Johnny at the Fair (MST3K Episode #419: The Rebel Set. Also available for viewing on You Tube).

Little Johnny goes with his parents to the Canadian National Exhibition, but when his folks would rather view some boring old exhibit rather than do the exciting stuff like rides, he wanders off in disgust and has a bunch of adventures of his own. Another boring newsreel featurette about something that's supposed to be fun. The msting is pretty good, though.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Msting: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (acquired through trading).

No, this is not an episode of the popular serial that we all remember. This is the first filmed version of Buck Rogers, which was a short that was shown at the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair (which is why it is in the Industrial category). Well, what can I say here? The direction in incredibly stagey, the acting is wooden, and the special effects are laughable. But that’s more than made up for by the incredibly campy costumes and sets, which are over-the-top. The main battle in outer space is done entirely with toy rockets, wires, fireworks, and a hypno-vision effect, all narrated by the scientist character (otherwise it would be impossible to follow). This is as much fun as an Ed Wood film, which means it’s funnier than many so-called comedies. Too bad I can’t tell you where to get a copy––it was on a DVD+R disc with the movie The Reluctant Saint that my husband got in a trade.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****+. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

Expo ’67, “Monument to Man,” Opens in Canada (film #169 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Industrial]

Newsreel story about Expo ’67, a huge world’s fair that unfortunately opened during the days when world’s fairs were waning, so you don’t hear much about it today. The typical scenes of modern architecture, opening ceremonies, and carnival rides are shown. By 1967, newsreels were almost dead, giving this a double swan-song quality.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Brief City (film #21 on National Archives). [Category: Industrial]

This film documents the building and architectural design of the 1951 Festival of Britain, a world’s-fair-like exhibition held in London during the austere post-war period. As such, there is a dark backdrop to the film, unlike the usual cheery optimism that marks most world’s fairs. You get a sense that the hopefulness is a defense against despair, though in a healthy sense. The film is also very British, with the narrator explaining that many of the design decisions were made specifically to appeal to the British people––this is also a change from the internationalism usually touted at such fairs. The design is fascinating, involving not grand vistas, but little hideaways and cul-de-sacs, secret places for individuals to discover and enjoy. I personally love that sort of design, so I found the film very enjoyable on that level. This is one of the most unusual world’s fair films I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely worth a look as a counterpoint to the usual World of Tomorrow type of stuff.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

Balbo Nears American Goal (film #1 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Industrial]

Newsreel footage, some of it silent, of an armada of planes flying from Italy to the Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. This has some cool footage of radiotelegraph signals from the planes coming in and messages typing out on a huge Western Union typewriter. Otherwise, this is pretty ordinary.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: **.

To New Horizons (film #1 on Lifestyles, U.S.A., Vol. 1 (Somthing Weird, 2000). Also in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1529 on Prelinger Archive. Also, film #15 on Ephemeral Films CD-ROM (Voyager) (excerpts)). [Category: Industrial]

The 1939 New York World's Fair is a source of endless fascination for me. So I was delighted to find this film made for the GM Futurama available from these sources––it's the next best thing to a time machine. The Futurama was the most memorable exhibit at the fair––it contained a huge miniature replica of a "typical" city of 1960. This film documents that exhibit and the boundless optimism behind it. What's amazing is that it really wasn't that far off the mark, especially in the case of the superhighways, which look a lot like modern Interstate highways. And it's just a really fun piece of ephemera, from the cheesy organ soundtrack, to the assertion that "we are all interested in the future, for that is where we will be spending the rest of our lives"––so that's where Criswell got that phrase!

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

Brussels World’s Fair (film #119 on Universal Newsreels). [Category: Industrial]

Newsreel clip showing the construction of buildings for the Brussels World’s Fair, “the first world’s fair of the atomic age.” It includes the construction of a diorama showing the Highways of the Future, but it’s just not as much fun as the 1939 World of Tomorrow, darn it. Perhaps tomorrow had become today by that time.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ***.

Century of Progress Exposition: Wings of a Century (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #281 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

Silent footage of the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. This would have been better if it had had sound, but it does give you an idea of what it was like to attend a world’s fair back in their heyday. My favorite is the Sinclair display with the creaky mechanical dinosaurs.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

The Middleton Family at the 1939 New York World's Fair (Moviecraft, 1994). [Category: Industrial]

This film was made by Westinghouse to promote its exhibits at the 1939 New York World's Fair. It features an "average" middle-class family who come all the way from Indiana to go to the fair, an obnoxious teenaged son who says "Gee whiz!" and plays practical jokes all the time, and a love triangle involving the daughter, a godless Commie art teacher, and a clean-cut Westinghouse engineer who talks up the company and modern technology in general every time you turn around. The scenes with the art teacher will make you cringe––he is a slimy, cranky, spoilsport who can't argue his way out of a barrel, yet tries to anyway. He also buys the daughter a cheap, costume jewelry ring from a magic shop and tells her it's a priceless heirloom that's been in the family for generations. All this is supposed to be associated with communism, lack of enthusiasm for modern technology, and abstract art, somehow. The campiest scene is probably the demonstration of Electro the Robot. He is incredibly slow-moving and clunky and his feats are vastly unimpressive––he does such "amazing" things as smoking and counting on his fingers. Yet the Middletons are incredibly impressed by him. I'm with the cranky Commie on this one. There's also lots of fun scenes of various fair exhibits, giving the viewer a feel for what it must have been like, at least in the Westinghouse building. A wonderful, well-rounded piece of ephemera about a popular subject.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

California Color Film: Golden Gate International Exposition (in the Ephemeral section of Open Video Project. Also, film #1802 on Prelinger Archive). [Category: Industrial]

This film starts out like a travelogue about San Francisco and goes on and on until you wonder if they’re going to say anything about the World’s Fair. Finally, about halfway through, they get to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then to the fair, which was designed to celebrate the bridge’s opening. Lots of parade footage is shown, and then we get to see the models for the exhibition buildings for a bit before the film abruptly ends. I wouldn’t say this was the best vehicle to promote a World’s Fair. Maybe that explains why it was eclipsed by the one in New York.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *. Weirdness: **. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

All's Fair at the Fair (film #6 on Cartoon Crazys: Sci-Fi (WinStar Home Entertainment, 1999)). [Category: Industrial]

A couple of local yokels go to the 1939 New York World's Fair and sample some modern technology. Mostly this consists of wildly creative coin-operated robot-driven devices. My favorite is the house-builder, which uses the principle of the cocktail shaker. The cartoon ends with the couple buying a unfold-it-yourself new car out of a vending machine––wouldn't that be great? This cartoon was made by Dave Fleischer and it has some of his trademark art deco styling found in the Superman cartoons.

Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ***. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.