Jack and the Beanstalk (1952 film)
| Jack and the Beanstalk | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jean Yarbrough |
| Produced by | Alex Gottlieb Pat Costello Bud Abbott Lou Costello |
| Written by | Nat Curtis Pat Costello |
| Starring |
Bud Abbott Lou Costello Buddy Baer Dorothy Ford Barbara Brown |
| Music by | Heinz Roemheld |
| Cinematography | George Robinson |
| Edited by | Otho Lovering |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $682,580 |
| Box office | $1.6 million (US rentals) |
Jack and the Beanstalk is a 1952 American family comedy film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a comic revision of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale.
Mr. Dinkle and Jack (Abbott and Costello) look for work at the Cosman Employment Agency. Jack makes advances to Cosman employee Polly (Dorothy Ford), but he is thwarted by the arrival of her boyfriend, a towering police officer (Buddy Baer). Polly assigns Dinkle and Jack to babysit for Eloise Larkin's brother and infant sister, while Eloise (Shaye Cogan) and her fiancé (James Alexander) are out for the evening. The babysitting duties are complicated by the fact that Donald (David Stollery) is something of a prodigy, as well as a self-proclaimed "problem child". The dull-witted Jack is soon outclassed by the child, and an attempt to lull the boy to sleep by reading the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk (Jack's "favorite novel") aloud fails when Jack stumbles over the larger words. Bemused by Jack's incompetence, Donald reads the story instead--a role-reversal made complete when Jack falls asleep as Donald reads. In his slumber, Jack dreams that he is the young Jack of the fairy tale.
In his dream Jack learns that the Giant (Buddy Baer), who lives in a castle in the sky, has stolen all of the land's wealth and food. The situation obliges the kingdom's princess to marry The Prince (James Alexander) of a neighboring kingdom, whom she has never met.
Jack must also make sacrifices, when his mother sends him to sell the last family possession, their beloved cow "Henry", to the local butcher, Mr. Dinklepuss. Along the way Jack meets The Prince (who is kidnapped by the Giant soon afterward). The unscrupulous Dinklepuss pays Jack five "magic" beans for the cow. Upon returning home, Jack learns that the Giant has also kidnapped The Princess (Shaye Cogan) and Henry.
Undeterred by his mother's disappointment over bringing home only beans, Jack plants them and a gigantic beanstalk grows overnight. He decides to climb the beanstalk to rescue everyone from the Giant's clutches, as well as to retrieve "Nellie", the golden-egg laying hen that the Giant previously stole from Jack's family. Upon learning of Nellie's existence, Dinklepuss decides to join Jack on the adventure.
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