IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
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.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.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.
John McIntire
- Lt. General Stevens
- (as John McIntyre)
Tony Curtis
- Captain Jones
- (as Anthony Curtis)
Robert Anderson
- Captain Grant
- (uncredited)
Robert Blunt
- Second Ambulance Man
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIncluded among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.
- GoofsWhen Francis is loaded on a Douglas C-47 to be transported to the US, the insignias on the fuselage show the red bar in the white rectangles on either side of the white star on a blue background. This insignia was not adopted until January 14, 1947, nearly a year and a half after the end of the war on September 2, 1945.
- Quotes
Francis the Talking Mule: I hope to kiss a duck I can talk!
- Crazy creditsThe hand of Peter Stirling open the pages of the novel revealing the credits of the film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in It's Showtime (1976)
Featured review
20 Mule Team laughs
Talking animals have been a big draw for the big screen and small. From the Francis the talking mule series to the current Dog With A Blog there is something perverse in the human spirit where we enjoy seeing animals outsmart humans, especially verbally. I guess it was the secret of the success of the series.
In this first film which I don't think Universal thought would turn into a series, Donald O'Connor is back from the war and telling his boss at the bank he works at Charles Meredith about his interesting experiences in the China-Burma-India theater of the late war. After being separated from his outfit young 2nd Lieutenant O'Connor gets back to his base when a talking army mule named Francis showed him the way.
That gets him assigned to G-2 Intelligence and he pulls off quite a few coups. But when asked to reveal his source O'Connor tells his superiors it was a talking mule. That lands him in the Psych ward under the tender care of nurse Zasu Pitts.
The human players must truly have had to suck it in and realize that the mule with Chill Wills's voice was upstaging them. Some real recognition goes to John McIntire who plays a general who is the only other person that Francis the Talking Mule ever talked to in the series besides O'Connor and Mickey Rooney in the last film. McIntire may have been one of the greatest actors who ever lived, managing to keep a straight face while dialoging with a jackass.
If you don't blink you'll see Tony Curtis in a small role as another officer. And Patricia Medina lends her beauty as a fetching lady spy.
If you like Dog With A Blog or Mister Ed, you'll enjoy the Francis series.
In this first film which I don't think Universal thought would turn into a series, Donald O'Connor is back from the war and telling his boss at the bank he works at Charles Meredith about his interesting experiences in the China-Burma-India theater of the late war. After being separated from his outfit young 2nd Lieutenant O'Connor gets back to his base when a talking army mule named Francis showed him the way.
That gets him assigned to G-2 Intelligence and he pulls off quite a few coups. But when asked to reveal his source O'Connor tells his superiors it was a talking mule. That lands him in the Psych ward under the tender care of nurse Zasu Pitts.
The human players must truly have had to suck it in and realize that the mule with Chill Wills's voice was upstaging them. Some real recognition goes to John McIntire who plays a general who is the only other person that Francis the Talking Mule ever talked to in the series besides O'Connor and Mickey Rooney in the last film. McIntire may have been one of the greatest actors who ever lived, managing to keep a straight face while dialoging with a jackass.
If you don't blink you'll see Tony Curtis in a small role as another officer. And Patricia Medina lends her beauty as a fetching lady spy.
If you like Dog With A Blog or Mister Ed, you'll enjoy the Francis series.
helpful•32
- bkoganbing
- Oct 10, 2013
- How long is Francis?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Fancis
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $150,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content