Dance with Me Henry (1956)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

Devery Freeman (writer)
László Kardos (story)

Release Date:

22 December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

ALL NEW AND EXCITING FUN...!! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Two goofballs try to run a beaten-down old amusement park.

Plot Keywords:

Ferris Wheel | Hidden Money | Police Interrogation | District Attorney | Carnival

Cast

Bud Abbott	...	Bud Flick
Lou Costello	...	Lou Henry
Gigi Perreau	...	Shelley
Rusty Hamer	...	Duffer
Mary Wickes	...	Miss Mayberry
Ted de Corsia	...	Big Frank
Ron Hargrave	...	Ernie
Frank Wilcox	...	Father Mullahy
Sherry Alberoni	...	Bootsie
Eddie Marr	...	Police Lt. Garvey
Richard Reeves	...	'Mushie' Nolan
Robert Shayne	...	District Attorney Martin Proctor
Walter Reed	...	Drake
Paul Sorensen	...	'Dutch' Bleer

Also Known As:

Dance with Me, Henry (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Robert Goldstein Productions

Trivia:

The final film pairing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Costello made another film after this, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959), but without Abbott. Abbott never made another film.

Farewell To A&C

In 1955 after Abbott&Costello Meet The Mummy, Bud and Lou finished their long stint with Universal Pictures. They did one more film, an independent released by United Artists titled Dance With Me Henry.

The title comes from a hit song of the time that her nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs had a hit record of. It's heard instrumentally at some points in the film. The film has a role reversal of sorts, Bud is a shiftless gambler who owes some big money to gangster Ted DeCorsia because of some bad bets and Lou is the owner of a small amusement park, beloved by the kids especially the orphans from a home run by Father Frank Wilcox. Lou being the good hearted soul that he is takes Bud in.

But the gangsters want their money from Bud and if not they want him to go to work for them on some jobs like a bank heist they pulled just recently. Lou arranges to meet the District Attorney Robert Shayne and tell him what he knows. But then at the amusement park the DA is killed by DeCorsia's chief henchman Richard Reeves and Reeves also hides the loot from the job because he's planning a double cross.

It's quite a jackpot the boys have themselves in, but there's a providence that watches out over innocents in films. And in Dance With Me Henry, Lou is almost Stan Laurel like in his innocence.

That's what's missing in Dance With Me Henry. The old burlesque routines that one expects from an Abbott&Costello film just aren't here for their fans to savor. Abbott who's usually a sharpie and always putting stuff over on Costello is the idiot here and it doesn't wear well on him. He's also put on a lot of pounds and he's almost as rotund as Costello. Lou's character is something new, as if he was trying to explore new vistas.

The film didn't go over so good and the boys split up the following year. And Lou would do one solo feature film before his demise two years later. Dance With Me Henry is not a horrible film, but it just isn't what I and other fans came to expect from Bud and Lou. They deserved something better as a farewell.