September may mean back to school but it also means it’s time for town and country fairs! The air is crisp, the harvest is wrapping up, and everyone heads to the fair to relax with their friends and neighbors.
Here are a few movies that celebrate those good times in one way or another:
Babe (1995) Totally charming fable has intelligent piglet Babe being raised by matriarch sheepdog Fly, and learning the art of sheep herding along with his new canine brothers. Starring James Cromwell.
Charlotte‘s Web (2006) Faithful to E.B. White’s timeless 1952 children’s novel about a young girl who rescues runt pig Wilbur from the smokehouse. Starring Dakota Fanning and Julia Roberts.
It happened at the World’s Fair (1963) Fun and light romance comedy has Elvis and a companion being escorted through the Seattle World’s Fair by a fetching Chinese girl. Starring Elvis Presley.
Ma and Pa Kettle at the fair (1952) The Kettle’s eldest daughter Rosie want to go to college so Ma enters the county fair baking contest to win some money and Pa buys a decrepit old nag to enter in the fair’s horse race. Starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
My girl (1991) An 11 year old tomboy must come to grips with the realities of life. Starring Anna Chlumsky, Macaulay Culkin, Dan Akroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
State Fair (1945) Glossy slice of Americana about a family at the Iowa State Fair, featuring plenty of great songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Starring Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Fay Bainter, and Percy Kilbride.
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Wonderful music in this charming tale of a St. Louis family during the 1903 World’s Fair. Starring Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, and June Lockhart.
Carousel (1956) Much loved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical about a swaggering carnival barker who tries to change his life after he falls in love with a good woman. Starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.
Something wicked this way comes (1983) Two young boys discover the evil secret of a mysterious traveling carnival that visit their town. Starring Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, and Pam Grier.
(Synopses are from VideoHound’s Golden Movie Retriever)
Scott Handville, Assistant Library Director