Francis (1950)

"I suppose in all of us there's a trace of a mother complex." These thoughtful words of U.S. Army mule Francis ("That's spelled with an 'i'.") are an example of the charm of this Hollywood concoction. The voice of Chill Wills is deep and warm, just as the equine star's voice should be, and is equal to the deep voice of the Commanding General. Their scenes together late in the film pack a real punch. But meanwhile you have the 2nd Lieutenant Donald O'Connor, making frequent trips to the "Neuropsychiatric Ward"--having been befriended by Francis, and compelled by higher authorities to disclose that his source of military intelligence is a mule that talks. The war story is actually a story-within-a-story,told by O'Connor's character to his post-war employer, as he tries to save his job at the bank. This movie is well-paced and full of cheerful surprises. Zasu Pitts appears as a psychiatric nurse holding her own in an environment of half-baked military psychiatry. Choreography of encounters in Burmese jungle and on the army base moves smoothly and too soon it's a wrap. Hence several sequels.

When Mr. Ed appeared as a TV series, I thought to myself, "They're stealing Francis's thunder. We saw these movies in our local theater. It was about seven or eight years after they came out. That's the thing with small town theaters. But this was what made them great. Francis is an Army mule and he has insights into what is going on because he can eavesdrop on conversations without being suspected. Donald O'Connor, the great song and dance man, becomes Francis's foil. He receives information. After getting over the fact that the mule can talk, he is put in terrible situations where he may have to reveal where he gets his information. Of course, Francis ain't talking to anybody else. Poor Donald. He goes through this time after time after time. I guess I saw more of these movies. I just don't remember them. As a kid it was a kick.

After years of only reading about this series, I finally watched the first entry starring Donald O'Connor with Chill Wills as the voice of the talking mule known as Francis. Donald tells his banker boss about his World War II exploits as the film flashes back to when he was a second lieutenant in the army. So he encounters Francis and when he tells his superiors how he got certain info, that's when the fun starts. I was quite guffawing at many of the scenes and lines even though the DVD I saw this on has some scenes skipping. (Thank goodness one of them wasn't the brief shot of Tony Curtis in one of his earliest appearances especially since I just watched his future wife, Janet Leigh, in Words and Music!) So on that note, I recommend Francis. P.S. Since I always like to cite when someone from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-is in something else, here it's Frank Faylen as a soldier who spits a lot!

Mild-mannered bank teller Donald O'Connor (as Peter Stirling) explains some strange behavior to his boss by explaining how he met "Francis" – a talking mule. We flashback to Mr. O'Connor's World War II service. In Burma, the wounded second lieutenant is stranded behind enemy lines. Francis carries O'Connor to an Army hospital, then disappears. Of course, of course everyone thinks O'Connor's crazy when he mentions befriending a talking mule. At a dance, O'Connor meets shapely Patricia Medina (as Maureen Gelder). Watch, here, for young Anthony "Tony" Curtis to appear briefly as a sex-starved soldier. Suddenly, Francis appears to whisk O'Connor away for an important mission...Neither the best nor the funniest film in the "Francis" series, this first effort has lost a little freshness in comparison. Still, you have good chemistry between O'Connor and Francis (voiced by Chill Wills). The scenes with the duo, directed by Arthur Lubin, play well...After the films ran their course, Mr. Lubin took the concept to TV with the series "Mister Ed" (starring Alan Young). Probably due to difficulty obtaining rights, "Ed" (a talking horse) replaced "Francis". Both were derived from literary works, where the horse preceded the mule. The preference of the talking animal for his human friend, his frequent attempts to take O'Connor (and later, Young) away from female companionship, adeptness with the telephone and other story elements are here. Lubin's series became charmingly more surreal over the years, fitting the 1960s perfectly.****** Francis (the Talking Mule) (2/50) Arthur Lubin ~ Donald O'Connor, Patricia Medina, Chill Wills, Zasu Pitts