IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Sometimes a restoration of a movie is so good that is leads you to reevaluate the film itself. The new Jack and the Beanstalk – 70th Anniversary Limited Edition Blu-ray from ClassicFlix is one of those cases.

While I was an absolute Abbott & Costello fanatic as a kid, Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) was one of my least favorite of their films. This was largely due to the fact that the movie was specifically made for children. As a kid, I was interested in grown-up stuff, and I much preferred seeing Bud and Lou get into jams with cops, crooks, and killers, than with fairy tale baddies. Moreover, Bud & Lou’s verbal byplay was one of my favorite things about their comedy, and Jack and the Beanstalk contained less snappy banter than most of their films (and it was completely lacking in their signature burlesque routines). Finally, there was the issue that Jack and the Beanstalk just didn’t look very good. The film had fallen into the public domain, and broadcast and home video prints were washed-out, muddy, and frayed.

Due to my less-than-fond memories of Jack and the Beanstalk and the poor quality of the video copies available, it was one of the only Abbott & Costello films that I hadn’t revisited since childhood. However, when I heard that the team at the 3-D Film Archive had launched a Kickstarter to restore Jack and the Beanstalk from new 4K scans of the best surviving 35mm elements, I knew I had to support the project and give the movie another chance. The 3-D Film Archive’s previous restorations of Africa Screams (1949) and The Abbott and Costello Show: Season 1 had made my “Picks of the Year” lists for 2020 and 2021, so I knew that this release would be something special.

I’ll address the quality of the restoration and the bounteous Blu-ray special features in the “Video” section below (Spoiler alert – The disc is fantastic!), but first, let’s address my thoughts on the re-watch of the film itself. The structure of the film is a shameless rip-off of The Wizard of Oz (1939). Like that MGM classic, Jack in the Beanstalk is bookended with sepia-toned sequences set in the real world, with a central fantasy dream sequence in color. Also, as in The Wizard of Oz, actors in the sepia sections show up in roles in the fairy tale section. Lou Costello’s older brother Pat received a “Story by” credit for having the “original” idea of aping earlier movie in this way.

The film was also the first Abbott & Costello film shot in color. Money-conscious Universal Pictures continued to stick to less expensive black & white photography for Bud and Lou’s comedies, while less popular comedians at other studios, such as Red Skelton and Danny Kaye, were getting the Technicolor treatment. However, Abbott & Costello’s contract allowed them to make one independent film per year outside of Universal. With Jack and the Beanstalk, Bud and Lou set up their own production companies to produce these independent features themselves and to produce them in color. Lou would produce the first film, with Bud acting on a straight salary, and the roles would be reversed for their next independent feature (Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd). It was a point of pride with Lou that he produced the first of the team’s multi-hued films.

In the film, Jack (Lou) takes a last-minute babysitting job, with Mr. Dinkle (Bud) acting as his agent on a 90% commission basis. When Jack asks the kid he’s sitting (David Stollery) to read him Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack falls asleep and imagines himself as his fairy tale namesake. The kingdom is nearly destitute, because a giant (Buddy Baer) has stolen most of the food and valuables; and Jack must sell his beloved milk cow, Henry, to the butcher, Mr. Dinklepuss (Bud). After Dinklepuss swindles Jack by offering him “magic beans” in exchange for Henry, the giant steals the cow from the calculating butcher. The greedy goliath also swipes the kingdom’s Princess (Shaye Cogan) and a prince from a neighboring kingdom (James Alexander), just in case he gets snackish. When the planted magic beans grow into a towering beanstalk overnight, Jack declares that he will climb the humongous vegetable to rescue the abductees from the giant’ castle in the sky. Dinklepuss accompanies Jack in his climb up the beanstalk to try to grab some of the stolen treasure for himself. The real question is whether dream Jack can complete his mission before real Jack wakes up.

I found myself loving Jack and the Beanstalk upon this re-watch. As a kid, I judged the film against other Abbott & Costello films that were more strongly rooted in burlesque. However, Lou wanted this movie to appeal to children, who had always been a large part of the Abbott & Costello fan-base. Lou thought of the film as a live-action version of a Disney cartoon, and on that basis, it succeeds tremendously. While the film was produced on a tight budget, it was more ambitious than most previous Abbott & Costello films, and you can feel the enthusiasm that the boys brought to the project in every frame.

Lou Costello is at his absolute most charming in the title role. As the fairy tale character, he’s more proactive and courageous than usual, but he loses none of his sweetness and humorous naiveté. He also proves quite adept when called upon to sign and dance. Bud has less to do than usual, but he makes the most of his limited screen time, playing his conniving character to the hilt. While still the straight man of the pair, Bud garners a few guffaws of his own with some excellently timed line readings, ad libs, and facial reactions. Boxer-turned nightclub singer, Buddy Baer makes an fine baddie, and statuesque beauty Dorothy Ford is a fine female foil for Costello. The romantic leads, Shaye Cogan and James Alexander, don’t bring much to the table, but at least, they don’t get in the way (much).

Now that we can see the film as it was meant to be seen, through the 3-D Film Archive’s new restoration, the movie proves to have squeezed a lot of beautiful production value from the budget. Not only does the picture have a vibrant fairy tale atmosphere. The story is lively, punctuated by some surprisingly good songs by Lester Lee and Bob Russell. The music will stick with you, like the best earworm, and the lyrics are unexpectedly complex and witty. It’s not often you hear “obstreperous” rhymed with “salt and pepper us.”

There’s also a bit of enjoyment to be had from a few moments that don’t come off as well. The prince’s song, which he has written to woo the princess, was cut in the editing to just three repetitions of the word “Darlene,” which makes it appear that the prince is the world’s worst songwriter. In addition, the choreography (if you can call it that) of the Johnny Conrad Dancers is unintentionally hilarious. About the only thing that I didn’t like about the film was the character of Patrick the Harp (voiced by Arthur Shields), which I found both creepy, as a semi-inanimate villain, and off-puttingly stupid, as an over-the-top Irish stereotype.

While Jack in the Beanstalk will never be my favorite Abbott and Costello film (that honor goes to Who Done It?), it is a solid, breezy, entertaining movie. If you surrender to your inner child, I think you’ll find this fairy tale lark to be much more amusing than you might expect.

USA/Sepia & Color-78m./Dir: Jean Yarbrough/Wr: Nathaniel Curtis (from a story by Pat Costello)/Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Buddy Baer, Dorothy Ford, Shaye Cogan, James Alexander, David Stollery, Mel Blanc, Arthur Shields, Johnny Conrad, Barbara Brown

For Fans of: Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) is most likely to appeal to audiences already familiar with Abbott & Costello. However, since it was specifically designed for younger audiences, it might be a good gateway film for kids in grade school or below.

Video: Abbott & Costello’s first film in color has long been stuck in public domain hell. The film has received numerous home video releases, but all of them have been pretty crummy, until now. The ClassicFlix Blu-ray release of the Jack and the Beanstalk – 70th Anniversary Limited Edition makes all previous home video releases obsolete.

The team at the 3-D Film Archive have completed a much-needed restoration from 4K scans of the best-surviving 35mm SuperCinecolor elements. The restored image looks as good as new, with the original studio logos, sepia-toned opening and closing scenes, and vibrantly-colored fantasy sequences intact. In fact, when you consider that many reviewers of the original theatrical release complained about the quality of the color in the middle section of the film, this Blu-ray likely looks better than new.

Those unfamiliar with SuperCinecolor may find the image in the color sections of the film a bit too grainy, but harsh grain was inherent to the SuperCinecolor process. Considering the fact that the original camera negatives are missing (presumed destroyed), and that the SuperCinecolor development process produced 35mm prints that were three generations down from an already grainy Eastmancolor negative, it is amazing that the restoration team was able to make the film look and sound so good. It should also be noted that the Sepia-toned bookends of the film look absolutely perfect. Anyone who has seen public domain video copies of this title will immediately recognize the leap in quality in sharpness, color density, and sound over previous home video releases. I can confidently say that this is the best Jack and the Beanstalk (1952) will ever look or sound.

While the improved image and sound quality of the film are reasons enough to purchase the new 70th Anniversary Limited Edition, the disc is also packed with a 2.5 hours of extras, including several treasures that Abbott and Costello fans will cherish.

Bonus Features:

• Newly recorded feature introduction by Lou’s youngest daughter, Chris Costello
• Audio commentary by Abbott and Costello expert Ron Palumbo, with recollections from Jack and the Beanstalk co-star David Stollery: This is a very thorough commentary with lots of behind-the-scenes info on the cast, crew, Lou’s role as producer, scenes that deviate from the script, “on set” ad-libs and gaffes, and more.
• Newly discovered footage of Abbott and Costello performing “Who’s on First” on December 2, 1940: While there are better versions of this classic routine out there, Bud and Lou never performed it exactly the same way twice, so there are a couple of transitions that are a little different from other extant versions.
• Imperfect Spectrum: A Brief History of Cinecolor by Jack Theakston
• Climbing the Scales: The Music of Jack and the Beanstalk by Ray Faiola
• Beanstalk Ballyhoo by Ron Palumbo with photos and footage of Bud and Lou’s April 1952 tour including the world premiere in Paterson, NJ.
• Cutting Down the Beanstalk by Ron Palumbo: Deleted scenes footage and photos, including the only surviving clip from the Jack and the Beanstalk 35mm color camera negative
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Creature: A restored 1954 live television appearance with the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and the first public appearance of the “Gill-Man” (Ben Chapman) from Creature from the Black Lagoon
• “Jack and the Beanstalk” radio sketch from 1945 with Rudy Vallee and on-screen photo gallery by Shane Fleming
• Behind the scenes photo gallery by Chip Ordway, with the 1952 children’s recording of Jack and the Beanstalk, featuring Bud, Lou, and Thurl Ravenscroft
• Publicity materials photo gallery by Chip Ordway
• Abbott and Costello Trailer Rarities – 18 original “Coming Attraction” previews including the Jack and the Beanstalk and Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd SuperCinecolor trailers
• Fireman Save My Child trailer: This film was planned for Bud and Lou, but Hugh O’Brian and Buddy Hackett filled in when Lou became ill. Two audio commentaries are included to put the trailer in context.
• Restoration Comparison: This before-and-after footage helps demonstrate the need for this restoration.
• Trailers for other ClassicFlix releases

The complete package adds up to one of the best home video releases of 2022. Producers Bob Furmanek and Jack Theakson and everyone involved in this release should be congratulated for their exceptional work.

Streaming: Public domain copies of the 1952 film are available to stream on multiple platforms, but the picture and sound quality are poor, and you’ll miss out on all of the extras detailed above.

More to Explore: The 3-D Film Archive previously restored Abbott & Costello’s feature Africa Screams and the first season of their syndicated television show. They next plan to do their magic on Season 2 of The Abbott and Costello Show. Most of Bud & Lou’s motion pictures have already received HD releases on Blu-ray. I have linked the available Blu-ray and DVD releases below.

Trivia: Bud Abbott was asked to grow a pencil thin mustache for the role of Mr. Dinklepuss, and he liked it enough that he kept it for four years. Bud thought the mustache made him look dashing. Lou was also in favor of the mustache. He said that it revitalized Abbott and that Bud acted better with it.

For More Info: The Annotated Abbott and Costello by Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria is due out later this year, and the out-of-print film guide, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood by Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo, is also highly recommended.