Fresh off Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, Douglas Sirk turned to another scrappy musical, this one about an orphan on the run who joins up with a traveling medicine show headed by the charming Doc (undersung song-and-dance man Dan Dailey) and his assistant (a scene-stealing Scatman Crothers, making his Hollywood debut). Local do-gooder Zerelda (Diana Lynn) has focused her zeal on improving conditions at the orphanage and doesn't think much of medicine shows, but that doesn't stop her from getting tangled up with this one anyway. A lively slice of Americana filtered through the eye of German émigré and melodrama master Sirk, Meet Me At the Fair serves up romance, small town corruption, and showbiz hustle, with a Technicolor cherry on top. (Tavi Veraldi, Chicago Film Society)