Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)
Jack and the Beanstalk marked the first of two independent films that Abbott and Costello made to be distributed by Warner Bros. Both were filmed in color and clearly had high production values put towards them, certainly higher than their most recent Universal film. Does this make it a good movie? Eh...kind of.
Costello plays Jack, who is given the task of babysitting the siblings of Eloise Larkin (Shaye Cogan). While attempting to read the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" to Eloise's brother Donald (David Stollery), Donald instead ends up reading it to Jack and makes him fall asleep. In his dreams, Jack imagines himself as the Jack from the fairy tale, with Abbott portraying Mr. Dinklepuss, the man who cons him into trading his cow for magic beans. When the beans grow into a beanstalk, Jack and Mr. Dinklepuss climb it in an attempt to find everything that was stolen by the giant, including a princess and a prince (Cogan and James Alexander).
This is one of the more unique films in the Abbott and Costello catalog. For one thing, it's clear that this is mostly supposed to be a vehicle specifically for Costello. Though they interact a lot more here than they do in Little Giant or The Time of Their Lives, Abbott and Costello don't really do a ton of comedy routines as a duo; Abbott's clearly there just to be Abbott and not much else beyond setting up the beans plotline. It's also clear that this film also took inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, with only the dream sequences being shown in color.
As a fantasy film, it works OK. There are some issues, particularly the boring romantic couple who unfortunately do take up a good amount of time. There's also this rather creepy talking harp that doesn't seem to serve any real purpose in this. I get that there is a magic harp in the original story, but the design of this one is just really weird and and it doesn't even move its mouth at all; all of its talking is conveyed through these weird closeups of its creepy face as well as its strings. I found it kind of unsettling.
Surprisingly, one of the strongest aspects of this film is the songs. While there is a rather dull song performed by the romantic couple, I actually found most of the musical numbers to be pretty entertaining. The main theme of the film, "Jack and the Beanstalk," as well as "He Never Looked Better in His Life" both feature a chorus of villagers who all perform very well and even do some nice dance numbers during them. The best song, though, is "I Fear Nothing." This number is performed by Costello and is not only comical and catchy, but also benefits from the performance of Mel Blanc as the voices of some animals (I think Blanc might have also dubbed Abbott's singing voice in "He Never Looked Better in His Life." It would make sense given that he already dubbed the animals and was known for being a good singer, but I have yet to see any source confirm it).
As far as comedy goes, there's not a lot to talk about. The fantasy element certainly takes precedence over this, but there are still a few fun moments. One scene involves Costello attempting to dance with the giant's housekeeper (played by Dorothy Ford), but she keeps hitting him and they have trouble managing to actually "dance." Another good gag involves Costello trying to cook an omelet for the giant, only for the eggs to explode because Costello accidentally poured gunpowder into the food he fed to the chickens that laid them. I also really like the fight between Costello and the giant (played by Buddy Baer). It actually does manage to be both humorous and exciting at the same time.
Overall, this is a decent telling of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story. The story ties together, the sets are nice, and besides the romantic leads, most of the cast does very well in their roles. If you want to see Abbott and Costello in their prime doing what they did best, you're not going to get it here. However, as Costello's attempt to tell a Disney/Wizard of Oz type story, it's perfectly acceptable, and considering that it's in the public domain, it would be a good way to introduce children to Abbott and Costello.
7 out of 10
Costello plays Jack, who is given the task of babysitting the siblings of Eloise Larkin (Shaye Cogan). While attempting to read the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" to Eloise's brother Donald (David Stollery), Donald instead ends up reading it to Jack and makes him fall asleep. In his dreams, Jack imagines himself as the Jack from the fairy tale, with Abbott portraying Mr. Dinklepuss, the man who cons him into trading his cow for magic beans. When the beans grow into a beanstalk, Jack and Mr. Dinklepuss climb it in an attempt to find everything that was stolen by the giant, including a princess and a prince (Cogan and James Alexander).
This is one of the more unique films in the Abbott and Costello catalog. For one thing, it's clear that this is mostly supposed to be a vehicle specifically for Costello. Though they interact a lot more here than they do in Little Giant or The Time of Their Lives, Abbott and Costello don't really do a ton of comedy routines as a duo; Abbott's clearly there just to be Abbott and not much else beyond setting up the beans plotline. It's also clear that this film also took inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, with only the dream sequences being shown in color.
As a fantasy film, it works OK. There are some issues, particularly the boring romantic couple who unfortunately do take up a good amount of time. There's also this rather creepy talking harp that doesn't seem to serve any real purpose in this. I get that there is a magic harp in the original story, but the design of this one is just really weird and and it doesn't even move its mouth at all; all of its talking is conveyed through these weird closeups of its creepy face as well as its strings. I found it kind of unsettling.
Surprisingly, one of the strongest aspects of this film is the songs. While there is a rather dull song performed by the romantic couple, I actually found most of the musical numbers to be pretty entertaining. The main theme of the film, "Jack and the Beanstalk," as well as "He Never Looked Better in His Life" both feature a chorus of villagers who all perform very well and even do some nice dance numbers during them. The best song, though, is "I Fear Nothing." This number is performed by Costello and is not only comical and catchy, but also benefits from the performance of Mel Blanc as the voices of some animals (I think Blanc might have also dubbed Abbott's singing voice in "He Never Looked Better in His Life." It would make sense given that he already dubbed the animals and was known for being a good singer, but I have yet to see any source confirm it).
As far as comedy goes, there's not a lot to talk about. The fantasy element certainly takes precedence over this, but there are still a few fun moments. One scene involves Costello attempting to dance with the giant's housekeeper (played by Dorothy Ford), but she keeps hitting him and they have trouble managing to actually "dance." Another good gag involves Costello trying to cook an omelet for the giant, only for the eggs to explode because Costello accidentally poured gunpowder into the food he fed to the chickens that laid them. I also really like the fight between Costello and the giant (played by Buddy Baer). It actually does manage to be both humorous and exciting at the same time.
Overall, this is a decent telling of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story. The story ties together, the sets are nice, and besides the romantic leads, most of the cast does very well in their roles. If you want to see Abbott and Costello in their prime doing what they did best, you're not going to get it here. However, as Costello's attempt to tell a Disney/Wizard of Oz type story, it's perfectly acceptable, and considering that it's in the public domain, it would be a good way to introduce children to Abbott and Costello.
7 out of 10
Comments
Post a Comment