Tragica incertezza

Ever since Miss Froy disappeared from a central European train in Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" the "Suddenly there - next moment not" film genre has made for sure-fire entertainment. Of all its many offshoots the one I often return to with great pleasure is the little known "So Long At The Fair" which stars a radiant Jean Simmons as a young English woman visiting the Great Paris Exhibition of 1889 with her brother (David Tomlinson) who disappears from his hotel bedroom after the first night of their stay. What is even more intriguing is that the room itself appears to have vanished. The rest of the film is almost entirely taken up with the girl's desperate search for her brother in a beautiful city that has suddenly become alien through her frightful circumstance and the lack of understanding and sympathy of most around her. Fortunately during the latter stages there is a Prince Charming to aid her quest in the form of Dirk Bogarde at his most gallant. If his reassuring presence takes away something of the film's tension, the scenes up to this point are almost unbearable as we share Jean Simmons's frustrations and watch her one lifeline to the truth she is telling come literally tumbling from the skies. Even knowledge of a most convincing denouement does not dissipate the film's many pleasures on subsequent viewings. These include Benjamin Frankel's delightfully catchy "Carriage and Pair" that actually made the "Top Ten" in its day, the beauty of Jean Simmons lovingly celebrated in a glorious closeup at the very beginning and that strange rarity for a British work of that period, a film in which the French characters actually converse with each other in their native tongue rather than resorting to "'Allo, 'Allo" speak, and this without a single subtitle. Expressions make everything abundantly clear.

So Long at the Fair is directed by Terence Fisher and Antony Darnborough and written by Hugh Mills and Anthony Thorne. It stars Dirk Bogarde, Jean Simmons, David Tomlinson, Marcel Poncin, Felix Aylmer and Cathleen Nesbitt. Music is by Benjamin Frankel and cinematography by Reginald Wyer.

Adapted from Thorne's novel of the same name, story is set in Paris 1889 (not 1896 as some other sources strangely suggest it is) and sees Simmons as Vicky Barton, who awakes in her hotel to find that her brother, and his hotel room, are missing. With the hotel staff adamant that she checked in alone and that her brother never accompanied her, Vicky is confused and very alone. However, hope comes in the form of handsome artist George Hathaway (Bogarde), who had an exchange with Vicky's brother and therefore can vouch for his existence. But with the odds stacked against them and proof hard to find, can the pair of them uncover the truth and solve the mystery?

It seems now to be a familiar plot, but it wasn't back then and the story's origin is derived from an urban legend. What unfolds over the film's running time is a sharply told mystery that is infused with good quality drama. Simmons and Bogarde make for a very engaging couple and it's very easy to root for them as they set about their sleuthing. However, the film is split into two as regards tonal worth.

The first half is the most atmospheric as Simmons' Vicky is a stranger in a strange land, her fraught helplessness over her missing brother is enhanced by the language problems. This aspect impacts on us the viewers by there not being any sub-titles for the French speaking parts of the script. A good move is that.

Once Vicky teams up with George the thriller suspense gives way to detective mystery, which is fine, and for sure the "reveal" that comes in the finale is credible, but it's hard not to lament a touch that the pic hasn't stayed in "darker" mode, even if the score is consistently too jaunty for such a story. While the black and white photography is, however, tonally pleasing, and the Victorian costuming is authentic looking.

There's a couple of off kilter shots but noir like visuals are in short supply, and characterisations and basis of plotting do not scream out as being noir influenced, so you have to wonder why the film has found its way into a DVD collection of British Noir? It's a classy little mystery, boosted by some prime British acting talent, but first time viewers expecting a Brit film noir should heed my warning, it's not! 7/10

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?

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.