Francis (1950)

During World War II, a junior American Army officer, Lt. Peter Stirling, gets sent to the psychiatric ward whenever he insists that an Army mule named Francis speaks to him.

Director:

Arthur Lubin

Writers:

David Stern (novel), David Stern (screenplay)

Stars:

Donald O'Connor, Patricia Medina, Zasu Pitts

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Donald O'Connor	...	2nd Lt. Peter Stirling
Patricia Medina	...	Maureen Gelder
Zasu Pitts	...	Nurse Valerie Humpert
Ray Collins	...	Colonel Hooker
John McIntire	...	Lt. General Stevens (as John McIntyre)
Eduard Franz	...	Colonel Plepper
Howland Chamberlain	...	Major Nadel
James Todd	...	Colonel Saunders
Robert Warwick	...	Col.onelCarmichael
Frank Faylen	...	Sergeant Chillingbacker
Tony Curtis	...	Captain Jones (as Anthony Curtis)
Mikel Conrad	...	Maj.or Garber
Loren Tindall	...	Major Richards
Charles Meredith	...	Banker Munroe
Molly	...	Francis (as Francis)

Storyline

The truthful soldier Stirling didn't know how to lie about his source of information, the talking army Mule, Francis, so he was treated as a lunatic and led to one after another hilarious situations, where the mule was the only one that appeared in his right mind. In the process of all this, the mule assisted in uncovering a spy, Maureen, who pretended to be lost among the jungles.

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name as title | psychotronic film | francis the mule character | mule | sergeant | 

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Taglines:

You'll remember "Francis" as long as you can LAUGH!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

An impossibly young Tony Curtis, listed as "Anthony" Curtis, shows up in early scenes with a few lines.

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Quotes

Francis the Talking Mule: I hope to kiss a duck I can talk!

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Crazy Credits

The hand of Peter Stirling open the pages of the novel revealing the credits of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Just Looking (1999)

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Soundtracks

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean
(uncredited)
Traditional Scottish folk song
Performed by Chill Wills

User Reviews

Francis is a good beginning for the series involving a talking mule

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!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Francis the Talking Mule

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1