Francis the Talking Mule
The film series focused on the exploits of Francis, an experienced Army mule, and Peter Stirling, the young soldier whom he befriends (and stays with through civilian life and then back into the military). In the original 1950 film, the mule identifies himself to the commanding general as "Francis...123rd Mule Detachment...[serial number] M52519."
The distinctive voice of Francis was provided by veteran character actor Chill Wills, who lent his deep, rough vocal texture and Western twang to 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 Mister 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 Mister Ed).
Loaded in Uploads --> Classic Movies and Tv --> Movies --> Comedy
Replies
Many thanks, codepop! I too saw this years ago, 64 of them, LOL as I saw it in the movie theater when it was released!
I wonder if this is where the idea for Mister Ed TV show came from?
I saw this years ago, a good one !!