Such a frustrating disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

This is a short that generally precedes the MST3k "Rebel Set" main feature. It revolves around a young boy, Johnny, who gets separated from his parents at the Canadian National Exhibition held at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada back in 1947. This separation, while mildly traumatic for the parents, was exhilarating and exciting for Johnny. In his "walk-about", he encounters all kinds of wonderful things and celebrities : Joe Louis (heavyweight boxing champion) , chemical balls, circus performers, speed boat racing, a "hela-copter airplane", McKenzie King (prime minister of Canada at the time), Barbra Ann Scott (Canadian ice skating champion), some Vaudevillians and children's jail.40's newsreel masquerading as a heart warming story or "real"? You decide, but don't skip to the main course if you're in the MST3k stew. Savor the flavor of a comical stew shared with the robots and Joel. A nice bourbon or single malt whiskey couldn't hurt while you're at it.

Good, wholesome little boy goes with parents to fair, gets lost, and has all sorts of adventures. Yeah, we've seen this far too many times. "Johnny at the Fair" should be titled "Johnny at the Un-fair". And to think that Joe Louis got himself mixed up in this swill. No doubt the people of Canada are embarrassed that their country got portrayed like this (we can probably all agree that Michael Moore and the "South Park" guys have done a much better job looking at our northern neighbor). Fortunately, all is not lost: "MST3K" tore this movie apart. In their version, Johnny's negligent parents decide to abandon him.In conclusion, the movie by itself is 0/10, but the "MST3K" version is 10/10.

So this is a promotional short film made in the forties? It is hard to understand how this persuades people to go to the Canadian National Exhibition. It follows a little boy on the exhibition. His parents were not paying attention so they lost him. Now he is having fun on his own. The kid meets some sort of famous people and sees the things to do on the exhibition.In my opinion this short tells only one thing. It is so very crowded on the exhibition, you easily lose your kid. In other words, if you have kids it is better not to come. But then again, it does show the great things to see there. Right. 'Johnny at the Fair' is just another stupid short film, perfect for the MST3K-people to make fun it.

Ah, people in 1947 got their kicks in so many different ways than the people of today. This short film is a prime example. It shows a young boy traipsing through the Canadian national exhibit of that year. A cameo by Joe Louis is supposed to be very exciting, but isn't. In the end, you just want the thing to end and don't care what happens to Johnny. Is that really Lorne Greene narrating? It sure doesn't sound like him at all.Avoid this unless you're watching the MST3K version.