Established the general format for the remaining 5 films in this series that costarred Francis the Talking Mule(with the voice of Chill Wills) and Donald O'Connor, all shot in B&W, and all directed by Arthur Lubin. This series was inspired by the writings of David Stern, who also wrote the screenplay for this first one, but not subsequent ones. The main setting of the screenplay is the Burmese jungle, in the midst of WWII, with Japanese military threatening, with occasional excursions in various parts of the US. It opens with Don(Peter) a bank teller whom the customers avoid, presumably because he claims he can talk to a mule. He then relates to the bank president how he discovered this mule in the Burmese jungle. Frances helps save Don from a Japanese ambush, then gives advice on several subsequent military operations. Each time, Don is congratulated on his amazing exploits, then sent to the psycho ward for a spell, because he claims he got his info and strategy from a mule.Patricia Medina, as Maureen, strikes up a friendship with Don and learns that Francis really can talk. However, she has a secret that isn't revealed until near the end. Francis initially refused to talk to others, but eventually talked to the general( well played by John McIntire). Reluctantly, he eventually talks to a room full of army brass and news reporters, and is flown to the Pentagon for further observation.The whole story is absurd, but sort of fun. It's not nearly as good as the 2 later films I've seen: "Francis joins the WACS" and "Frances in the Navy".Included are several well-recognized character actors. Zasu Pitts is the nurse in the psycho ward. She would return for the same role in "Francis Johns the WACs", where she talks about Burma.....Ray Collins, as the disbelieving Colonel, appeared in about 90 films, usually as some type of authority figure... John McIntire, as the general, appeared in over 50 films, plus innumerable TV programs. I most remember him as the charismatic crooked "town boss" of Skagway, in "The Far Country"... Tony Curtis supposedly has a small part, but I missed him.Don, of course, was an excellent dancer and singer, as well as comedian: skills not utilized in this series. He would gain wide fame in "Singing in the Rain", although he danced and sang in many Universal films long before that.This film cost only $150,000. to make and returned several $millions. I believe all the Frances films were quite profitable, but eventually Don got weary of being second best to a mule.

After years of only reading about this series, I finally watched the first entry starring Donald O'Connor with Chill Wills as the voice of the talking mule known as Francis. Donald tells his banker boss about his World War II exploits as the film flashes back to when he was a second lieutenant in the army. So he encounters Francis and when he tells his superiors how he got certain info, that's when the fun starts. I was quite guffawing at many of the scenes and lines even though the DVD I saw this on has some scenes skipping. (Thank goodness one of them wasn't the brief shot of Tony Curtis in one of his earliest appearances especially since I just watched his future wife, Janet Leigh, in Words and Music!) So on that note, I recommend Francis. P.S. Since I always like to cite when someone from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life-is in something else, here it's Frank Faylen as a soldier who spits a lot!

It is not hard to see why this film was so popular when it was released theatrically, and easy to understand why it failed to create a new generation of fans. Apparently, it is not a film worthy of being a classic, since there is nothing special about this film. In fact, it is inferior to a similarly-themed family classic released in the same year, "Harvey", starring James Stewart. In both films, the central character is accused of being mentally unsound for communicating with animals.Still, this is a well-made movie with reasonably good writing and direction, featuring talented casts which elevated the film. In particular, Donald O'Connor displayed as much acting range here as James Stewart did in "Harvey". Both of them have this rare ability to emit boyish innocence, something which is even rarer nowadays. Best known for his comedic second-banana performance and exuberant dancing in "Singin' in the Rain", he has the opportunity to display his dramatic acting ability that is sadly overlooked.This film is definitely a good option if you want to have an enjoyable time with the young children.

A young soldier Peter Stirling was saved from the Bermese jungles in war time by a talking mule, but nobody believed him until the intelligence information from the mule saved the whole base from Japanese bombers. The truthful soldier Stirling didn't know how to lie about his source of information, the talking army Mule, Francis, so he was treated as a lunatic and led to one after another hilarious situations where the mule is the only one that appears sane. In the process of all this, the mule assisted in uncovering a spy, Mareen, who pretended to be lost among the jungles, but was actually...Perfect family film, even amusing to the adults. If people all have enough sense as this talking mule does, the world will be a much better place than its present condition.