Clearly this adaptation of the classic fairytale has a number of basic similarities to the prior 1939 "The Wizard of Oz" The dream portion takes place high up in the sky, where there is a scary person or 2 that rules the land. Sepia or B&W film is used for the non-dream portions at the beginning and end.(I much prefer the B&W choice over sepia for the present film. Both are available at YouTube). A number of musical numbers are included, some with dance, some individual, others group sings. Certainly, those from "The Wizard" are more memorable.In this version, a number of people besides jack either climb the beanstalk, or are captured by the giant. This includes Abbott, as Mr. Dinklepuss, who climbs the beanstalk with Lou, as Jack. Princess Eloise (Shaye Cogan) and Prince Arthur(James Alexander)who were captured. Also, Polly(Dorothy Ford), who serves as the giant's maid, and presumably was captured as well. As in "The Wizard of Oz", all these characters are based on people Jack(or Dorothy) knew.In this version (there have been many versions in the details), the nameless giant(played by Buddy Baer) stole Jack's chicken who lays golden eggs, as well as the cow Jack exchanged for 5 magic beans from Dinkel. Just how the giant managed to descend to earth without a magic beanstalk and transport the cow plus the people up to his sky kingdom is not considered. Later, he needed the beanstalk to descend. Abbott and Costello begin as supposed babysitters for a Denice-the-Menace-type boy(Donald) and his infant sister. Lou is supposed to read "Jack and the Beanstalk" to Donald, but he stumbles in his reading, so they decide to reverse roles. Lou falls asleep and has this dream. At the end of the film, when Lou is awakening, he says "crown me", meaning the king put a crown on his head. Well, Donald 'crowns' him with a porcelain pitcher! A funny sequence is when Jack mixes some gunpowder in with the chicken feed. When he cooks their eggs, they explode like firecrackers. A&C are standing next to each other, and Lou notices that his shadow is notable longer than Abbott's, despite Abbott's greater height. Turns out the giant is standing behind Lou.After Prince Arthur sings the romantic ballad "Darlene" to Darlene(also known as Princess Eloise), he later sings another romantic ballad to her: "Dreamer's Cloth", and she responds in kind. Costello and Polly also dance to this tune. At 6'2" in bare feet, Polly looked ridiculous dancing with 5'5" Lou. In one segment, she kept bopping his head with her rotating elbows and otherwise jarring his head. Funny. Remember, she was serving as the giant's maid. Thus, before the others showed up, the household consisted of 2 giants, as ex-boxer Buddy Baer, who played the giant, was 6'7".The giant gives Abbott the job of putting his magic hen and jewels away. Bad idea. Abbott and Prince Arthur conspire to steal these, which they eventually succeed at. But Abbott loses them on the way down the beanstalk, the villagers below gathering them. The title song: "Jack and the Beanstalk" is sung during the credits, when Jack and Dinkelpuss begin climbing the magic stalk, and in the finale, when the people arrive from the beanstalk. In the finale, the villagers also sing "He Never Looked Better in his Life", in reference to the now deceased giant.On the whole, this is one of the more interesting A&C films I've seen, especially suitable for children. The musical scenes fit in well with the rest of the screenplay, and there is a good amount of A&C-style humor. Lou's brother,Pat, wrote the screenplay and served as executive producer of this independently produced film.

C'mon, lighten up. This was for the kids in the matinée.Even when he acts in character Bud is the consummate straight man.Lou looks like he enjoys himself. He sings quite well. He and Buddy Baer (not quite a giant but close enough to count) do their own stunts.The musical score is excellent, with lyrics at times both thoughtful and hilarious.Mel Blanc and Arthur Shields lend their voices. Dorothy Ford lends her unique perspective.Of course it looks like a cartoon. It was supposed to.You can't get the genius of "Who's On First?" in every clip of a very long-running vaudeville act.For the very young at heart.

Bud Abbott has only a smallish role in this mostly-for-kids musical comedy which stars Lou Costello as the dim-witted Jack who is swindled into buying 'magic beans'. The classic bedtime story is given a somewhat soundstage-bound treatment but still has a nice fantasy look and good production values with the Giant's castle being a particular treat, especially when viewed from the perspective of Lou's frequent fright-takes. Fans of the comedy team should beware that, without his partner Abbott setting him up for much of the picture, Lou sometimes strains overmuch to get laughs and his performance is a bit uneven in a title role that vacillates uneasily between child- like disingenuousness and farce.

I watched this last night for the first time in 40 years. It's bad. Really bad. But it has enough hilariously awful moments, that it's worth watching. First of all, was it deliberate to make the boy being babysat completely effeminate? He even says to Costello a la Mae West "you fascinate me!" as Costello does a double take. God only knows what would have have happened if the babysitter had been a hunk. THIS kid would have seduced him in a heartbeat! Then there's the principal male dancer. He is totally inept. Roar with laughter as he leaps and prances with no talent whatsoever over the giant's grave during He Never Looked Better in His Life. The two romantic leads are zeros, wastes. Abbott gets to sing one line and that was dubbed in by another singer. Geez, I guess he couldn't even carry a tune! Costello does manage to be charming in his I Fear Nothing number, and I guess very small children might like it, but there's not much to recommend it. But oh that seductive effeminate boy! THAT aspect alone blew me away! Plus the fact the family accepted anyone off the street with no references to babysit a child! Today, little femmy boy would be taken away from them!