MovieChat Forums > So Long at the Fair (1951) Discussion > A Great Thriller, Not to be Missed!

A Great Thriller, Not to be Missed!

posted 18 years ago by Navy65
9 replies | jump to latest

August 11, 2007
Mother took me kicking and screaming to see this movie in Spring of 1951 in Miami Springs. (What should one expect from a ten year old boy going to a movie with a title such as, "So Long at The Fair?" Needless to say, when the film was over, I wanted to see it again! It was better than excellent.
Twenty or so years ago, I thought about the film and started to look for it. My recollection was a bit skewed as I recalled the sister disappearing, that a private detective helped solve the mystery, and that the giant gong symbolized by the Rank Organisation was a part of the introduction. My recollection was also that the film was called, "The Black Death." So I periodically, unsuccessfully searched for those parameters until last week.
I had told a neighbor about the plot of the film while we out to supper. Surprise, the neighbor came back with, "So Long at the Fair." The plot was described to me and whereas it wasn't my exact recollection, I said let's aquire a DVD and see. The DVD arrived yesterday. Last night the whole great thriller came back to me, just as I enjoyed it as a child.
If you miss this movie, you have missed a great one! Alfred Hitchcock thought so too!

[–] teefus87 17 years ago

where you gdret the dvd far as i know it is not avaiable.

Holy smokes 99 channels and nothing's on!
spencer breslin in the kid

[–] moviesmusic 17 years ago

great movie .
i have it on my pvrs hard drive

if i had a dvd burner i would burn it

[–] thecairogang 17 years ago

I think the film was retitled "The Black Curse" in the States, so you weren't far off. I saw a Half-sheet film poster with that title. It's a great film!

[–] spope2 17 years ago

There's a new Spanish DVD from Filmax under the title 'Extrano Suceso'. A nice print though a bit grainy in places.

[–] jeromec-2 16 years ago

It was just on TCM tonight, so it might repeat in a couple of months.

April 17 2009 9:00 to 11:30 EST

[–] jolene_espinoza 16 years ago

Yes, it was on "TCM" last night. It was the first time I saw this film but I heard about in books "Scary Story Treasury", "Scary Stories 3 More tales to Chill your bones Collected from folklore and retold by Alvin Schwartz."-" Maybe you will Remember" 1991 pages 57-61, pages 102-104. Also "Reader's Digest Strange Stores and Amazing Facts." 1976 Section "Intriguing and Unsolved Mysteries."-" Long at the fair" page 361. The moment I first read this story I loved it and kept reading over and over again. Even though in the books it's a litte girl and her mother I still loved the film. I give it a 10/10. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad a fan of "TCM" choose this film for Robert Osbourne to put on. For those people who never heard of this film, I hope you get the chance to see it. I even had marked down on my calender when "TCM" was going to put in on..lol.!=)

"Don't follow me I'm lost too."-I have no idea who said that!

[–] aldiboronti 16 years ago

The usual version of this old story has a mother and daughter visiting the Great Exhibition in Paris in 1889. They take adjoining rooms in a hotel, then the daughter goes out for a walk. When she returns a couple of hours later she finds her mother's room locked. She knocks and calls to her mother but is met with silence. Going down to the desk she asks the clerk if he had seen her mother.

"Your mother? But mam'selle checked in alone."

All the staff deny having seen her mother. The girl insists on seeing the roo but when they open it it's completely different, different wallpaper, furnishings, etc, and a man's luggage and clothes are in the room.

In the early versions it turns out that the mother died from typhoid and the hotel covered it up to avoid being shut down during the highly profitable season of the Exhibition.

Here's the link to Snopes, where they list some of the many appearances of the story in books and films.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/hotel.asp

[–] haunt_freak 10 years ago

The Scary Stories books are how I found out about this movie too! lol

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[–] -501 12 years ago

"Mother took me kicking and screaming to see this movie in Spring of 1951 in Miami Springs."
_______________________________________________________________________

You're only mistake was not to try to leave the theatre kicking and screaming when you were made to watch this load of nonsense.

"Hey Bertrand ... let's get some workers to come in in the middle of the night with no prior notice to build a couple of wood framed walls, plaster them and then after the plaster dries, we'll hang matching wallpaper and paint the trim. We'll explain perfectly what we need and they will execute it flawlessly. They will do it in a few hours They will make no noise with hammers and hand saws as they will use magic nails and such so as to not wake the other guests. Then no guests will go by to notice that we're boarding in a room in the middle of the darn night. Then at breakfast let's invent nuclear fusion. On two ... hut, hut"