C’mon Pat, you can do it…
STATE FAIR—–Corrrnnee! Pretty hard to handle except as camp, and too long at 118 minutes to sit still with that in mind. In 1962 plonks the third (1932,1945) version of a Phil Strong story set at the Iowa State Fair, concerning the romantic-comedic escapades of your basic All-American family of four.
Dad (Tom Ewell) has a hog to show; Mom (Alice Faye) has pies to gobble; Sis (Pamela Tiffin) meets a jivey-too-cool Romeo (Bobby Darin); and Junior (Pat Boone) gets his wholesome mitts on the Cornbelt’s hottest tamale (Ann-Margret).
Music is by Rodgers & Hammerstein, as in ’45, along with five new tunes, all equal in their lack of specialness. Some of the shots of the commotion at the fair are pretty, and Ann-Margret heats up a dance number with her amazing figure, but otherwise it’s square as a preachers hair. Directed by Jose Ferrer, it fizzled out at #23 for the year. With Wally Cox, David Brandon, Clem Harvey and Robert Foulk.
