Francis Goes to West Point

I have to admit, this film has nothing much to recommend it except for the fact that it was among the very first movies I ever saw. I believe it was in the Fox Theater in New Orleans, off Elysee Blvd. way, way back there. I know I was young enough to be mightily impressed at how on earth they got a mule to talk! I'm still not sure.

Anyway, Donald O'Connor is one of the more underrated musical comedy guys from back then, and the show as a whole is pleasantly sawdust-brained. It's part of my education in films, and I love it just for that.

Just as a grateful rich man once gave Laurel&Hardy a free trip to Oxford;a grateful military rewards Donald O'Connor for preventing an explosives plant sabotage by enrolling him in west Point as an "automatic genius". As an "Army Mule",Francis is much more at home there than O'Connor;who has to put up with the bullying upperclassmen and always ends up doing punishment drills;some of them for not giving away Francis' unusual ability.

Francis' whispered advice helps the Army football team to an undefeated season.

There is NO romance in the film whatsoever--the blonde is in love with the star quarterback;who feels "trapped" at West Point ---and the brunette is only permitted a few sympathetic clucks over O'Connor's bungling.

Funniest scene is when Francis' private drilling instructions to O'Connor somehow get broadcast onto t he main playing field;fouling up the dressage parade.

It seems odd to have Francis and O'Connor split up at the end,as they are supposed to be "pals to the end".

Otto Hewlett,as the football coach,gives the funniest backup performance.

While I didn't spot Leonard Nimoy,ADVENTURES OF SUPERmAN fans can look for perennial villain Pierre Watkin as one of the officers.

I'm also wondering if the film was shot on actual location.

Although I have always had a strong affection for the Francis pictures, probably because I grew up with them, I always found that the preponderance of military settings in the series was a little claustrophobic and cramped the potential for humour. (Consequently my favourites have always been Francis Goes to the Races and Francis Covers the Big Town). In Francis Goes to West Point I find this tendency to be at its most pronounced. Not only are we saddled with a military setting (and a confined one at that, so that there is not even the chance to open the story out a little), but as well as the usual mandatory romance between Peter Stirling and some Universal starlet, there is a another romantic subplot involving other cast members, and a hackneyed football sub-plot as well. For this reason I have always found this instalment the weakest in the series, an honour generally accorded to Francis in the Haunted House, but I'd take that over this any day. Pity that the opening scenes where Stirling saves a government plant from saboteurs didn't lead to some other kind of storyline.

In this installment in the "Francis the Talking Mule" series, Pete (Donald O'Connor) is a hero for stopping a bombing of a defense plant. As a result, he's given an appointment to West Point....which makes little sense since in the original film Pete was already an officer in the Army!

At West Point, Pete is initially a horrid student but excels due to tutoring from Francis. But Pete isn't the only one he helps...Francis also helps the school's football coach! What else does Francis do? See the film.

The ending seemed abrupt and the story, while enjoyable, seems almost like it needed a few revisions and wasn't ready for filming...especially the ending which makes it look as if the series is complete...which it isn't. Not one of the best films in the series, but enjoyable if you want to see them all.

By the way, Leonard Nimoy plays a small part of one of the football players....look for him in the latter part of the movie.

The third in the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE series is yet another ordinary affair, with nothing much to recommend in it. The setting is military school, with Francis missing in action far too much of the time, as well as most of the laughs, apparently. The only thing interesting for me was spotting a very young Leonard Nimoy as a cadet late into the film.

It's a shame that more entertainment was not accomplished with this formula, as Donald O'Connor and his jabbering jackass had the potential for being an entertaining pair together.

** out of ****