''Francis Covers the Big Town'' is a 1953 American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

from

Universal-International Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by

Arthur Lubin Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 – May 11, 1995) was an American film director and producer who directed several ''Abbott & Costello'' films, ''Phantom of the Opera'' (1943), the ''Francis the Talking Mule'' series and created the talking-horse TV se ...

, that stars

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His best ...

Yvette Duguay Yvette Dugay (born Audrey Lee Pearlman; June 24, 1932 – October 14, 1986) was an American actress. She was often credited as Yvette Duguay. Early years The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Pearlman, she began acting at the age of six mont ...

, and

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

. The distinctive voice of Francis is a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

by actor

Chill Wills Theodore Childress "Chill" Wills (July 18, 1902 – December 15, 1978) was an American actor and a singer in the Avalon Boys quartet. Early life Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas, on July 18, 1902. Career He was a performer from early chi ...

. This is the fourth film in Universal-International's

Francis the Talking Mule Francis the Talking Mule was a mule character who gained popularity during the 1950s as the star of seven popular Universal-International film comedies. The character originated in the 1946 novel ''Francis'' by former U.S. Army Captain David S ...

series continuing the misadventures of Peter Stirling and his friend Francis. ''Diabolique'' argued it was the best in the series.

Plot

Peter lands a job at a big New York City newspaper and while on assignment gets framed for a murder.

Cast

as Peter Stirling *

as Maria Scola *

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

as Tom Henderson * Nancy Guild as Alberta Ames *

William Harrigan William Harrigan (March 27, 1894 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor who performed in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s and on stage. Early years Harrigan was born in New York City and attended New York Military Academy. Harrigan was ...

as Deputy Chief Inspector Hansen *Silvio Minciotti as Salvatore Scola *

Lowell Gilmore Lowell Gilmore (20 December 1906 – 31 January 1960) was an American stage, film and television actor. Life and career Lowell Gilmore first worked as a stage manager on the 1929 Broadway play ''The First Mrs. Fraser'', but got his chance as a ...

as Jefferson Garnet *

Larry Gates Lawrence Wheaton Gates (September 24, 1915December 12, 1996) was an American actor. His notable roles include H.B. Lewis on daytime's ''Guiding Light'' and Doc Baugh in the film version of ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' (1958). He played the role o ...

as Dan Austin *

Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''The Baby Snooks Show''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers ...

as Dr. Goodrich *

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...

as District Attorney Evans *Forrest Lewis as Judge Stanley *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son ...

as Defense Attorney Cavendish

Production

Production of the film was announced in July 1951 and was to be the third in the Francis series.

Oscar Brodney Oscar Brodney (February 18, 1907 – February 12, 2008) was an American lawyer-turned-screenwriter. He is best known for his long association with Universal Studios, where his credits included ''Harvey'', ''The Glenn Miller Story'' (1954), severa ...

was assigned to write the script. David Stern reportedly also worked on the script. Filming started in August 1951 and involved ten days location shooting in New York. Francis was flown to New York and back on a cargo plane, which cost $700 plus airfares for his trainer and two handlers. At one stage of production, the film was going to be known as ''Francis, Racket Buster''. Director Arthur Lubin complained during filming that he was becoming typecast as an animal director. He hoped to make ''The Interruption'' from a suspense story by W. W. Mason "just to remind producers that I can direct people too."

Video releases

The original film, ''Francis'' (1950), was released in 1978 as one of the first-ever titles in the new

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

format, DiscoVision Catalog #22-003.
(The DiscoVision Library) It was then re-issued on LaserDisc in May 1994 by MCA/Universal Home Video (Catalog #: 42024) as part of an Encore Edition Double Feature with ''

Francis Goes to the Races ''Francis Goes to the Races'' is a 1951 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Arthur Lubin, that stars Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, and Cecil Kellaway. The distinctive voice ...

'' (1951). The first two Francis films were released again in 2004 by Universal Pictures on Region 1 and Region 4

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, along with the next two in the series, as ''The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule Vol. 1''. Several years later, Universal released all 7 Francis films as a set on three Region 1 and Region 4 DVDs, ''Francis The Talking Mule: The Complete Collection.''

References

External links

* * {{Arthur Lubin 1953 films 1953 comedy films 1950s crime comedy films 1950s fantasy comedy films American black-and-white films American crime comedy films American fantasy comedy films Films about journalism Films directed by Arthur Lubin Films scored by Frank Skinner Films scored by Herman Stein Films set in New York City Universal Pictures films Films about donkeys 1950s English-language films 1950s American films