This 1945 musical film stars Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter, and Charles Winninger.

Joint musical direction by Alfred Newman and Charles E. Henderson is of orchestral arrangements principally composed by Edward B. Powell.

Father Abel bets his neighbor, Dave Miller, five dollars that his boar, Blue Boy will will win first prize, and that the entire Frake family will have a good time with no bad experiences.

Daughter Margy, melancholic while packing, muses the Fair will provide a welcome break from the farm's mundane routine.

At the fair, Wayne's first stop is the ring-tossing booth where he was cheated out of eight dollars the previous year.

Wayne tries to make a date with the girl, but she says she is late for an appointment and rushes off, promising to be on the midway that evening.

He suggests they spend time together at the fair, and, if things do not work out, they can amicably part ways.

When Blue Boy seems sick, Abel's friend, Frank, brings in his prize pig, Esmeralda.

That evening on the midway, Pat finds Margy while Wayne looks for the girl he met at the ring toss booth.

Wayne discovers she is not the chief of police's daughter and is actually Emily Edwards, the singer with the dance band performing at the fair.

Abe is excited about Blue Boy's chances, while at the pickle and mincemeat judging, mother Melissa is worried about her biggest competitor, who wins every year.

But Melissa wins first prize for her sour pickles and a special award for her mincemeat with the brandy.

Meanwhile, Wayne asks Emily to spend the evening with him, but she declines because she has to host a birthday party for Marty, a fellow singer in the band.

Emily runs after Wayne and tells him she will get rid of the party guests and spend the rest of the evening just with him.

The next day, Abel rushes to get Blue Boy ready for the grand champion boar competition.

Pat and Margy embrace in the middle of the road as Wayne, now reunited with girlfriend Eleanor, drives by, happily hugging her.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film "no more than an average screen musical, with a nice bucolic flavor here and there.

"[3] Variety wrote: "Coupled with an excellent cast, 'Fair' retains the old charm [of the original] and yet adds some of its own.

[4] Harrison's Reports called it "good, wholesome entertainment, capably directed and well acted.

Actor Harry Morgan, who played Sherman T. Potter for much of M*A*S*H's run, including the episode in question, appears in State Fair as a carnival barker.

[10] When General George Marshall returned from his frustrating peace mission to China in 1946, he said that State Fair did more to tell the Chinese about America, “about the heart and soul and about its people than I could possibly have told them in hours of talking.