Musical Monday: Jack and the Beanstalk (1952)

Posted on by

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) – Musical #809

Studio:
Produced by Executive Productions, Distributed by Warner Bros.

Director:
Jean Yarbrough

Starring:
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Buddy Baer, Dorothy Ford, Shaye Cogan, James Alexander, Barbara Brown, David Stollery, Arthur Shields

Plot:
Two unlikely babysitters, Jack (Costello) and Mr. Dinkle (Abbott) are hired to watch Donald Larkin (Stollery). While they are reading “Jack & the Beanstalk” to him, both babysitters fall asleep. Told in a dream sequence, the pair are transported into the story. In the story, Jack (Costello again) and his mother (Ford) live in a village that has hit hard times and the Giant (Baer) has kidnapped the Princess Eloise (Cogan), a goose that lays golden eggs, and Prince Arthur (Alexander), who is pretending to be a to be a troubadour. When Jack is asked to sell the family cow, he squanders the money by buying magic beans. The bean grows into a giant stalk that goes into the sky. Jack climbs the stalk to rescue everyone that the Giant has kidnapped, and is followed by the town butcher Mr. Dinklepuss (Abbott again), who’s interested in the golden goose.

Trivia:
• Lou Costello was the executive producer for the film. Bud Abbott then was the executive producer for their next film.
• Lou Costello got the idea for the film while reading “Jack and the Beanstalk” to his daughter, Christine. The scenes with the babysitter were written by Costello’s brother, Pat, according to Abbott and Costello biographers.
• The film was shot at the Hal Roach Studios on existing sets from “Joan of Arc” (1948)
• The first of only two color Abbott and Costello films.
• Re-released in 1960
• Mel Blanc voices the animals during one scene
• This was only one of two films Shaye Cogan, who played Princess Eloise, was in. This was her final film appearance.
• Arthur Shields is the voice of the singing harp
• World premiere was held in Patterson, N.J. in Lou Costello’s hometown.
• Shot in a new three-strip Super CineColor process.
• James Alexander’s first feature film, and Shaye Cogan’s last film.

Highlights:
• Lou Costello singing

Notable Songs:
• “I Fear Nothing” performed by Lou Costello
• “Jack and the Beanstalk” performed by Lou Costello, Barbara Brown, and the chorus
• “He Never Looked Better in His Life” performed by the chorus
• “Darlene” performed by James Alexander
• “Dreamer’s Cloth” performed by James Alexander and Shaye Cogan

My review:
I’ll admit that I have only seen a handful of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello movies. Those that I’ve seen so far were largely due to Musical Monday reviews! But each one I’ve watched I’ve had a terrific time, including this one, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952).

In the film, the fairy tale is told as a dream sequence. Abbott and Costello are unlikely babysitters to Donald, played by David Stollery who later went on to appear on SPIN AND MARTY. As they are trying to get the nightmarish child to bed, they are the ones who instead fall asleep instead of the child. As they snooze, Abbott and Costello are put into the story of JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, with Costello as the title character, Jack, and Abbott as a the local butcher, Mr. Dinklepuss, who’s interested in the golden goose.

People the duo encountered leading up to the dream sequence also appear in the story, such as:
– The older sister of Donald, Eloise (Shaye Cogan), who hired the babysitters. Eloise appears in the dream as the kidnapped princess.
– Eloise’s fiance, Arthur (James Alexander), who appears in the dream as the Prince
– A receptionist (Dorothy Ford), who helps get them the babysitting job appears as a friend of the giant, Polly.
– A police officer, Sgt. Riley (Buddy Baer), the two encounter early on. Sgt. Riley transforms into the Giant in the story.

The film is reminiscent of THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), with the current day filmed in sepia tones and the “current day” characters showing up in the brightly colored dream. As soon as the dream ends, the film returns to sepia, and everyone in the story is on hand.

The look of the film and quality of color, admittedly, reminds me of a televised musical, such as THE PIED-PIPER (1952), but nevertheless, this was a feature film. The film was shot in a new three-strip Super CineColor process, which was only partially more expensive than black-and-white footage. My only other criticism is that the dancers seemed a bit amateurish.

But overall, it’s great fun. It’s quite funny, such as when Jack climbs up the beanstalk, one of the towns people

I thought it was funny when the woman said “don’t worry, he won’t be back,” when Jack climbs up the beanstalk. It’s also fun to hear Lou Costello get to sing.

I wasn’t as familiar with our romantic leads, James Alexander and Shaye Cogan. While they were talented, they added to the “live television event-feel.” They both had beautiful singing voices, but weren’t necessarily memorable performers. Neither had a lengthy film career. In fact, this was Cogan’s final film after just making two films. This was Alexander’s first feature film.

Another treat was seeing David Stollery, especially for Disney fans, though he doesn’t have much screentime.

What’s fun about this, is that from the handful of Abbott and Costello films I’ve seen, including BUCK PRIVATES, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952) feels fresh and different from their usual routines. The comedic duo almost seems lighthearted in this child-centric fairytale. This is simply lots of fun.

Other places you can follow Comet Over Hollywood: 

Thank you for reading! What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.