Sad, very sad. I was a big time Abbott and Costello fan as a kid growing up in the Fifties, never missing an opportunity to catch one of their films on TV. The 'Monster' films were the best and they had others that entertained, but "Dance With Me, Henry" was a disappointing swan song. I never saw this one before today, so maybe my judgment would be a little different if I had some wistful memory of it from back in the day. Just about everything that made the comedy team click is missing here. There's no snappy dialog, none of the familiar routines, and the pair are completely out of character from their previous pairings. Lou is cast as a good guy, an adoptive Dad who's trying to raise a couple of kids while running an amusement park called Candyland. Bud on the other hand is an alcoholic and a gambler, so right out of the gate there's no basis for the type of comedy that the boys built their careers on. Occasional forays into slapstick get muddled by the story line involving gangsters and the murder of a district attorney, not exactly the kind of light hearted fare that A&C fans would have been used to. The picture is at it's best near the finale when a boat load of youngsters get involved in frustrating the bad guys at Candyland and saving the day for Lou and his young wards. The young boy Duffer I immediately recognized as Rusty Hamer from the Danny Thomas series 'Make Room For Daddy'. Checking the IMDb profile for Gigi Perreau, daughter Shelley in the story, I was surprised to see that she's still active with a film credit as recently as 2011. If you're an Abbott and Costello fan, I wouldn't try to steer you away from the movie because it's not terrible, it's just not very entertaining. Personally, I'll keep my fond memories of the boys from their earlier pictures where they delighted millions of fans all over the world.
Review of Dance with Me, Henry
