Dance With Me, Henry (1956)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

the audience applauded

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The last Abbott & Costello film. I feel like this would be bittersweet knowing that, no matter the quality. That it's not a good movie just makes it more depressing. The plot has Lou trying to adopt a couple of kids and Bud as a gambler in trouble with racketeers. None of this is fun. Of the two, Lou comes out best at trying to recapture the past magic. He doesn't totally succeed but there are moments at least. Bud seems tired, even zoned out in some scenes, and his voice is raspy which just gave me a case of the sads. This would be the last movie Bud made. Lou would do one solo movie before dying three years after this was released. The adoption part of the plot makes this whole film seem like a TV pilot instead of a regular A&C comedy. Also, there's quite a bit of corny 1950s teenager stuff, mocking the lingo and the music and so on. It's low-hanging fruit and even then the film can't get any laughs. That's this movie's main sin - it's just not funny. I didn't laugh once. Smiled a couple times but no laughs. Besides the failed comedy, there's quite a bit of serious stuff that's really more saccharine than dramatically challenging for anyone involved. All in all, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen but certainly the worst Abbott & Costello movie I've seen.

Contrary to popular belief, the title of this film was not changed. The December 21, 1955 issue of the New York Times carried a story -- ABBOTT, COSTELLO SLATE NEW MOVIE -- which detailed the particulars about the projected project, including the title, DANCE WITH ME HENRY, producer and distributor credit and noted the film would start filming in March, 1956.The song was a sanitized, pop cover by Georgia Gibbs of a suggestive 1955 Etta James R&B hit, THE WALLFLOWER -- written by Johnny Otis, Hank Ballard and James -- which was more popularly known as ROLL WITH ME, HENRY. Interestingly, THE WALLFLOWER was a follow-up song to Ballard's provocative 1954 hit, WORK WITH ME, ANNIE.

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.

I am writing this for the fans who have not yet seen it. Made in '56, The boys show their age as they did from 1953. It opens with a shot of Costello running down the road to the ophanage to reclaim his foster son Duffer after some sort of falling out. Once they make up, in walks Abbott. They do an exchange which isn't really funny and makes you yearn for the days when Lou's facial expressions alone could send you into hysterics. It turns out that one of the rides in Costello's fun fair, kiddyland has malfunctioned and Abbott doesn't know how to stop the machine. All it requires is for Costello to throw the switch (which for some reason is hidden behind a trap door.) And so it goes on. Miss Mayberry who represents the welfare board wants to take Lou's foster children back into care, Abbott's gambling debts have got into trouble with local hood 'Big Frank' and now he has been ordered to carry marked money to Chicago. When Abbott tells Costello this, Costello phones up the D.A and asks to meet one of their men in kiddyland late, thinking that this will help with his case with the welfare board. Big Frank arranges Abbott to meet with one of his men also in Kiddyland.(Do these guys not use their hideout?) The gangster and the D.A arrive at the same time and the D.A gets shot. Abbott naturally manipulates the converstion with the police and subsequentely Costello gets the blame for the murder and is arrested even though when the police turn up, Abbott is holding a hammer. After Costello is released, he is kidnapped and with Abbott, forced to go to Kiddyland to locate the money. It all concludes with a homealone style finale with loads of kids, who, at the drop of a hat manage to sneak away from home, helping the boys out and eventually catching the crooks. Alls well that ends well.This old fashioned film wasn't quite as bad as one of their other films. When you think of all the 'trendy' films Martin and Lewis made during the last 6 years one wonders why A+C didn't try to branch out further. Lou Costello was once the funniest man on the earth - no doubt about that. Tragically, due to ill health his vitality was robbed and this was the end product. It would of been better played straight. Abbott had all the best lines and I thought he was rather good. Though gone are the days of Rio Rita, Hold that Ghost and Buck Privates, the (reportedly)sixty one year old comedian gave a better performance than in recent vehicles. Costello who for some reason had not been given any funny lines at all, seems to try and impress the audiences by shaking his head while looking down at a telephone and repeating the phrase'Oh my!' The gangsters who played it straight somehow turn 'lite' and manage to fall victim to the children's pranks. One of them gets whacked in the shins, one of them gets tripped up, one of them gets squirted by a water pistol etc...It's known for their worst, which I disagree. ...Go to mars was worse than this. This film is, obviously of more interest to the fans who wish to see how this once great comedy team came to close their motion picture curtain. Tragic.