''Francis in the Navy'' is a 1955 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

Stanley Rubin Stanley Creamer Rubin (October 8, 1917 – March 2, 2014) was an American screenwriter and film and television producer born in New York City. He was the recipient of the Television Academy's first Emmy in 1949 for writing and producing (in colla ...

and 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 ...

. The film 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 ...

and

Martha Hyer Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress who played Gwen French in ''Some Came Running'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, ''Finding My Way ...

, and marked the first credited film role of

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

.Eliot (2009), p. 35 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 sixth film in Universal-International

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.

Plot

U.S. Army officer Lt. Peter Sterling gets mistaken for his lookalike in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, Bosun's Mate 'Slicker' Donevan, and as a result gets promptly shipped to Donevan's base. With his old pal Francis, Sterling continues his military career misadventures, this time in the Navy.

Cast

as Peter Stirling/Bosun's Mate 'Slicker' Donevan *

as Betsy Donevan *

Richard Erdman Richard Erdman ( John Richard Erdmann; June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly in ...

as Murph *

Jim Backus James Gilmore Backus (February 25, 1913 – July 3, 1989) was an American actor. Among his most famous roles were Thurston Howell III on the 1960s sitcom '' Gilligan's Island,'' the father of James Dean's character in ''Rebel Without a Cause ...

as Commander E.T. Hutch *

as Jonesy *

David Janssen David Janssen (born David Harold Meyer) (March 27, 1931February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967). Janssen also ...

as Lieutenant Anders *

Leigh Snowden Leigh Snowden (June 23, 1929 – May 16, 1982) was an American actress in motion pictures and television. Early life Snowden was born Martha Lee Estes in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. When her father died when she was three, Estes and her mother moved ...

as Nurse Appleby *

Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: ''Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and ''Adam-12'', which ai ...

as W.T. 'Rick' Rickson * Paul Burke as Tate *

Myrna Hansen Myrna Hansen (born August 5, 1934) is an American actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1953. Education Hansen is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond E. Hansen. She graduated from Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, ...

as Helen *Phil Garris as Tony Stover

Production

Donald O'Connor was reluctant to make the film but agreed to do one more at the request of his daughter (in addition to a ''financial inducement'' from Universal studio head Edward Muhl). It was once known as ''Francis Weighs Anchor'' and started filming February 15, 1955. The film was partially shot at the U. S. Navy base in

Coronado California Coronado (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort town, resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. It ...

, not far from downtown

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. Stanley Rubin was producer on the film.HOLLYWOOD HAILS 'OSCAR' CEREMONY: Film Industry Calls TV Event Best Paced in Three Years --Award Given to Garbo By THOMAS M. PRYOR New York Times 1 Apr 1955: 24.

References

Citations Bibliography *

External links

* *
Review of film
at Variety {{Arthur Lubin 1955 films 1950s fantasy comedy films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Arthur Lubin Films scored by William Lava Military humor in film Universal Pictures films American fantasy comedy films 1955 comedy films Films about donkeys 1950s American films Films shot in San Diego Films set in San Diego

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links