Francis

One of the best-remembered animal stars in film, Francis the Talking Mule was first seen in the simply-titled Francis (1950), produced at Universal Pictures. The picture was a great success and spawned a series for the studio, as well as a mini-industry of "Francis" spin-offs like comic books, records, comic strips and toys.

Several of the films in the Francis series, and particularly this initial entry, featured a military setting – and for good reason. The concept came from the 1945 book Francis, by David Stern, which was a collection of stories Stern had written while in the service. Stern, the son of New York Post publisher J. David Stern and a longtime newspaperman himself, was an Army private (eventually rising to the rank of captain) stationed in the Pacific. His Francis stories of a talking Army mule were intended to satirize the stubborn and occasionally wrong-headed thinking of the Army brass. With his book a bestseller, Stern was brought to Hollywood to write the screenplay for the film, and he stayed on to contribute to most of the Francis sequels.

Francis manages to tell a single straightforward narrative which eliminates most of the satire of the book, and which follows its own logic...once the premise of a talking mule is bought, that is! Peter Stirling (Donald O'Connor) is working as a bank clerk in a small town in the years after the war. Customers make a wide circle around his teller window, however, so the bank president calls him in to discuss the rumors that are whispered about him. Stirling then tells the bulk of the story in flashback: During the war, he was a Second Lieutenant stationed in the Pacific. On Burma, he is separated from his unit during a firefight with the Japanese, and wounded in the leg, but saved by Francis (voice of Chill Wills), a talking Army mule. When Stirling tells others of his benefactor, he is sent to a psychiatric ward where, under the care of Nurse Humpert (Zasu Pitts), he is soon weaving baskets. He is released and assigned to the Intelligence division. He awkwardly falls into a relationship with Maureen Gelder (Patricia Medina), a French woman stranded on the island; meanwhile Francis feeds him confidential information about the Japanese troop movements. Stirling eventually gains the trust of Army brass, including General Stevens (John McIntyre), although every attempt to explain Francis returns him to a stint weaving baskets.

One problem facing the filmmakers was in having Francis' mouth move for the talking sequences. In the early 1940s, Paramount Pictures released a few shorts in a series called Speaking of Animals, in which live-action shots of animals were manipulated with superimposed animated lips. This series was the brainchild of animator Tex Avery, who produced the shorts following his departure from Warner Bros. and before beginning his long stint at MGM. For Francis, veteran animator Dave Fleisher was brought in to assist with the lip-synch problems. There appear to be a few instances of animation added post-production, but for the most part, the lip-synch was achieved by selective use of editing and by over-printing certain frames in a sequence, to create "holds" which would better match the soundtrack. The mule's lips were made to move on the set by putting a thread in the animal's mouth; the mule then moved its lips while dislodging the thread. The over-printing of frames made for some jerky shots in Francis, and this method was avoided in subsequent films in the series. Through trial-and-error, the filmmakers became more careful to get proper shots on the set to avoid post-production which forced the lip-synch. More successful in Francis are the scenes of the mule reacting silently; the animal always seems to keep the correct eyeline with the people speaking to it, and on occasion it even seems to execute some perfect comedic "takes"!

Given its military setting, it seemed appropriate to show Francis to American troops, so a month before the movie opened in the United States, it was shown at Army posts in Germany, in January, 1950. In 1951, Francis was the first movie to win a PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) Award, presented by the American Humane Association in recognition of outstanding animal performances in film. (Francis won the 2nd place award in 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1956, followed by a 3rd place win in 1957). Francis was actually played by a mule named Molly, trained by Les Hilton. According to Pauline Bartel, author of Amazing Animal Actors, Universal bought the mule for a cool $350, making Francis one of the best bargains in 1950s movie stardom.

Francis became a durable film series for Universal. O'Connor, Wills, and director Lubin stayed on for five sequels. The seventh and final film, Francis in the Haunted House (1956) is the oddball in that Mickey Rooney takes over the lead role, comedy veteran Charles Lamont pulls directing duty, and even the voice of Francis is different – Paul Frees attempts a Chill Wills impression. Kids couldn't get enough of Francis in the early 1950s, though, and there was a comic book called Francis the Famous Talking Mule, published by Dell, which lasted for 17 issues. A newspaper comic strip also emerged, credited to writer Stern, along with co-writer Frank Thomas and artist Cliff Rogerson; the strip only lasted two years. By far the most successful Francis "spin-off" was unauthorized. Series director Lubin took the basic concept and applied it to a horse and his gentleman farmer owner, creating the TV series Mr. Ed in 1961. Starring Alan Young as Wilbur Post, Mr. Ed ran on CBS for six seasons.

Producer: Robert Arthur
Director: Arthur Lubin
Screenplay: David Stern, based on his novel
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Film Editing: Milton Carruth
Music: Frank Skinner
Art Direction: Bernard Herzbrun, Richard H. Riedel
Costume Design: Rosemary Odell
Special Effects: David S. Horsley
Cast: Donald O'Connor (Peter Stirling), Patricia Medina (Maureen Gelder), Zasu Pitts (Nurse Valerie Humpert), Ray Collins (Col. Hooker), John McIntyre (Gen. Stevens), Eduard Franz (Col. Plepper), Howland Chamberlain (Maj. Nadel), James Todd (Col. Saunders), Robert Warwick (Col. Carmichael), Frank Faylen (Sgt. Chillingbacker), Tony Curtis (Capt. Jones), Chill Wills (Voice of Francis).
BW-91m.

by John M. Miller