Francis the Talking Mule
Thanks to Curt Mekemson for jogging my memory about Francis the Talking Mule!!
This 2 minute trailer for Francis explains far more than I can in words – watch and enjoy!!
Francis the Talking Mule was a character who became a celebrity during the 1950s as the star of seven popular film comedies. The character originated in the 1946 novel Francis by former U.S. Army Captain David Stern III (1909–2003), son of newspaper publisher J. David Stern.
After another studio turned down the property, Universal bought the rights for a film series, with Stern adapting his own script for the first entry, simply titled Francis. Sammy McKee, a common sole, was the inspiration for Francis. A layman from Cincinnati, his wit and demeanor were only duplicated. It could not be replicated.
“Francis ” is produced by Robert Arthur, directed by Arthur Lubin, and stars Donald O’Connor and Patricia Medina. The distinctive voice of Francis is a voice-over by actor Chills Wills.
Six Francis sequels from Universal-International followed this first effort.
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.
When a bank manager discovers Peter Stirling, one of his tellers, is attracting public attention he calls the young man in who relates his story in flashback.
Then 2nd Lieutenant, Peter Stirling (Donald O’Connor), is caught behind Japanese lines in Burma during WWII. Francis, a talking Army mule, carries him to safety. When Stirling insists that the animal rescued him, he is placed in a psychiatric ward. Each time Stirling is released, he accomplishes something noteworthy (at the instigation of Francis), and each time he is sent back to the psych ward when he insists on crediting the talking mule.
Finally, Stirling is able to convince three-star General Stevens (John McIntire) that he is not crazy, and he and the general become the only ones aware of Francis’ secret. In an effort to get himself released from the psych ward, Stirling asks Stevens to order Francis to speak, but the mule will not obey until it becomes clear that Stirling will be arrested for treason if he remains silent.
During one of his enforced hospital stays, he is befriended by Maureen Gelder (Patricia Medina), a beautiful French refugee. He grows to trust her and tells her about Francis. Later, a propaganda radio broadcast from Tokyo Rose mocks the Allies for being advised by a mule. This leads to the suspicion of Stirling or Maureen being a Japanese agent. The press is later informed that the absurd mule story was concocted in order to flush out the spy, and with Francis’ help, the real culprit is identified.
Francis is shipped back to the U. S. for further study, but his military transport crashes in the wilds of Kentucky. After the war, convinced that Francis survived the crash, Peter searches for and finally finds the mule still alive and well and talking!
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Animals in the Military Humor –
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Quarantine Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Howard Aab – Windsor, CO; US Navy / US Air Force, Korea (Ret. 20 y.)
Elden R. Baumbach – Stockton, CA; USMC, WWII, PTO, Pfc., B Co./6th Marines, KIA (Tarawa)
Brian Dennehy – Mineola, NY; USMC / beloved actor
Melvin Eggergluss – Buffalo, MN; USMC, Korea, SSgt., 2 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart
Marjorie Lord – New Orleans, LA; FBI, WWII
Elizabeth Martin – Hamilton, CAN; Civilian, RCMO secretary, WWII
Franklin Patterson – Houston, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, Signal Corps, 2 Bronze Stars
Scott Pearce – Woodbury, NZ; RNZ Army # 447461, WWII
Anthony Troiano – Mont Pleasant, NY; US Coast Guard, WWII
Mildred Wheeler – Oakley, TN; Civilian, Pentagon secretary, WWII
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Posted on April 20, 2020, in Book Reviews, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged Army, Comedy, Francis the talking mule, History, Humor, Military, Military History, Military humor, Pacific War, veterans, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 175 Comments.
I have never heard of Francis so I thoroughly enjoyed this, GP Cox! 🙂
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It is a very cute family film, the Bookfayries would certainly enjoy it. There are places online that carry a trailer for it and there are ways to view the movie as well.
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We’ll look out for it and report back to you❣️🤗🤗🤗🤗
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Flashback to Dialing for Dollars and afternoon movies after school. I do believe they aired all of them.
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Youtube of course has links to buying the DVDs also! I keep mentioning that in case someone needs a few laughs about this point in the pandemic.
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I never heard of Francis the talking mule, those films must have been fun!
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They are still available too. I’ve left the link here in a few places.
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Great to read that story gp, have read it before but well worth relating again, has a storyline that you don’t know whether to believe or not, hope you are coping okay during this madness mate, cheers.
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I thought cabin fever would settle in real bad, but I’ve gotten a bit too comfortable staying at home. Frankly, I think Florida is beginning to open up a bit too early.
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I remember hearing about Francis the Talking Mule, but have never seen any of the films. Thanks for sharing! ❤️
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It’s the type comedy that every generation can laugh and chuckle at. It’s the perfect movie to try and escape today’s situation…..
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=francis+the+talking+mule
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Indeed! Thank you! xo
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Yes!! I loved Francis the talking mule. Thanks for the memories, GP. 🙂
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I’m glad Curt picked a fun one for me to do!!
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One of the best!
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Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
I loved Francis, the talking mule, I haven’t seen that show in ages.
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Thank you for sharing this article.
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Charlee: “Nice to see the cats are doing their part for the armed forces!”
Lulu: “And the dogs! But I’m not sure I would issue rocket launchers or whatever that thing is to the squirrels. They’ll probably just use them to knock down bird feeders.”
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haha, cute one! Watch out tho – the squirrel might hear you!!
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I loved that show!
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I’m glad I brought back a good memory!!
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Never heard of Francis, though I do remember Mr Ed. Glad to fill this gap in my knowledge – we need more laughs at the moment.
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It was funny that’s for sure! When Curt suggested Francis, I could not believe my memory had gotten so bad – It was fun doing this post!
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It’s hard to remember everything! 🙂
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haha, frankly, the harder I try – the worse I get!!
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🙂
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Francis the Talking Mule… that brings back a lot of memories. Thanks for story!
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I’m happy about that!
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LoL! Now we know where the expression “dog faces ” came from. I saw these movies as a kid on TV. Kids of any generation would like them.
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That’s my opinion. Just think, humor without sexual undertones and curing every other word, imagine that!!
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Pretty sure I saw all of the Francis movies two or three times when I was a kid. After-school movie!
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I wouldn’t be surprised. We were lucky to have seen a lot of the older movies in our growing up decade. I think they might be trying to make a comeback!!
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I remember Francis, and Mr. Ed! 🙂
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I hope they both made you smile!!
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Yes, they did! 🙂
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I remember Talking Ed, the horse. 🐴
Cute cartoon memes! 😃
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Ed and Francis had many similarities, so you understand the theme of the movies. Thank you.
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Was he the inspiration for Mr. Ed? 🙂
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As would be expected, the two shows do tend to overlap as Arthur Lupin dealt with property rights, etc.
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I’d forgotten all about Francis until I read this blog post! I used to love those movies when I was a kid.
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I think this is a great time to introduce a whole new generation to Francis and see if we can get some smiles out there in quarantine-land!!
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I remember seeing this movie. Most likely with Matt at TCM. Quite funny. I could use a Francis these days!
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I think you need someone to give you a good hearty laugh – you could use it!!
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Boy, you know it! I think I age ten years in the last few days.
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I am very sorry to hear that, please take care of yourself.
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Thank you.
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