The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Sad, very sad. I was a big time Abbott and Costello fan as a kid growing up in the Fifties, never missing an opportunity to catch one of their films on TV. The 'Monster' films were the best and they had others that entertained, but "Dance With Me, Henry" was a disappointing swan song. I never saw this one before today, so maybe my judgment would be a little different if I had some wistful memory of it from back in the day. Just about everything that made the comedy team click is missing here. There's no snappy dialog, none of the familiar routines, and the pair are completely out of character from their previous pairings. Lou is cast as a good guy, an adoptive Dad who's trying to raise a couple of kids while running an amusement park called Candyland. Bud on the other hand is an alcoholic and a gambler, so right out of the gate there's no basis for the type of comedy that the boys built their careers on. Occasional forays into slapstick get muddled by the story line involving gangsters and the murder of a district attorney, not exactly the kind of light hearted fare that A&C fans would have been used to. The picture is at it's best near the finale when a boat load of youngsters get involved in frustrating the bad guys at Candyland and saving the day for Lou and his young wards. The young boy Duffer I immediately recognized as Rusty Hamer from the Danny Thomas series 'Make Room For Daddy'. Checking the IMDb profile for Gigi Perreau, daughter Shelley in the story, I was surprised to see that she's still active with a film credit as recently as 2011. If you're an Abbott and Costello fan, I wouldn't try to steer you away from the movie because it's not terrible, it's just not very entertaining. Personally, I'll keep my fond memories of the boys from their earlier pictures where they delighted millions of fans all over the world.

After seeing DANCE WITH ME HENRY and reading the reviews, I think folks have been way too kind to this film. I am sure most of it is because they love Abbott and Costello and so they want to love the film or at least treat it with great reverence because of this. I myself have seen every Abbott and Costello film and wanted to like this film, too, but can't bring myself to say anything nice about DANCE WITH ME HENRY.The problem is that the script from start to finish is painfully unfunny. Now making a more serious film was not really the problem. LITTLE GIANT, after all, was a rather serious Abbott and Costello film and while the fans didn't like it, the film was well made and entertaining. If you see it today with an open mind, you can't help but appreciate the writing and especially Lou Costello's acting. However, not being funny is only the tip of the iceberg with DANCE WITH ME HENRY. The more serious problem is that the film is 100% saccharine--too sickeningly sweet for consumption. Watching this film could easily send diabetics into comas--it's THAT over-the-top sweet. With all the cute little kids and with a whole new persona for Lou Costello (sort of like a social worker and Pied Piper rolled into one), it's very sticky going. In this film, Lou isn't dumb at all--but the owner of "Happyland" amusement park who adores kids and takes in two orphans. Now I know I'll upset a few people with this observation, but isn't this all a bit creepy?! A single man devotes his life to hanging around kids, owning an amusement park, taking in kids.....this sounds very, very weird--like a recruitment film for pedophiles. I am sure that was NOT the intentions of the film makers but here in the 21st century, I could easily see people getting that impression--how could they not?! Please rest assured I do not hate Abbott and Costello. My comments are more because I am frustrated that this film was so bad and all attempts at humor were out the window. You can't just say Bud and Lou were old and they couldn't do any better. Remember, the year before they made ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (I gave this one an 8) and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (I gave this one a 7). So, they were capable of still being funny and entertaining and still had a lot to give. Too bad they had such an awful script and you wonder what Bud and Lou thought about this. Could they have wanted it to end this way? Overall, here's how I see the film: Bud's acting (5), Lou's acting (4), the direction/timing in the film (2) and the writing (-5). You just can't make a good comedy with a bum script and indifferent directing. They deserved better than this--and so did the audience.

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.

Watching "Dance With Me Henry," I felt as if I were trapped in some kind of purgatory. There is nothing funny or entertaining about this film. It simply goes on and on, interminably, with no suspense or narrative drive. The characters are cardboard, the dialogue wooden, the pacing leaden. Because of the film's title, I kept expecting the song "Dance With Me, Henry" to be part of the story, but it was only hinted at in the incidental music and sung, very briefly, by a minor character in one throw-away scene. Otherwise, there was no point to the title. I say this because "Dance With Me Henry" by Georgia Gibbs was a #1 hit in 1955. It was a whitewashed cover of a #1 R&B song by Etta James called "Roll With Me, Henry," which in turn was an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie," the biggest-selling rhythm & blues record of 1954. I have no idea why Abbott & Costello would finish out their career with a movie that took the title of a popular song and then throw that song away. In any event, I would rather sit through 100 spins of Georgia Gibbs' dreary "Dance With Me, Henry" than have to watch this horrible movie again.