Product Details

• Actors: Donald O'Connor, Patricia Medina, Zasu Pitts, Ray Collins, John McIntire
• Directors: Arthur Lubin
• Writers: Robert Arthur, David Stern, Oscar Brodney
• Producers: Leonard Goldstein, Robert Arthur
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: June 1, 2004
• Run Time: 348 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001FVDQE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,449 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule, Vol. 1 (Francis the Talking Mule / Francis Goes to the Races / Francis Goes to West Point / Francis Covers the Big Town)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

ADVENTURES OF FRANCIS TALKING MULE V1 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars By the tail of my great-aunt Regret!, September 2, 2004

By 

Roger Wolfgram (Elsewhere, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule, Vol. 1 (Francis the Talking Mule / Francis Goes to the Races / Francis Goes to West Point / Francis Covers the Big Town) (DVD)

The listing says that the DVD is in color. But the movies definitely aren't, and never were.
The transfers were OK by me, but I'm no expert. It looked clean.
While I've seen these movies since I was a kid, and always loved them, I was surprised to see who some of the secondary actors turned out to be. In the first movie there's Tony Curtis. In the third one, there's David Janssen and Leonard Nimoy.
This was a formulaic series of films, but they had their hearts in the right place. Francis is an always entertaining guardian angel with a little bit of attitude. And Chill Wills managed to get several octaves in on almost every line, which brought a hee-haw effect to his speech. It's... endearing.
Donald O'Connor is definitely believable as Pete. He's a hoot. Maybe someday that character will actually get it, and won't need Francis to take care of him any more.
Interestingly, on the "Singin' in the Rain" 50th anniversary DVD, Donald O'Connor says that the reason that he's not in the big finale production number is that the studio sent him off to make another Francis movie (West Point, I think). Because I cherish Francis so, that's just fine by me.
Also, the first 3 films actually have continuity, mentioning things from previous adventures. That's kind of nice.
Perhaps they'll release the rest of them on DVD, and I can tell you why Mickey Rooney just couldn't quite make it work. No offense to Mickey, of course. It's just that Donald O'Connor is the one and only real pal to my favorite mule.
Long Live Francis!!!

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully fun collection...beautifully packaged, July 5, 2004

By 

Yarby "yarby" (Medina, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule, Vol. 1 (Francis the Talking Mule / Francis Goes to the Races / Francis Goes to West Point / Francis Covers the Big Town) (DVD)

If you've forgotten Francis, Mr. Ed's distant cousin, it's time to reintroduce yourself. Francis (a.k.a., Chill Wills) and Donald O'Connor, are great, light hearted adventures that all ages can enjoy.

Universal has in the past, put out some pretty shoddy products. But this time, I have to hand them credit. The transfers are great! About my only complaint would be lack of any extras or trailers.

Hopefully, a volume 2 is in the works....with the widescreen movies in the series in proper aspect ratio.

All in all, this set is highly recommended!

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great whole family fun!, September 10, 2005

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Adventures of Francis the Talking Mule, Vol. 1 (Francis the Talking Mule / Francis Goes to the Races / Francis Goes to West Point / Francis Covers the Big Town) (DVD)

I loved the Francis Movies - the before Mr. Ed of the movies. Francis was a wise-cracking, know it all mule, with the voice of the great Chill Wills. Donald O'Connell was Francis' sidekick and they had simply FUN adventures. Most are seldom, if ever seen in the last couple of decades, so this will be a great trip for those who remember them and a chance for children and grandchildren to discover them.

Volume 1 - is for full-length movies

1. Francis the Talking Mule
2. Francis goes to the Races
3. Francis goes to West Point (with William Reynolds and small part by Leonard Nemoy)
4. Francis Cover the Big Town

They are Black and White - for those unfamiliar with the Francis movies, though later ones were in colour.

So pop the popcorn, kick back and let the whole family have a wee giggle at Wills and O'Connell's antics.