20th Century-Fox Dynamo (February 1960)

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RODGERS’ AND HAMMERSTEIN’S State Fair Star-Packed, Super-Musical From Phil Stong’s Novel Unquestionably one of the major events of this entertainment year, 1960, will be Richard Rodgers’ and Oscar Hammerstein’s “State Fair”. Unlike the two prior picturizations this company made of Phil Stong’s best-selling novel. Buddy Adler stresses the fact that this CinemaScope-De Luxe Color super-special will not be a musical. “However”, Mr. Adler announces, “ ‘State Fair’ will have plenty of songs, new songs, by Rodgers and Hammerstein.” Present plans schedule “State Fair” for domestic release late this year, with actual filming to start late in the Spring. For the past six years the studio has been beseiged by exhibitors with requests to make “State Fair”, the feeling being that this is one of the “best family stories ever filmed”. “State Fair” is no stranger to the most famous song-writing team in show busi- ness. The 1945 version was adapted for the screen by Hammerstein and featured the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Among those tunes were “It Might As Well Be Spring”, which won an Academy Award as the best song of that year, and “It’s A Grand Night For Singing”. The first picturization of “State Fair” was made by this company in 1933 and co-starred the late Will Rogers, Janet Gaynor, Lew Ayres, Frank Craven and others. The 1945 musicalization starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Charles Winninger, Donald Meek and Frank McHugh. “State FaitT has been allotted a budget comparable with that which went into the making of MI of this company’s top musicals. It will feature an all-star cast, with Pat Boone, who is currently enjoying the greatest success of his entertainment career in “Journey To The Center Of The Earth” as well as with his weekly ABC-TV network show, the only personality assigned a role to date. Significant of the vast scale on which “State Fair” will be made is the fact that it will be produced by Charles Brackett and directed by Walter Lang. This is a reunion for the pair, for they collaborated in similar capacities in the production of another Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, “The King And I.” However, it is interesting to note that Walter Lang directed the 1945 “State Fair”. He can boast having directed an incomparably long list of musical successes for this company, including “Tin Pan Alley”, “Coney Island”, “When My Baby Smiles At Me”, “On The Riviera”, “With A Song In My Heart”, “Call Me Madam” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”. His latest major achievement is the Todd-AO production of “Can Can”. “R & H” Symbol Of Musical Supremacy 66 66 Although Richard Rodgers and Os- car Hammerstein II (right) have been a music and lyrics team for only 17 years, they have been friends since they attended Columbia University. Rodgers’ successful composing began in 1925 when, with the late Lorenz Hart as lyricist, he wrote the music for “The Garrick Gaieties.” Then, also with Hart, he wrote such stage suc- cesses as “Dearest Enemy”, “The Girl Friend”, “Connecticut Yankee”, “Pre- sent Arms”, “Spring Is Here”, “Jumbo”, On Your Toes”, “Babes In Arms”, I Married An Angel”, “Pal Joey” and others. Prior to collaborating with Rodgers, Hammerstein had written lyrics for a fabulous succession of hits. With Otto Harbach, Rudolph Friml, Jerome Kern and Sigmund Romberg, as co-authors and composers, Hammerstein wrote such major stage musical triumphs as Wildfiower”, “Rose Marie”, “Sunny”, The Desert Song”, “Show Boat”, New Moon”, “Music In The Air” and “Sweet Adeline”. Rodgers and Hammerstein initiated their collaboration in 1943, and “R & H” went on to be acknowledged the most extraordinary, singular, success- ful and respected team in the musical theatre: the symbol of undisputed supremacy in contemporary musical entertainment. Their first collaboration, “Okla- homa !”, revolutionized the American 66 66 66 1 RICHARD RODGERS AND musical, with the emphasis on story and the songs an integral part of de- velopment of the story. Thereafter, they turned out “Carou- sel”, “South Pacific”, “The King And I”, “Me And Juliet”, “Pipe Dream”. Currently they have two SRO succes- ses simultaneously playing on Broad- OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II way: “Flower Drum Song” at the St. James, and “The Sound Of Music” at the Lunt-Fontaine theatre. Besides, “R & H” produced “I Re- member Mama”, “John Loves Mary”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Happy Birth- # day”, “John Loves Mary”, the 1947 re- vival of “Show Boat” and “Happy Time” as well as other stage produc- tions of their own creation. Among the numerous honors be- stowed upon them, space here permits mention only of their Pulitzer Prizes for “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific”. No other combination of writers in the theatre or literature can boast hav- ing twice won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1957 they collaborated on a CBS- TV network “spectacular”, titled “Cin- derella”. In 1952 Rodgers wrote the score for NBC-TV’s “Victory At Sea”. Hammerstein began his film collabo- ration career with “Viennese Nights”. Subsequently, he was associated as col- laborator, lyricist or librettist, on many motion pictures, including “Swing High, Swing Low”, “Children Of Dreams”, “One Night In The Tropics”, “The Desert Song” and “Broadway Rhythm.” 83