Francis the Talking Mule Movie Review 1949

The first of the silly but funny series about, what else, a talking mule. Peter Stirling (O'Connor) is the dim-bulb G.I. who hooks up with Francis while fighting in Burma. Francis helps Peter become a war hero but of course everyone thinks he's crazy when Peter insists the mule can talk. The joke is that Francis is smarter than any of the humans. O'Connor starred in six of the films, with Mickey Rooney taking over the final adventure. Director Lubin went on to create the TV series "Mr. Ed," about a talking horse. Watch for Tony Curtis in a small role.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS
Running time 91 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Slapstick Comedy, Wild Kingdom, Fantasy, Francis the Talking Mule, Talking Animals

Cast

Donald O'Connor, Patricia Medina, Zasu Pitts, Ray Collins, John McIntire, Eduard Franz, Howland Chamberlain, Frank Faylen, Tony Curtis

Director

Arthur Lubin

Music

Frank Skinner

Other

Chill Wills

Producer

Robert Arthur, Mark Huffam