State Fair is a 1932 novel by Phil Stong about an Iowa farm family's visit to the Iowa State Fair, where the family's two teenage children each fall in love, but ultimately break up with their respective new loves and return to their familiar life back on the farm. Thomas Leslie, the author of Iowa State Fair: Country Comes to Town, wrote that the novel State Fair is "a surprisingly dark coming-of-age story that took as its major plot device the effects of the 'worldly temptations' of the Iowa State Fair on a local farming family", capturing tensions between urban Des Moines and rural Iowa.[1]
The novel is apparently set in 1928: two fairgoers are overheard discussing the merits of the presidential candidates Herbert Hoover (born in West Branch, Iowa) and Al Smith (on page 109). Also, the wise Storekeeper character later says "We're going to have a depression and a big one before another year's out." (p. 262)
The novel became a bestseller and established Stong as a popular author.[2] Shortly after its publication, the novel was made into a Hollywood film starring Will Rogers[3] (albeit with the addition of a happy "Hollywood ending" not in the book[4]), and was subsequently adapted for the stage and screen several more times, including as a Rodgers and Hammersteinmovie musical in 1945.[4][5][6]
Plot
The novel follows the Frake family from the fictional town of Brunswick, Iowa.[1] The father, Abel, has a Hampshire boar named "Blue Boy" that he thinks can win the grand championship at the Iowa State Fair. At the beginning of the story, he bets the local Storekeeper that "Blue Boy" will win the grand prize and that the Frakes will all have a good time at the fair and be better off for it when the fair is over. The pessimistic Storekeeper accepts the bet, but also bets that if he (the Storekeeper) loses, something "worse than anything you can think of" will have happened to the Frakes at the fair unbeknownst to Abel.
The mother, Melissa, has a set of pickles and wants to win blue ribbons for them, beating the competition that has won in prior years. Teenage son Wayne has been practicing so he can win at the "hoop-la" ring toss stand and get revenge on the crooked carnival barker who had taken his money and pride in previous years. Teenage daughter Margy just wants to enjoy herself at the fair and take a break from everyday life. Both teenagers are also in the mood for a new romance. Wayne worries that his girlfriend, Eleanor, who has just spent her first year at college and will not be accompanying him to the fair, has gotten too sophisticated for him. Margy meanwhile finds herself bored with her responsible, devoted, but dull boyfriend Harry Ware, who has planned their whole lives as a farm couple already, and will also not be coming to the fair.
At the fair, both Abel's hog and Melissa's pickles win blue ribbons, and both Wayne and Margy meet and fall in love with exciting new people whose backgrounds are very different from their own. At the hoop-la stand, Wayne meets Emily, the motherless daughter of a stock show manager, who lives a rootless life in hotels following horse shows, horse races and carnivals. Emily's father is preoccupied with horses, womanizing and gambling, and leaves his daughter mostly on her own. She uses her inside knowledge of horse racing to make money by betting, wears short skirts, goes to the theater, and drinks alcohol despite Prohibition. She gives Wayne his first drink and seduces him in her hotel room. On their last night at the fair, Wayne proposes, but Emily refuses because, while she loves Wayne, he has been raised to run a farm, and she does not want to give up her cosmopolitan lifestyle to become the hard-working farm wife Wayne would need. Instead, she plans to spend her large sum of horse-racing winnings on one last night of fun with Wayne and then say a "fond farewell" forever.
While riding the roller coaster, Margy also meets a new companion, a reporter for the Des Moines Register named Pat Gilbert. Pat is experienced and widely traveled, having worked in a number of cities and had previous girlfriends; yet, he is attracted to Margy despite her relative lack of sophistication. Margy finds him more exciting than the predictable Harry Ware. Margy and Pat fall in love, she loses her virginity to him in a grove near her family's camp, and he proposes marriage. However, Margy ultimately turns Pat down because, although she loves him, she does not think he would be happy staying in one town such as Brunswick with her. Although Pat tries to convince her that he can adjust, he also has career ambitions to work in New York City, where Margy feels she would be out of her element and unlike Pat, does not have confidence that she could adapt. She realizes that, while she does not love Harry, she loves "his kind of life" and decides to marry Harry instead of Pat.
The Frake family returns home after the fair, with Wayne and Margy both in somber moods. Abel and Melissa have been kept mostly in the dark about their children's romantic escapades during the fair, especially the premarital sex (regarded as a serious moral breach in that time and place, particularly if the partners did not later marry).[7] Therefore, the parents assume that Wayne and Margy are simply sad to see the fair end. Although they are momentarily sad, Wayne and Margy, having each learned a lesson and come of age, are ready to return to the farm and resume their relationships with their previous partners, Eleanor and Harry.
Upon returning home, Abel Frake collects his five-dollar bet from the Storekeeper, since Blue Boy won the grand prize and the family all had a good time. The Storekeeper pays his bet, but looking at Wayne and Margy, he also feels sure that his own prediction came true and something "worse than anything you can think of" happened at the fair without Abel's knowledge.
Development
Before writing State Fair, Iowa native Stong worked as a writer for various newspapers and advertising agencies, and had written twelve unpublished novels.[2] In 1931, Stong's wife, Virginia Maude Swaine, suggested that he write a story about the Iowa State Fair. Although Stong and his wife were living in New York City by that time, Stong was familiar with the fair; he had attended it while growing up in Iowa, had previously covered its evening stock shows when he worked for the Des Moines Register, and his grandfather had been the superintendent of the fair's swine division for several years. Stong proceeded to write 10,000 words of his novel in only three days.[8] Stong was further encouraged to finish the book by his agent, who told him that publishers were seeking "a Sinclair Lewis story more humorous and fairer to small town people than Main Street".[2]
Robert A. McCown wrote in his foreword to the 1996 University of Iowa Press edition of State Fair that the work "is very much an Iowa book, filled with incidents and details from the author's own life." However, McCown noted that although the early 20th century state fair setting was "accurately portrayed", Stong was a novelist, not a historian, and that "there is undeniably an element of make-believe" in the work. According to McCown, Stong wrote "an artistic representation of the fair, not presenting the literal truth."[9]
Reception
The book was originally published in the late spring of 1932 by The Century Company of Philadelphia. Although Stong expected it to sell about 10,000 copies, it greatly exceeded his expectations, becoming a bestseller in New York, Chicago, and other major cities, and then being named a Literary Guild selection, causing sales to further skyrocket.[2]Grosset and Dunlap reprinted the book in 1933.[9] Other editions followed, including paperbacks, foreign editions, and one for members of the United States Armed Forces.[10]State Fair continued to attract readers for decades and is considered to be Stong's most successful work.[4]
While most reviews were favorable, the book met with some disapproval on moral grounds. Many Iowans perceived the Frake daughter and son's behavior as "loose", and Stong wrote to a friend at the time that "Iowa generally felt that Iowa girls wouldn't do such things."[9] The city library in Stong's hometown of Keosauqua, Iowa banned the book as immoral for 25 years.[11] Some reviewers also criticized the book's rosy depiction of farm life as unrealistic in the midst of the economic troubles farmers were then facing during the Great Depression.[12]
Due to the success of State Fair, Stong was able to quit his newspaper and advertising jobs.[2][5] Stong bought his mother's family farm, the George C. Duffield Estate, with proceeds from the book and subsequently made improvements and leased the property.[13]
Adaptations
The novel was adapted, under the same title, into three feature films released to theaters, a stage musical, and a television movie.[3][5][13][14] In the three feature film versions and the musical, the ending is consistently changed from the book so that Margy, after returning home from the fair, is contacted by her love interest Pat Gilbert (renamed "Jerry Dundee" in the 1962 film) and happily reunites with him. The character of Emily, including her name, her profession, and the circumstances of her breakup with Wayne, underwent the most change, being slightly different in each of the adaptations. The 1976 television version changed many aspects of the original story, including most of the character names, and kept only the basic concept of an Iowa farm family going to the Iowa State Fair, where the family's son and daughter find romance.
Actor George Golden appeared in all four State Fair films, appearing in the 1976 television movie at the age of 71.[14]
In 1933, Hollywood quickly followed up on the popular success of the previous year's bestselling novel by releasing the first version of State Fair – a Pre-Code black-and-white non-musical film starring Janet Gaynor as Margy Frake and Will Rogers as her father Abel.[3][13] In this version, the Emily character is an older, sophisticated trapeze artist named Emily Joyce, who seduces Wayne, with the most suggestive scene later being cut from the film when it was reissued two years after its release.[15] But Emily ultimately refuses to marry Wayne, implying that while she loves him, he is too good for her. Director Henry King changed the ending of the original novel for the film version, so that instead of Margy marrying her hometown boyfriend Harry, Pat telephones Margy at home after the fair, then drives to her house and the couple embrace as the film ends.[4]
In 1945, the second version of State Fair was released: a Technicolormusical starring Jeanne Crain as Margy and Dana Andrews as Pat, and featuring Rodgers and Hammerstein songs written originally for the film, rather than for a stage musical.[1] In this version, Wayne (played by Dick Haymes) falls in love with Emily Edwards (played by Vivian Blaine), the singer of a dance band performing at the Fair, and competes with the male singer in her band for her affections, before finding out from a song promoter that she is already unhappily married and didn't want to tell him. Margy and Pat again reunite after the fair.
In 1962, the musical was updated and remade into the third version of State Fair starring Pat Boone as Wayne and Ann-Margret as Emily, but with the setting moved to the Texas State Fair and the "Pat Gilbert" newspaper reporter character changed to a television interviewer named "Jerry Dundee" (played by Bobby Darin).[5][13] This version also featured additional songs written by Richard Rodgers.[16] In this version, Wayne aims to compete in an automobile race at the fair and get revenge on a competitor who previously bested and insulted him. Wayne gets engaged to Emily Porter, a showgirl at the fair, but after Emily overhears Melissa referring to her as "trash", she tearfully breaks up with Wayne, claiming that her career is more important. As in the earlier versions, Margy and her love interest, Jerry, reunite after the fair.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein film version set in Iowa was later produced as a stage musical with some additional songs, mostly composed for other Rodgers and Hammerstein productions. It premiered in St. Louis, Missouri in 1969, starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson as Abel and Melissa Frake.[17] In 1996, David Merrick produced a revised Broadway version featuring John Davidson as Abel, Andrea McArdle as Margy, and Donna McKechnie as Emily, which ran for 118 performances.[18] The production was co-directed by James Hammerstein and Randy Skinner and choreographed by Skinner. Wayne's love affair is portrayed similarly to the 1945 film; the character Emily Arden is a singer at the fair who refuses to marry Wayne because she has already been married and walked out on her husband, and does not want to hurt Wayne in the same way, choosing instead to focus on her singing career. However, unlike in the film, Emily reveals this to Wayne herself. As in the previous films, Margy and Pat reunite at the end.
In 1976, an additional made-for-television adaptation, updating the story to the 1970s and starring Vera Miles as mother Melissa (with the family name changed from "Frake" to "Bryant", other names changed and a second son and grandson added to the family), was produced in 1976 as a pilot for CBS. The pilot focused on teenage son Wayne Bryant (Mitch Vogel), an aspiring country musician, and his efforts to win a musical talent competition at the Iowa State Fair, while falling in love with a young singer named Bobbie Jean Shaw (Linda Purl) who is also competing. The daughter character, named "Karen" rather than "Margy", is married but separated from her husband and has a young son; she becomes attracted to a former classmate she meets at the fair.[14][19] The pilot did not result in a series.
Sequel
Stong was not pleased with director Henry King's decision to create a "Hollywood ending" for the initial film version of State Fair by reuniting Margy with Pat after the fair. However, twenty years after the publication of State Fair, Stong published a sequel, Return in August (1953), in which Margy, now a widow after Harry's sudden death, and Pat, now a successful reporter for elite magazines, meet again at the Iowa State Fair and resume their romance.[4][20][21]
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music.
State Fair (1933) is an American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers, and Lew Ayres. The film tells the story of a farm family's multi-day visit to the Iowa State Fair, where the parents seek to win prizes in agricultural and cooking competitions, and their teenage daughter and son each find unexpected romance. Based on the bestselling 1932 novel by Phil Stong, this was the first of three film versions of the novel released to theaters, the others being the movie musicals State Fair (1945) starring Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews, and State Fair (1962) starring Ann-Margret and Pat Boone. The 1933 version was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and another for Best Adapted Screenplay, losing to Cavalcade and Little Women respectively.
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.
Fay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their musical theater writing partnership has been called the greatest of the 20th century.
Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over 40 years from 1887 to 1927. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. The musical contributed such classic songs as "Ol' Man River", "Make Believe", and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".
Flower Drum Song was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the West End and on tour. It was adapted for a 1961 musical film.
Tom Ewell was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in The Seven Year Itch, a character he played in the Broadway production (1952–1954) and reprised for the 1955 film adaptation. He received a Tony Award for his work in the play and a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the film. Although Ewell preferred acting on stage, he accepted several other screen roles in light comedies of the 1950s, most notably The Girl Can't Help It (1956). He appeared in the film version of the musical State Fair (1962) and in a small number of additional ones released between the early 1960s and 1980s.
"It Might as Well Be Spring" is a song from the 1945 film State Fair. which features the only original film score by the songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. "It Might as Well Be Spring" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for that year.
Charles J. Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals.
Pipe Dream is the seventh musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II; it premiered on Broadway on November 30, 1955. The work is based on John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday—Steinbeck wrote the novel, a sequel to Cannery Row, in the hope of having it adapted into a musical. Set in Monterey, California, the musical tells the story of the romance between Doc, a marine biologist, and Suzy, who in the novel is a prostitute; her profession is only alluded to in the stage work. Pipe Dream was not an outright flop but was a financial disaster for Rodgers and Hammerstein.
State Fair is a musical with a book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and music by Richard Rodgers.
A state fair is a competitive and recreational gathering in the United States. It may also refer to:
Flower Drum Song is a 1961 American musical film directed by Henry Koster, adapted from the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song, written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, in turn based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese American author Chin Yang Lee. The film stars Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, Benson Fong and Juanita Hall. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
"That's For Me" is a popular song, written by Richard Rodgers, with the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was published in 1945 and included in the 1945 version of the musical film State Fair.
Philip Duffield Stong was an American author, journalist and Hollywood scenarist. He is best known for the 1932 novel State Fair, which was adapted as a film in 1933, 1945, 1962 and 1976, and as a Broadway musical in 1996.
State Fair is a 1945 American Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang, with original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is a musical adaptation of the 1933 film of the same name starring Janet Gaynor and Will Rogers. The 1933 film is an adaptation of the 1932 novel by Phil Stong. This 1945 musical film stars Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter, and Charles Winninger. State Fair was remade in 1962, starring Pat Boone and Ann-Margret.
State Fair is a 1962 American musical film directed by José Ferrer and starring Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, Ann-Margret, Tom Ewell, Pamela Tiffin and Alice Faye. A remake of the 1933 film State Fair and the 1945 film State Fair, it was considered to be a financially and critically unsuccessful film. Richard Rodgers, whose collaborator Oscar Hammerstein had died in 1960, wrote additional songs, both music and lyrics, for this film adaptation of the 1932 novel by Phil Stong.
Norma Duffield Stong "Duffy" Lyon was an American farmer and artist nicknamed The Butter Cow Lady. She was known for creating elaborate butter sculptures at the Iowa State Fair from 1960 until 2006, when she retired. She also produced sculptures on commission for politicians and celebrities, as well as for other state fairs.
State Fair is a 1976 American made-for-television drama film loosely based on the 1932 novel of the same title by Phil Stong. It was broadcast on CBS on May 14, 1976, and starred Vera Miles as Melissa Bryant, the matriarch of the family.
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