply, which I only just found. So nice to interact with people who appreciate the wonder of good musical theater, and music generally. Of course you're right that "You Are Beautiful" is not a waltz, and thanks for correcting that. Hampered by a lack of formal music training, I was misled by the fact that one could dance a slow waltz to that song.
Anyway, having finally heard the entire (I think) score to CAROUSEL, thanks to the recent PBS-NY Philharmonic broadcast, now I'm torn; they even made sort of a case for "Clambake," which I've always hated. I have to find someone from whom I can get a recording of that broadcast, which I watched and listened to numerous times on PBS.org, while it was available. Though it had some problems, it was mostly glorious, and made me realize I had never heard the score properly. So I love it so much more now.
Re. FLOWER DRUM songs, for me, "Fan Tan Fannie" and "Gliding Through My Memories" are meant to be corny, hokey, even a little sleazy, while giving silly fun, so I kind of set them aside, as fulfilling their function. Especially in the revisal version of the show, I really like "Like a God," which has a wonderful, exuberant, soaring spirit. In the movie (the only version I've seen of the original, given the rarity of productions), I don't feel it's placed very well; we don't have much investment yet in the character, or in what he's singing about. In the revisal, it's a great emotional climax, break-through and turning point, and makes the audience (well, me, and other folks I've talked to about it) feel joyful for Wang Ta.
I find "I Am Going To Like It Here" a very beautiful song, and kind of perfect for the character. She's speaking her thoughts in her simple English, as they occur to her, one idea leading to the next, more wonderful one, and then circling back, her thoughts racing around. It progresses musically and lyrically, tentatively, but with quiet, increasing excitement, leading to her bold yet humble resolution. Then (at least on the first OBCR), it floats out on wistful, limpid waves of music--I love that ending.
So, I care too much about this stuff, I know. Can't help it.
Multiplex: 100+ shows a day, NONE worth watching. John Sayles' latest: NO distribution. SAD.
You Are Beautiful, from Flower Drum Song (the music from which I am very familiar) is not a waltz. It's a slow 4/4 ballad, like the ballroom tempo "slow foxtrot". Go listen to it again - and count the bars.
shareI always like to "review" a movie before watching it with my wife and am quite disappointed with the replies available.
I do not know anything about film making or film history, except what I like from the heart.
This is by far one of R & H's best movies with the clean, wholesome, naieve teenagers who go to the State Fair looking for some excitement to overcome the routine chores of farming day and night all year long.
I was apprenhensive at the connections made with the City Folk who weren't all bad, but had their sophisticated ways to use to their manipulating the kids just a little.
All had a great time and eventually got their hearts broken, but in the end never compromised their traditional values for a "moment's pleasure" for a life of suffering.
And, what a guilty pleasure to see Mother give in to adding "Demon Rum" to her mincemeat pie?, with a little help from Pa? Who would have thought two pigs could be stars of a show?
Percy Killbride practically stole the show with is perpetual penny-pinching ways so craftfully carried over to the movie 'The Egg & I' as Pa Kettle.
I am not going to kibble over the costumes, customs and courtesies of this movie for I am well aware of the brand of magic found at The Fair and how easily it is to fall in love for a lifetime.
We still remember the Fresno County Fair of 46 years ago and embrace its influence in our marriage.
Now, sit back and enjoy the ride. JG
Wagner, what the hell are you smoking ?? You must be deaf in one ear and half deaf in the other ! I know you're eyes are full of cataracts, because you didn't the movie, someone related it to you !! You are really the southern end of a northbound mule !!
shareI love this movie I had it on vhs back in the day then my vcr broke down then I got a crappy dvd player witch I stand corrected at lest vhs had full screen movies where it seems that anything on a disc is about 80 percent widescreen. The sad part is that I got this movie again on dvd in the rodgers and hammerstein clection acorse me being stupid I spent about 50 bucks on it and it is not even complete it does not have flower drum song or the musical cinderella. And 90 percent of the collection is widescreen and full of features that I did not even care about I just wanted it full screen the way it was ment to be like the vhs version.
shareThe 1945 State Fair is not in widescreen. Aside from some experiments in the late 1920s and early 1930s, widescreen did not become popular until 1953. The 1962 version is in widescreen.
Aside from the 1945 State Fair, all the R&H musicals were filmed after 1953 and are in widescreen. That is "the way it was me[a]nt to be". The full screen versions were formatted that way for broadcast on television. Some DVDs come with both full screen and widescreen versions, but this is becoming increasingly rare, especially since widescreen-format TVs have become popular. I like seeing "the big picture" now ... probably been brainwashed by the pro-widescreen featurette that is frequently shown on Turner Classic Movies.
The reason your set did not include either Cinderella or Flower Drum Song is that, with these two exceptions, the R&H musicals were all produced by 20th Century-Fox, and they own the rights to them. Flower Drum Song was, I believe, filmed by Universal, and all three versions of Cinderella were television programs, not movies. Flower Drum Song and the 1957 Cinderella are both currently available on DVD. The 1965 and 1997 versions of Cinderella are no longer in print and are difficult to find. I found a copy of the 1965 version in a bargain bin at the local Superstore (a Canadian store) for about 8 bucks a few years ago. You might luck into a copy at some place like Wal-Mart or another bargain store. All versions are available on eBay, but the 1965 version appears to be a high-priced collector's item now. Glad I got mine when I did!
I like DVDs and enjoy the extras, but I kept my VCR and most of my videos since not all of them have been released on DVD, and I like to record TV programs. If you still have your VHS tapes, you could probably find a functional VCR in a thrift store for next to nothing, or, again, on eBay, where they're currently going for about $20.
Well, I can't just call out "Oh, butler", can I? Somebody's name may be "Butler"!
I saw Wagner's so-called review of "State Fair," and I would like to review his review. How do you spell crap? Oh W A G N E R. Sure, the story was hokey, but the music, the performers, etc. added up to a beautiful bundle of warmth and fun.
As a former Iowan (Fort Madison and Waterloo, at opposite ends of the state) I can let the world know that the people of that state and I came in contact with many are top of the line, very, very nice to know similar to those in the movie. W should at least have mentioned that Dick Haymes was one of that era's finest singers.
Okay, W go back to reading your nursery rhymes. As an old-time comic used to say - what a maroon.
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What I didn't like was the fact that the entire picture was filmed on a set, even the midway and campground scenes. Instead they needed more location scenes. To get the feel of being at a real fair, it should have been filmed entirely on location, instead of a few seconds of stock footage.
Additionaly I agree that the songs were largely "forgettable" for a Rogers and Hammerstein musical.
"We're on a mission from God."
I haven't even seen it yet but it can't be that bad if it has Jeanne.
share