The Many Looks of Pamela Tiffin...

Our State Fair is a great State Fair...

The original advertising art for Fox' 1962 remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

In late 1961 Pamela Tiffin began filming her first motion picture under her contract with 20th Century-Fox, their 3rd remake of Philip Stong's novel, State Fair.

Fox ingenue Pamela Tiffin was given the prize role of "Margy Frake", a role previously played by former Fox ingenues Janet Gaynor and Jeanne Crain in the 1933 and 1945 film versions respectively.

The original black and white 1933 version of the story was a non-musical and conceived as a vehicle for Fox' box office star, Janet Gaynor. Co-starring with Gaynor as her father "Abel" was legendary entertainer Will Rogers. The film was a huge success for Fox, so much so that in 1945 they decided to give the story another go 'round this time as a colorful big screen musical.

For the 1945 version they tapped Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, fresh off their success with Oklahoma! another home spun tale based on the novel Green Grow The Lilacs.

"It's A Grand Night For Singing" for star crossed lovers Margy Frake (Pamela Tiffin) and Jerry Dundee (Bobby Darin) in Fox' 1962 version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

This was to be Rodgers and Hammerstein's first and only original musical for Hollywood and they went on to create a score that would be filled with the soon-to-be classics, "It's A Grand Night for Singing", "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" and the Oscar winning, "It Might As Well Be Spring".

Fox cast their leading ingenue of the day, the lovely Jeanne Crain as the love lorn "Margy". Co-starring alongside Crain were big band crooner Dick Haymes as her brother "Wayne" Broadway star Vivian Blaine as state fair entertainer "Emily" and Dana Andrews as "Pat", the object of her affections with Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger as her parents "Abel" and "Melissa"

The cast is led by Pat Boone as "Wayne Frake", Ann-Margret as "Emily Porter", Pamela Tiffin as "Margy Frake" and Bobby Darin as "Jerry Dundee".

The film was a huge success for Fox and in 1962 they decided it was time for another remake and readied a second musical version of the classic story. This time they cast a quartet of young and talented leads to headline it.

Pamela won the coveted lead role of "Margy Frake" and succeeds in displaying the warmth and naivete that is required of the role. She lip sync's the classic "It Might As Well Be Spring" to Anita Gordon's vocal track in much the same way Jeanne Crain lip synced to Louanne Hogan's in the original 1945 film.

"It Might As Well Be Spring": Pamela Tiffin as "Margy Frake" in Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

Singers Pat Boone and Bobby Darin were cast as her race car driving brother "Wayne" and her much more worldly suitor "Jerry", a television reporter covering the state fair. Fellow Fox contract player Ann-Margret, in only her second screen appearance was given the role of "Emily Porter", a performer at the fair who dances and sings up a storm while carrying on an ill-fated romance with "Wayne".

The parents in this updated version of the story which moved the setting from Iowa to Texas were legendary Fox star Alice Faye as Frake matriarch "Melissa" and Tom Ewell as dad "Abel".

Love in bloom: A kiss and an embrace is shared between Bobby Darin (Jerry Dundee) and Pamela Tiffin  (Margy Frake) in Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

Oscar Hammerstein II passed away before production on the film began and along with the updated storyline Fox wanted new songs to implement the ones already existing in the score, so Richard Rodgers provided the music and lyrics to 5 new songs, "It's The Little Things In Texas", "Never Say No To A Man", "Willing and Eager", "This Isn't Heaven" and "More Than Just A Friend".

Pamela Tiffin poses in front of "Big Tex" the official mascot of the 1961 Texas State Fair during filming.

The film was shot in 35mm CinemaScope and made the most of capturing the grandeur of the Texas state fair as well as the state's picturesque landscape. It's original musical numbers were re-arranged, expanded and in some instances assigned to characters other than the ones who sang them in the original version.

Directed by Jose Ferrer, this 1962 version of State Fair ultimately dwarfed the simple home spun tale of a family's adventure at the annual state fair and didn't go well with audiences or critics. The film was not a financial box office success and it's generally the original 1945 musical version of the story that is held in much higher regard.

The original motion picture soundtrack recording from the film.

The film's highlights for me remain Pamela Tiffin's sensitive portrayal of farm girl "Margy", the original Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein songs that add sparkle to the proceedings and a very entertaining musical rendering of "Isn't It Kinda Fun?" led by Ann-Margret that gives the viewer a taste of the incredible talents she possessed.

Cose Di Cosa Nostra

In this 1971 Italian film Pamela dons a black wig to play "Carmela Lococo" the wife of a man who unwittingly gets involved in a mafia gang war. Legendary actor/director Vittorio De Sica is mob boss "Don Michele".

The film has been re-titled for U.S. distribution as either "Godfather of Crime" or "Gang War"

Here it is in it's entirety:

Susie arrives in Spain

In this scene from 1964's The Pleasure Seekers, Pamela's character of "Susie Higgins" arrives in Madrid from New York and is greeted by her friend "Maggie" played by Carol Lynley

Marvee!: 50 Years of One, Two, Three

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Pamela Tiffin's motion picture debut. The film that introduced her to motion picture audiences was the Paramount Pictures release, Summer and Smoke, but it was her second film, Billy Wilder's cold war satire, One, Two, Three that garnered her attention and impressed critics with not only her beauty but also her talent as brazen, scatterbrained Southern heiress "Scarlett Hazeltine" who while in West Germany being chaperoned by her dad's most trusted employee, "C.R.MacNamara" (James Cagney) runs off and marries a young communist from East Berlin (Hors Buchholz) setting off a series of highly comic situations.

Coming on the heels of Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot and The Apartment, One, Two, Three is a cinematic comic masterpiece in it's own right one filled with performances from a top notch cast under the direction of one of cinema's most gifted writer/directors.

In 1984 Pamela was coaxed out of retirement to co-host alongside co-star Horst Buchholz the One, Two, Three segment for AFI's tribute to Billy Wilder.

In the following scene "Scarlett" suprises "MacNamara" with the fact that she has just married a radical communist from East Berlin named "Otto Ludwig Piffl".

Mexican Breakfast

Mexican Breakfast is the title of the song composed by Johnny Mandel that Pamela shimmies and shakes to atop a diving board in the 1966 crime caper Harper co-starring Paul Newman, Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner, Julie Harris, Lauren Bacall, Arthur Hill and Shelley Winters.

Many feel this scene cemented Pamela's status as a 60's icon, and I agree as it is fondly remembered today. Her roles in One, Two Three and this film were career defining and her best. Her role as bitchy Miranda Sampson was a definite departure from the other roles she had done up until then and should have led to much bigger and better things, but after this and a Broadway debut in Dinner at Eight, Pamela who was at this point extremely unhappy in her marriage decided to leave the United States and move to Italy leaving behind her once promising Hollywood acting career.

The Fly Girls

With the great success of the AMC produced television series MAD MEN the early swinging 60's   are back in vogue. As the saying goes, "Everything old is new again." Clothing retailer Banana Republic created a limited edition MAD MEN clothing line for men and women. For the last couple of years Michael Buble has been topping the charts with his brand of smooth swinging' vocals that are clearly inspired by Frank (Sinatra), Dean (Martin) and Sammy (Davis, Jr.).

In the wake of all of this two television series premiered in September clearly riding the wave of the trend, NBC's The Playboy Club (which suffered a quick cancellation) and ABC's Pan Am.


I'm hooked on Pan Am as it perfectly captures the sights, sounds, style and mores of that long by gone era and it bears more than a passing resemblance to one of my favorite Pamela Tiffin films, Come Fly With Me.

Come Fly With Me, based on Bernard Glemser's 1960 novel Girl On A Wing (re-published as The Fly Girls) is the story of three airline stewardesses who live a high flying, jet set lifestyle looking for love in the friendly skies. The film was released by MGM in 1963 and stars Dolores Hart, in her last feature film role playing against type as the sarcastic, gold digging "Donna Stuart" who falls for a man (Karl Boehm) who at first seems to be a rich millionaire . Lois Nettleton plays "Hilda 'Bergie' Bergstrom" the level headed of the three who garners the attention of a lonely businessman played by Karl Malden and Pamela is delightful comic relief as the slightly ditzy "Carol Brewster" who falls for and straightens out philandering playboy Hugh O'Brian.

Pamela, Dolores and Lois play very nicely off and compliment each other. It's a very light- hearted, romantic comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously and whose main goal is to entertain and on that level it succeeds. It's easy to get lost in all the beautiful on location cinematography as well as the beauty of the three leads. It's the perfect lazy Sunday movie and a classic among the "three (or four) girls on the make" films that also include, Three Coins In The Fountain, The Best of Everything, Where The Boys Are, How To Marry A Millionaire and Pamela's 1964 outing The Pleasure Seekers.

The classic Sammy Cahn-James Van Heusen penned hit, Come Fly With Me, first popularized by Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra is sung over the opening titles by teen heart-throb Frankie Avalon. The theme was released as a promotion only single and has to my knowledge never been re-released on any of Avalon's hit anthologies.

The film has never been released on any home video format, but there is a strong chance it may make it onto Warner Bros. Warner Archive Collection series of MOD films as the rights are currently owned by them. It does however air from time to time on Turner Classic Movies.