Dance With Me, Henry (1956)

I actually found this really entertaining. I have watched nearly all of their films and this one is really interesting. The humour is less forced and has a more natural flow than in their earlier films. Abbott is not so much the straight man here but very funny himself. His delivery is impeccable. Lou has lost a lot of the silly over the top humour which IMO is better especially as they are older. The later films like this one and the mummy I find the most entertaining. The humour was a natural part of the plot not and did not contain over the top gags that were not in keeping with the flow of the film. Also, the characters of Abbott and Costello are more central to the plot.The more I watch Abbott and Costello the more these later films appeal to me.A pity they ended their partnership too soon.

It seemed to me that this was essentially a children's film. While A and C made films that children could watch and enjoy, I think this and "Jack and the Beanstalk" were the only two films they made which were explicitly for children.The beginning ten minutes (good set-up of a potentially funny situation) and the last ten (imagine "Home-alone" with twenty kids) are fine, but the middle is quite flabby. There are no memorable routines and very few (about ten) funny lines.Actually, I do not know if the producers had it in mind, but the movie works well as a pilot for a T.V. series. One can imagine all sorts of great sitcom possibilities with Lou as a bachelor trying to raise two kids while owning and operating a "Kiddie land" amusement park. When this was made, Danny Thomas's "Make Room for Daddy" had been a hit show running for three years and "Bachelor Father" was about to begin its run, so a "raising kids" comedies were the type of thing a network might buy. I suppose if it had done well as a movie, it could have been developed into a television series. So, I believe that it was rather a smart career choice for A and C.Sherry Alberoni as Boopsi and Rusty Hamer are the two stand-out kid performers. Sherry is Shirley Temple cute trying to convince the cops that she witnessed a murder and Rusty Hamer is the nicest and sincerest boy actor of that period (Ron Howard did steal his crown a few years later).A and C fans will savor a few well done moments,(the visit of the nasty welfare worker at the beginning, for example) but on the whole only their fans will be able to sit through it.The last shot of the movie with Costello playing the pied-piper is delightful and cute. If the rest of the movie had been so, this movie would have revived A and C's careers and fortunes.

"Dance With Me Henry" (1956) is the last time Bud Abbott and Lou Costello shared billing in the movies. In truth, however, their tenure as leading comics had been dissolved some years before. Almost from the moment they set foot on the Universal back lot and made their debut film, 'One Night in the Tropics' (1941), theirs was a partnership of strained convenience in which Abbott always considered himself the superior comedian, so much so, that profits from all of their endeavors (radio/film, and later, television) were divided along a 60/40 split in Abbott's favor. On this occasion the two find themselves in yet another rehash of their earlier films, as Lou Henry (Costello) attempts to adopt two adorable children to help him run his Kiddyland amusement park. The local welfare authority in the form of Ms. Mayberry (Mary Wickes) will have something to say about that, and so will Lou's best friend, Bud (Abbott), who would rather run up a gambling debt with the mob than share his prosperity with a couple of kids. Throughout, the farcical elements are much too strained to be humorous. One can almost hear from just off camera, Abbott hollering something to the effect of "hurry up, stupid, I want to get paid." Charles Barton – a frequent participant on these collaborations, directs again, but with a sense that it's all been done before.The transfer from MGM is surprisingly good – I say, surprisingly, because in general MGM/DVD isn't known for offering pristine transfers of classic movies. And although "Dance With Me Henry" is not pristine in terms of age related artifacts, its also not very far from it. The gray scale has been impeccably mastered with nice tonality, solid blacks and generally clean whites. Occasionally there's a hint of edge enhancement, but nothing that will terribly distract. There's also a hint of film grain, but this never becomes bothersome. The audio is mono but presented with great clarity and at an adequate listening level. There are NO extras.

This film has the reputation of being the team's worst, and it may well be (it's a toss-up between this one and "A&C Go to Mars"), but even if it isn't the worst movie they ever made, it's definitely the saddest. Both Bud and Lou were old and ill, and their timing, which was at one time absolutely awe-inspiring, is pretty much gone. They show their age, especially Costello, and don't seem to have the heart for the work anymore. It's not just the boys who are tired, though. The script is lame, limp, and absolutely brainless, and they must have realized it because they brought in Charles Barton, who was responsible for their best films, to direct it, hoping that he could make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. He couldn't. A previous poster has said that it's painful to watch this film, and he's absolutely right--it breaks your heart to see how far the two had deteriorated, both physically and professionally. The producers must have known what a dog this movie was because, in a desperate and pathetic attempt to attract younger viewers--always Abbott & Costello's core audience--they changed the title to "Dance With Me, Henry", which was the name of a popular song at the time and had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with anything that happens in the film itself.All in all, a sad, depressing end to the career of one of the best comedy teams in film history.