So Long at the Fair

"So Long at the Fair" manages to fuse the macabre with the swank in a singularly enjoyable nerve wracker set in 1889 Paris.

Director Terence Fisher leads his audience with aplomb from the gaiety of the Moulon Rouge to the lugubrious shadows of a convent hospital with an assurance missing from most modern thrillers.

Production values are first rate from the elegant hotel to the elaborately wrought fair sequences.

One could scarcely ask for a more debonair and attractive couple than Mr. Bogarde, (with his famous pompadour intact), and the exquisite Miss Simmons, who, in her turn provides a welcome reminder of 19th century feminine deportment. And Villainess Cathleen Nesbitt, with her cut glass diction, and rustling black bombazine, defines sinister suavity in a way you won't soon forget.

Kudos also to Honor Blackman who wears a bustle with distinction.

Wonderful re-creation of the gai Paris of l'exposition universelle with its Eiffel Tower(which was to be destroyed after it,but they did not,certainly wisely).Superb atmosphere in "l'hotel de la licorne" where Cathleen Nesbitt impressed me with her perfect French (I thought she was French).There are probably too many people in Paris 1889 who speak English ,but Terence Fisher makes a welcome frequent use of the Victor Hugo language.

As for the story,it's an absorbing story of a gentleman who vanishes in the grand tradition of "the lady vanishes" but Jean Simmons's character,who's slowly believing she's losing her mind reminds me more of "Gaslight" (1940 and 1944).The scene with the balloon is a great moment:is -it really an accident? Who's behind all that?Spies?Thieves?Murderers?You'll be wondering during the whole movie and the ending,for once ,will not disappoint you:it's so unexpected that it's impossible to guess it .Excellent performances by the whole cast.

Fascinating film from Britain's Rank/Gainsborough Pictures, slyly written by Hugh Mills and Anthony Thorne, has young woman from Naples traveling with her stuffy brother to Paris in 1889 for the Exposition, only to awaken the next morning in their hotel to find her sibling strangely missing. Plot-line has since been well-trodden, and probably wasn't completely fresh in 1950, however the mechanics of the situation are engrossing due in no small part to the direction and performances. Jean Simmons, in both period dress and costume for the festivities, looks very beautiful and handles the high drama with aplomb (though perhaps giving her Vicky Barton more dialogue might have made the character even sharper). Dirk Bogarde, as a painter who met the missing man quite by chance the night he vanished, is excellent teaming up with Simmons to play detective. Stylish, enjoyable film plays fair with the audience to a large degree; a few far-fetched incidents, including a head-scratching balloon disaster, don't detract from the fun. *** from ****

A brother and sister check into a Paris hotel days before the 1889 World's Fair kicks off. But the brother disappears overnight and nobody even remembers seeing him.

Perhaps an appropriate tagline would be: A solid, rewarding mystery with an exceedingly clever solution to a classic riddle. The gaslight theme isn't new at this point, and neither is the, "I know I see/saw this person but everyone else sees nothing" premise. However, the key to this intriguing mystery is that there is no mental illness and, believe it or not, no criminal activity. How, then, does someone disappear and why is everyone lying about it?

This movie helped launch the careers of both Simmons and Bogarde and I think they're both great in just about everything (if you haven't yet, check out Bogarde in a fantastic and similarly intriguing film, Libel, with Olivia de Havilland). There's very little chance you'll guess the reason and motive behind it all, but it makes perfect sense when it's finally revealed.

Having seen this movie again after many years, I was surprised how well it holds up.

Jean Simmons gave a convincing performance as the young girl, terrified and confused by the disappearance overnight of her brother and the refusal of the hotel staff to acknowledge that he even existed. Dirk Bogarde gives his usual excellent performance as the English artist who comes to her rescue.

Although the plot is fairly predictable, the suspense is maintained right to the end, the setting of Paris during the Great Exhibition is picturesque and both Miss Simmons and Mr Bogarde look delightful What more can you ask for?