Francis Goes to the Races

I was shocked when I watched the first film in the series, "Francis". Why? Because I gave it a score of 9...for a film about a talking mule! I was surprised how clever the movie was and how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, while I liked the second film, "Francis Goes to the Races", it's not nearly as good.

While the title of the film might make you think Francis becomes a racing mule, this isn't at all the story. Instead, Francis becomes friends with a race horse and the owner sees that the mule has a calming effect on the horse...so he keeps Francis in the neighboring stall. While Francis is hanging out with the horses, he learns all their problems and potential...and soon is giving Peter (Donald O'Connor) the winners for all the races. But there's more to the story than this...just watch it and see for yourself.

The story is fun...but the writing isn't quite up to the first movie's standards. Francis' dialog isn't as snappy or fun and the plot also is decent but nothing more. My advice is by all means watch it...but watch the first movie first. After all, if you start with "Francis Goes to the Races", you're likely not to be all that impressed and you'll stop there instead of seeing any of the other six films in the series.

Peter Stirling (Donald O'Connor) is still the owner of Francis, the talking mule, after bringing him back from Burma. He gets fired after showing Francis to the bank president. They head out on the open roads and end up at a horse racing track.

This is a mildly humorous franchise and this is perfectly mildly humorous. I like Francis. I like Donald O'Connor. It occurs to me that this would be funnier if Francis is only able to talk to Peter. It would also make more sense. It's fine to get Peter out of the bank. There are some fun scenes, but the main comedy continues to be various people finding Francis talking.

I have to agree with JoeKarlosi on this: This second installment of the Francis series is inferior to the already ordinary first installment. While the film does have its moments, they are far too few and far between.

The first film was more interesting as the entire film presents the curiously absurb encounter of Peter Stirling's with Francis the Talking Mule. The plot also pays more attention to the progress of their friendship which makes the film more heartfelt.

Here in its sequel, there are less laughs and the story just drags on and on until it ends conveniently with a similar conclusion in the first film. Donald O'Connor, who plays the central character Peter Stirling, was given almost nothing to work on here. Even more dreadful is the fact that Francis, the title character, was delegated to a supporting role here. Not that Francis enjoyed a lot of screen time in the first film, but he appeared in all the key scenes and his role was crucial to the plot. Here, his screen time was cut down to a quarter of the film's running time and his role was not even substantial to the plot: He was merely tagging along.

My disappointment not withstanding, I did not regret watching the sequel as I enjoyed the first film very much and would like to see how the friendship of the 2 main characters would progress in the next film. I would still watch the rest of the series as this film wasn't so bad as to spoil the first film for me.

P.S. My rating for the first Francis movie is 7 out of 10.

Peter and his talking mule Francis part company at Oakvale Farms where race horses are stabled. Francis finds it more comfortable at the stables as he can communicate with fellow equines for a change. He gets to know the race horse's secrets and find out which of them is on form. He imparts this knowledge to Peter. The racing world become suspicious of Peter when he successfully predicts the outcome of races. I think the idea that horses have psychological problems that they discuss together is a good gag. For all we know they may do. Molly who plays Francis won the Picture Animal Star of the Year Award for 1951. She played Francis for all seven entries in the franchise. I think this entry is my favorite of the series because of Francis' communication with those lovely race horses.

This movie progresses more organically than any of the other Francis movies, i.e. the plot doesn't seem forced.

Francis Goes to the Races starts with the mule talking to a crowd of stunned and indignant people, essentially, ending Peter Sterling's job and putting the two on the road again. It is a dynamic used often in this series: Peter gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble until the only thing that can get him out of it is a long diatribe from his mule. Beginning with it is kind of clever.

It is essential that the viewer understand the science behind the movie: Mules can talk to horses. You wouldn't think so, but apparently, since they look so much alike, they also speak the same language. You also need to remember that Francis' great aunt was a Derby winner. The two stop at a horse farm on the road and Francis meets a relative. He decides to stay at the farm and let Peter take a stab at life without a talking mule to mess things up.

Anyone who watches these movies is aware that Peter Sterling is the piston that isn't firing in that particular dyad; and, it isn't long until he gets himself in trouble. And, it isn't long until Francis bails him out. There's a pretty girl, also. And, gangsters… This movie doesn't surpass Francis Joins the WACS in quality, however, it is a fun movie.