So Long at the Fair

"Paris ! ... city of love and intrigue ... scene of the most fascinating mystery ever filmed !"

1950 1h 21m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 44★7.2IMDB · 2,173

MysteryThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Vicky Barton and her brother Johnny travel from Naples to visit the 1889 Paris Exhibition. They both sleep in seperate rooms in their hotel. When the she gets up in the morning she finds her brother and his room have disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Now Vicky must find out what exactly happened to her brother.

“Paris ! ... city of love and intrigue ... scene of the most fascinating mystery ever filmed !”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Jean Simmons
Vicky Barton
Dirk Bogarde
George Hathaway
David Tomlinson
Johnny Barton
Marcel Poncin
Narcisse
Cathleen Nesbitt
Madame Hervé
Honor Blackman
Rhoda O'Donovan
Zena Marshall
Nina
André Morell
Doctor Hart

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Antony Darnborough
Writers: Anthony Thorne, Hugh Mills
Languages: French, English, German
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

81 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

76 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, German.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Antony Darnborough, shot by Reginald H. Wyer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Benjamin Frankel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gordon Hales shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde and David Tomlinson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Paris ! ... city of love and intrigue ... scene of the most fascinating mystery ever filmed !".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Antony Darnborough directs. Reginald H. Wyer behind the camera. Benjamin Frankel scores. Gordon Hales cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in French, English, German.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
276 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: French, English, German.
4Directed by Antony Darnborough, shot by Reginald H. Wyer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Benjamin Frankel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Gordon Hales shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde and David Tomlinson carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Paris ! ... city of love and intrigue ... scene of the most fascinating mystery ever filmed !".
9IMDB entry: tt0042980 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 44 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "hotel", "paris, france", "based on novel or book", "disappearance".

The technical file

Cinematography: Reginald H. Wyer
Original score: Benjamin Frankel
Editing: Gordon Hales
Costume design: Elizabeth Haffenden
Makeup / hair: George Blackler
Runtime: 81 min · 1h 21m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: So Long at the Fair (1950)
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 2,173 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

2 nominations

Also by

Antony Darnborough

The Astonished Heart
1950 · ★ 4.8

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-12-27
★ 7/10
This is a cleverly constructed thriller featuring an on form Jean Simmons as the naive girl holidaying with her brother "Johnny" (David Tomlinson) in Paris at the time of the Great Exposition. Things take quite a mysterious turn on their first morning when not only has her brother disappeared - but so, too, has his hotel room! In the best tradition of "the Lady Vanishes" (1938), nobody in the hotel - staff or guest - recalls ever having seen him and she is widely suspected of being either mad, or just a chancer hoping to avoid paying her bill... It is only the timely intervention of Honor Blackman's ("Rhoda") who attempts to return fifty francs that her friend "George" (Dirk Bogarde) borrowed from the missing man the night before, that she begins to get her head together and enlisting painter "George" to help, they must get to the bottom of things. Aside from the ending, which is poor in the overall context of the film, this is a good looking, well paced drama with a good cast, decent writing and some lovely Parisian scenarios to maintain the intrigue well. Simmons plays her part mixing the initial joy and enthusiasm of a young girl in Paris with that of the sister terrified for her brother, and for her own sanity really well. It is well worth a watch, this one.

Production companies