State Fair

As his family prepares to leave the small town of Brunswick, Iowa to spend the week at the state fair, farmer Abel Frake (Will Rogers) dotes over his Hampshire boar, Blue Boy, and wagers cynical storekeeper Fred Cramer (Frank Craven) five dollars that the hog will win first prize, that everyone in the family will have a good time and nothing bad will happen, and that they will return home safe. After Abel secretly adds a dose of apple brandy to his wife Melissa's (Louise Dresser) mincemeat preparation, which she plans to place in competition at the fair, Melissa, worried that the mincemeat lacks something, adds the remainder of the bottle, against her principles, when no one else is around. Their daughter Margy (Janet Gaynor), who is angry that her beau since childhood, Harry Ware (Frank Melton), is too occupied with his milk business to accompany them to the fair, taunts her placid brother Wayne (Norman Foster) that his girl Eleanor will choose a more exciting "college fella" over him. At the fair, Abel sulks because Blue Boy acts listless. At a "hoop la" stand, Wayne pitches rings perfectly to the annoyance of the barker (Victor Jory) and meets Emily Joyce (Sally Eilers), a trapeze artist. Margy, left alone by Wayne, meets newspaper reporter Pat Gilbert (Lew Ayres) on a roller coaster. The next day, Blue Boy perks up when Esmeralda, a redheaded sow, passes by. Margy and Pat decide that rather than become involved romantically, they'll see the fair as friends and part as friends. Melissa wins the pickle and mincemeat contests after Pat secretly speaks to one of the judges, who later suffers from having eaten too much of the mincemeat. After watching harness races, Margy and Pat walk through the woods and confess their love for each other. Meanwhile, Emily seduces a willing Wayne. At the hog competition, Blue Boy becomes listless again, but he revives upon seeing Esmeralda and wins first prize. On the last night, Wayne, who has spent the previous three nights with Emily and wants to marry her, is greatly disappointed when Emily, who reluctantly has grown to love him, says that they will never see each other again. Pat, who confesses his past indiscretions to Margy, wants to marry her, but she hesitates because she thinks he will not be happy with one woman and with the loss of adventure that comes with marriage, and that she can live a useful, if less than romantic, life with Harry in Brunswick. On the drive home, Margy cries and Wayne sulks. At home, Wayne breaks out of his depression and visits Eleanor. When Fred Cramer sees Margy brooding, he questions whether she enjoyed the fair. Just then, Pat calls from nearby, and Abel wins his bet as Margy excitedly dashes past Harry and Cramer to meet Pat and they kiss in the rain.