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Abbott & Costello's swansong was a reasonable farewell, playing like a fifties sitcom with a rather subdued Lou who in a plot reminiscent of Norman Wisdom gets involved with cute kids and mean adults.

the marx brothers and laurel and hardy and their fans suffered thru mediocre final films and Abboott & Costello were no different.

DANCE WITH ME, HENRY (title and tune based upon an early Etta James cover of a hank Ballard tune) has none of those records' energy but it is certainly more energetic - and better - than the critics have said it was.

number one: the story, although overly sentimental, is fun (Lou is a kind of local "pied piper" and protector of "lost" kids, always ducking and dodging the local social workers) but our heros get a chance to do a little more *acting* (Bud is effective as a real down and outer, not the usual conniver).

directed by SUPERMAN (TV) Director Charles Barton. and if U R a fan of the Danny Thomas Show, you'll see Rusty Hamer, a year or so before it premiered!

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.

While this 1956 film isn't a masterpiece, it's no slouch either as it showcases for the last time the talent of Abbott and Costello together as a comedy team.

Running an amusement park, Abbott is up to his ears in debt and is beholden to the mob. Costello has 2 adopted children, a character of a social worker played by Mary Wickes, wants to take them away and invariably Costello gets blamed for the shooting death of the D.A.

While the zany two's usual antics are missing, this is a fun film made enjoyable by the appearances of Gigi Perreau and Rusty Hamer. (Make Room for Daddy.) Ted de Corsia is at his best when he plays a gangster and he is no exception here.

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.