The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule

By the tail of my great-aunt Regret!
The listing says that the DVD is in color. But the movies definitely aren't, and never were.

The transfers were OK by me, but I'm no expert. It looked clean.

While I've seen these movies since I was a kid, and always loved them, I was surprised to see who some of the secondary actors turned out to be. In the first movie there's Tony Curtis. In the third one, there's David Janssen and Leonard Nimoy.

This was a formulaic series of films, but they had their hearts in the right place. Francis is an always entertaining guardian angel with a little bit of attitude. And Chill Wills managed to get several octaves in on almost every line, which brought a hee-haw effect to his speech. It's... endearing.

Donald O'Connor is definitely believable as Pete. He's a hoot. Maybe someday that character will actually get it, and won't need Francis to take care of him any more.

Interestingly, on the "Singin' in the Rain" 50th anniversary...

A wonderfully fun collection...beautifully packaged
If you've forgotten Francis, Mr. Ed's distant cousin, it's time to reintroduce yourself. Francis (a.k.a., Chill Wills) and Donald O'Connor, are great, light hearted adventures that all ages can enjoy.

Universal has in the past, put out some pretty shoddy products. But this time, I have to hand them credit. The transfers are great! About my only complaint would be lack of any extras or trailers.

Hopefully, a volume 2 is in the works....with the widescreen movies in the series in proper aspect ratio.

All in all, this set is highly recommended!

great whole family fun!
I loved the Francis Movies - the before Mr. Ed of the movies. Francis was a wise-cracking, know it all mule, with the voice of the great Chill Wills. Donald O'Connell was Francis' sidekick and they had simply FUN adventures. Most are seldom, if ever seen in the last couple of decades, so this will be a great trip for those who remember them and a chance for children and grandchildren to discover them.

Volume 1 - is for full-length movies

1. Francis the Talking Mule

2. Francis goes to the Races

3. Francis goes to West Point (with William Reynolds and small part by Leonard Nemoy)

4. Francis Cover the Big Town

They are Black and White - for those unfamiliar with the Francis movies, though later ones were in colour.

So pop the popcorn, kick back and let the whole family have a wee giggle at Wills and O'Connell's antics.

Click to Editorial Reviews