Francis the Talking Mule

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Chill Wills made this record for Capitol in 1954.

Francis the Talking Mule was a mule celebrity, featured in seven movie comedies in the 1950s. The character originated in a novel by writer David Stern, and soon Universal Studios bought the rights for a film series, with Stern adapting his own script for the first entry, simply titled Francis.

1 Themes
2 Film series actors
3 Later appearances
4 Trivia
5 Films
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Themes

The book and series focused on the exploits of Francis, an experienced army mule, and Peter Stirling, the young soldier who he befriends (and stays with through civilian life and then back into the military). Donald O'Connor received top billing as Peter, but the true star was undoubtedly Francis. With a plot device like the later series Mister Ed, Francis would usually only talk to Peter, thus causing problems for his nominal "master." The first six movies were directed by Universal comedy veteran Arthur Lubin, previously known for helming Abbott and Costello vehicles, who would go on to produce and direct Mister Ed for television.

As the titles indicated, each film had a different setting or gimmick, exposing the wordly-wise mule and the naive GI to racetrack excitement, the world of journalism, and many branches of the military, from West Point to the WACs to the Navy. The basic plots were fairly similar, however. Stirling, with the sage but sardonic advice of Francis (gleaned from overhearing generals plan strategy, or from discussions with other equines), would triumph over his own incompetence. However, inevitably, he would be forced to reveal that his advisor was a mule, and be subject to mental analysis (sometimes more than once per movie!) until the grand reveal when Francis displayed his loquacity (usually either to individuals, or to a large group). The astonishing existence of a talking mule was conveniently forgotten by the next movie, however.

[edit] Film series actors

The distinctive voice of Francis was provided by veteran character actor Chill Wills, whose deep, rough vocal texture and Western twang was perfectly matched to delivering the lines of the cynical and sardonic mule. As was customary at the time, Wills never received billing for his vocal work, though he was featured prominently on-screen as blustery General Ben Kaye in the fourth entry, Francis Joins the Wacs.

The actual mule who appeared on-screen was not a male at all, but a female named Molly, selected because she was easy to handle. According to author Pauline Bartel, Universal paid $350 for the animal, but made millions from the film series. Molly was trained by Les Hilton, a former apprentice of Will Rogers who would also go on to train Bamboo Harvester, the horse who played Mr. Ed. To create the impression that the mule was actually talking, Hilton used a thread fed into the animal's mouth, which when tugged, would cause Molly to try to remove it by moving her lips (the same technique used for Mr. Ed).

The seventh and final entry in the series, Francis in the Haunted House, was made without any of the key creative personnel. O'Connor had quit, citing the fact that after six movies, the mule still received more fan mail than he did. Mickey Rooney replaced him as a new but similar character, David Prescott. Director Lubin and Chill Wills were also absent, replaced by Charles Lamont and voice actor Paul Frees, who did a creditable approximation of Wills' voice. No real explanation was given or attempted as to why Francis had left Peter Stirling, or why he suddenly decides to befriend reporter David. With the original elements gone, the movie, a standard tale of fake ghosts and gangsters, was poorly received and is widely viewed as the weakest entry in the series.

[edit] Later appearances

Though his fame was eclipsed by Mr. Ed, Francis remained in the limelight through television airings and videos. Most recently, like Ma and Pa Kettle, the first three Francis movies have received a DVD release, as "Vol. 1" (presumably with the remainder to follow).

Francis also made a brief cameo, in animated form and voiced by Marvin Miller, in the UPA cartoon short How Now Boing Boing (1954), starring Gerald McBoing Boing. David Stern and Frank Thomas scripted a 1952-53 syndicated comic strip, Francis, the Famous Talking Mule, illustrated by Cliff Rogerson, who also drew the gag panel, Tee Vee Laffs (1957-85).