Jack and the Beanstalk
About Jack and the Beanstalk
An agency sends Mr. Dinkle (Bud Abbott) and Jack Strong (Lou Costello) to babysit Donald. Jack nods off while the boy reads Jack and the Beanstalk, and dreams he is Jack. A giant has taken the kingdom's food, the hen Nellie, Prince Arthur, and Princess Eloise. Butcher Dinklepuss pays five beans for the cow Henry. A beanstalk grows overnight. Jack and Dinklepuss are locked in the castle with the prisoners, mix gunpowder into the hen's feed so the giant's omelette blows up, and escape with housekeeper Polly. Jack cuts the stalk and the giant falls. Donald wakes him by breaking a vase over his head.
Cast & crew
More about Jack and the Beanstalk
Lou Costello's company, Exclusive Productions, made the film after Universal-International refused to pay for color. Warner Bros. distributed it and did not finance it. Jean Yarbrough directed. Shooting ran from 9 July to 2 August 1951 at Hal Roach Studios, on sets left from Joan of Arc (1948). The dream is Eastmancolor, printed in SuperCineColor. The babysitting scenes at each end are sepia. Heinz Roemheld wrote the score. Lester Lee and Bob Russell wrote the songs, among them "I Fear Nothing" and "He Never Looked Better in His Life." Decca issued an album of songs and dialogue on 9 June 1952. New York opened the picture on 7 April 1952. Before release, Abbott and Costello cut more than 26 minutes, about $50,000 of footage. Otho Lovering edited. Mel Blanc voices the animals. Buddy Baer plays the giant.
Themes
Making
Costello wanted a story for children, and a break from the team's usual routines. They found at least five printed versions of the tale in circulation and used that spread for extra incidents. Some cut scenes were dropped because the jokes had slid back into old bits.
Technique
The dream section was shot in Eastmancolor and released in SuperCineColor, with sepia for the opening and closing babysitting scenes.
Music
Heinz Roemheld scored the film. Lester Lee and Bob Russell wrote the songs. Decca released a soundtrack album, songs plus dialogue, on 9 June 1952.
Preservation
The Warner release survives, sepia frame and color dream intact.
Notes
- Abbott is Mr. Dinkle in the frame story and Mr. Dinklepuss, the butcher, in the dream. Costello is Jack in both.
- Dorothy Ford plays the receptionist and Polly, the giant's housekeeper. Shaye Cogan is the princess, James Alexander the prince, William Farnum the king, and David Stollery the boy Donald.
- Their Universal contract allowed one independent film a year. This was that film.
- Arthur Shields voices Patrick the Harp.
Scenes
- Gunpowder in the chicken feed blows the giant's omelette into his face.
- Donald breaks a vase over Jack's head and ends the dream.
Influenced by
- Jack and the Beanstalk (fairy tale)
Also available
- Internet Archive (cco_jackandthebeanstalk)
