In 1952, the fourth film in Universal-International’s Ma and Pa Kettle series was released, Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair, starring Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.
The synopsis of the film was as follows:
Ma and Pa Kettle are trying to raise money to send their daughter Rosie to college, although the couple are unemployed and in debt. Pa deliberately walks in front of street traffic, hoping to win a monetary injury settlement, but only succeeds in causing a collision. Ma then decides to participate in contests at the county fair, and Pa buys Emma, an old tired horse, on credit for the Harness Race, promising to pay the owner later with Ma’s fair prize winnings. Birdie Hicks tries her best to win all of the contests, but the Kettles are the ones who get the last laugh. [From: Wikipedia]
The above ad is from the Lykens Standard of 11 April 1952 when the film showed at Elizabethville‘s Hollywood Theatre. The film was apparently advertised locally as “at the Gratz Fair.”
A clip of this film is available at: https://vimeo.com/198047480. While the fair scenes look remarkably like those that could have been filmed at the actual Gratz Fair grounds, no evidence has been seen that confirms that any part of the movie was filmed in Gratz.
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