Francis Goes to West Point is a 1952 American black-and-white comedy film from Universal-International, produced by Leonard Goldstein, directed by Arthur Lubin, and starring Donald O'Connor, Lori Nelson, Alice Kelley, and Gregg Palmer. The distinctive voice of Francis is a voice-over by actor Chill Wills.
| Francis Goes to West Point | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Arthur Lubin |
| Written by | Oscar Brodney David Stern (characters) |
| Produced by | Leonard Goldstein |
| Starring | Donald O'Connor Lori Nelson Alice Kelley Gregg Palmer |
| Cinematography | Carl E. Guthrie |
| Edited by | Milton Carruth |
| Music by | Milton Rosen Frank Skinner Herman Stein |
| Distributed by | Universal-International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (US rentals)[1] |
This is third film in Universal-International's Francis the Talking Mule series.[2]
Plot
editBumbling former World War II serviceman Peter Stirling is sent to the U. S. Army's military academy at West Point as a reward for stopping a plot to blow up his government workplace. After enrolling, he is privately tutored by his old army friend Francis, which gets him into trouble when he reveals that this tutor is one of West Point's very own mule mascots.
Cast
edit- Donald O'Connor as Peter Stirling
- Lori Nelson as Barbara Atwood
- Alice Kelley as Cynthia Daniels
- Gregg Palmer as William Norton (as Palmer Lee, his birthname)
- William Reynolds as Wilbur Van Allen
- Les Tremayne as Colonel Daniels
- Otto Hulett as Coach Chadwick
- David Janssen as Corporal Thomas
- James Best as Corporal Ransom
Leonard Nimoy had a small, uncredited speaking role as a football player.
Production
editAs soon as Francis Goes to the Races was completed, Oscar Brodney was reported in April 1951 as working on a West Point film story for the next Francis feature.[3]
Filming began in November 1951,[4] with additional 2nd unit filming at West Point.
Home media
editThe original film, Francis (1950), was released in 1978 as one of the first-ever titles in the new LaserDisc format, DiscoVision Catalog #22-003.[5] 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 (1951).
The first two Francis films were released again in 2004 by Universal Pictures on Region 1 and Region 4 DVD, 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
edit- ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (14 September 2019). "The Cinema of Arthur Lubin". Diabolique Magazine.
- ^ Thomas F. Brady (April 3, 1951). "'Francis' Sequel Scheduled AT U.-I.: West Point Background Is Set for Army Mule This Time-- Brodney Prepares Story". The New York Times.
- ^ Thomas M. Pryor (November 7, 1951). "Monogram Sets Up Video Subsidiary: Interstate Television Corp. Schedules Series of 'Raffles' Films With George Brent Fox to Film "Madam" Of Local Origin". The New York Times.
- ^ [1] (The DiscoVision Library)