Francis Covers the Big Town

'Francis Covers the Big Town' drags on a fair bit, with that said it's marginally better than two of its three predecessors.

The lack of an army-related plot is a big plus, with a visit to New York City as a wannabe journalist making for a decent storyline. As noted, it does lose steam as the 85 minute or so run time ticks on, but I prefer this entry to 1950's 'Francis' and 1952's 'Francis Goes to West Point'.

Donald O'Connor - even though his character is made a tad more unlikeable here, intentionally so I presume - remains the only cast member worth talking about; well, alongside voice actor Chill Wills, I guess.

Just the three films left to watch from this series...

This is the fourth of the Francis, the Talking Mule series entries. This time, Peter Stirling is in New York, working up to be a reporter for the newspaper there. At first, he's able to avoid revealing his source because writers of paper articles are supposed to be sworn to secrecy but one knows that won't last for long. It's also a matter of time before Francis (voiced once again by Chill Wills) reveals his vocabulary to anyone other than Donald O'Connor. This time he has two women to pick from: Yvette Duguay and Nancy Guild. One's cynical and sophisticated and one's more girl-next-door who also happens to be Italian (at least as a character in the movie). Guess which one wins? Anyway, this was another pretty enjoyable entry whenever Francis talks and when Peter tries explaining himself and not much else other than that. This will be my last review of the series even though three more eps were made since the DVD I saw this on only had the first four entries. Maybe someday...Actually, I may review Francis in the Navy which is on YouTube as of this moment...

In the previous film, "Francis Goes to West Point", Pete (Donald O'Connor) attends the military academy and it ends with him and Francis saying goodbye...and Pete finishing up his second of four years at West Point. Oddly, when "Francis Covers the Big Town", there's no mention of West Point, Francis and Pete are back together, and Pete is a copyboy at a newspaper. Now considering West Point graduates must serve in the Army a minimum of eight years after graduation AND have an easy time getting jobs after, Pete working such a lowly job makes no sense....nor does it make any sense that his time at the Academy is never mentioned. After all, if he was dismissed or quit, don't you think it would have been mentioned? All in all, this installment is poor from the outset because of major continuity problems. Can it overcome them and still be entertaining?!

As a lowly copyboy, Pete aspires to become a reporter. With the help of Francis his mule (who talks regularly to the police horses), he manages to get some important scoops and is promoted to reporter. But while he does well on the job, his love life is a mess, as he's interested in an unworthy woman while a nice young lady is interested...but he ignores her. Clearly, Pete is a putz and even dumber than usual...and a bit of a jerk in the way he treats her. Francis isn't pleased and promises to stop helping Pete with his news stories.

Soon the story becomes a murder mystery and Pete is accused to killing a well respected businessman. But the victim was the head of a protection mob and it's up to Francis to come to court to testify on Pete's behalf.

This story suffers in two ways. First, and I mentioned it above, is the lack of continuity with the previous episode. It's as if "Francis Goes to West Point" never happened. Second, the film isn't as funny as the previous films in the series. Overall, not a bad film but a disappointing one.

At last! After three unsuccessful attempts at entertainment, this fourth entry worked well for me and is the best of the bunch so far. Francis the Talking Mule and his master, Donald O'Connor (or is it the other way around?) go to New York (the setting alone perks things up a bit) where they become mixed up in all sorts of trouble, including a murder trial. This installment is better written with more time devoted to the donkey, who's actually pretty funny for a change. The script also makes better use of its supporting characters and fashions a love affair for the bumbling O'Connor.

*** out of ****