Despite being one of Dan Dailey's lesser known films, I also think "Meet Me at the Fair" is one of his better films for this song and dance man. It features much better music than normal, a sweet story and a nice supporting cast. I consider it a must-see for Dailey fans.
'Doc' Tilby (Dailey) and Enoch (Scatman Crothers) travel the country putting on shows in order to sell their patent medicine. One wet day, they see a runaway orphan and invite him to travel with them to the next town. As for the boy, he's run away from the local orphan asylum, as the place is a dump and all the money tax payers paid to improve the place has just 'disappeared'...thanks to the crook politicians responsible for the place. So, Doc cannot bring himself to send the boy back and soon the local political bosses are running about trying to find the kid because an election is coming up and they don't want word of their malfeasance to surface. But Doc is determined to help the boy...even if he seems powerless against this political machine.
As I mentioned above, the story is excellent and instead of the musical numbers being a distraction (as they often were during this era and in many of Dailey's other films), here they are just fun and well worth your time.
'Doc' Tilby (Dailey) and Enoch (Scatman Crothers) travel the country putting on shows in order to sell their patent medicine. One wet day, they see a runaway orphan and invite him to travel with them to the next town. As for the boy, he's run away from the local orphan asylum, as the place is a dump and all the money tax payers paid to improve the place has just 'disappeared'...thanks to the crook politicians responsible for the place. So, Doc cannot bring himself to send the boy back and soon the local political bosses are running about trying to find the kid because an election is coming up and they don't want word of their malfeasance to surface. But Doc is determined to help the boy...even if he seems powerless against this political machine.
As I mentioned above, the story is excellent and instead of the musical numbers being a distraction (as they often were during this era and in many of Dailey's other films), here they are just fun and well worth your time.