Early film versions of SO LONG AT THE FAIR story

[FredCDobbs]

I thought film buffs on this forum would like to know that I've found two early film versions of this story on YouTube.

 

There are some historical questions about whether or not this story originated with word-of-mouth rumors in the late 19th Century, or from a letter sent to the Editor of a newspaper, or from some obscure short story written by someone in the late 19th or early 20th Century.

 

I've managed to trace it as far back as a short story written by a German lady in 1912, and a 1919 silent German film.

 

Go to my Old Films on YouTube thread for today and see the links to the two old movies:

 

*http://forums.tcm.com/thread.jspa?threadID=170124&tstart=0*

.

 

MIDNIGHT WARNING 1932 aka Eyes of Mystery

William 'Stage' Boyd, Claudia Dell, Huntley Gordon

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8lqmZlnuEI*

 

UNHEIMLICHE GESCHICHTEN aka Eerie Tales (1919)

Story #1, with German title cards.

Anita Berber (the woman), Conrad Veidt (the stranger), Reinhold Sch?nzel (the crazy former husband)

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaEqSwe8SU*

[MissGoddess]

It's a fascinating premise, no wonder it was made so often (and at least once on TV in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"). Thank you for those links, Fred.

[FredCDobbs]

Thanks for your kind remarks.

 

Here is the Hitchcock TV version:

 

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93TUtbCsgQ*

Alfred Hitchcock Presents Oct. 30, 1955

 

You might recognize the girl as being Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia Hitchcock

[MissGoddess]

hi fred,

her first appearance on his show, i believe? i encourage everyone to watch it, especially if you have never seen any version of the story. the storyline has an "agatha christie" type of vibe.

 

*bunny lake is missing* reminds me of the premise, in fact.

[MelissaW.]

Another TV instance was an episode of The Big Valley titled "The Disappearance," where Victoria and her daughter Audra check into a hotel while travelling through a town that is celebrating the sale of their cattle herds. They decide to nap before dinner in their adjoining rooms but when Victoria awakens, she discovers that Audra is missing and the staff of the hotel claim to have never seen her and insist that Victoria checked in alone. The rest of the episode concerns Victoria trying to convince someone that she is telling the truth and get help to find her daughter. She eventually finds Audra, who had contracted anthrax, which would have spelled disaster for the sale of the cattle herd and the livelihood of the town.