"Republican filmmaking at its best. A typesetter, Julian, has an argument with Susana, a seamstress. Hoping to prove her independence, Susana leaves for the local fair in the company of the pretentious Don Hilarion and her ogreish Aunt Antonia. When Julian discovers the trio at the fair, he attacks Hilarion, and is arrested; at the police station, however, the forces of Law side with true love, chastising the elders for interfering with romance. Based on a popular one-act zarzuela (light operetta), Paloma Fair has the sly, infectious energy of early Rene Clair (especially Under the Roofs of Paris). The accent here as in other works of the Republican era is on common people, and director Perojo has an excellent feel for the nuances of working class life. Of special interest are the scenes of the fair itself; presented as a somewhat tumultuous free-for-all, it comes to represent an outpouring of 'people's power' which the Spanish Right would later associate with democratic excess." -Richard Peña