Francis Goes to West Point

Last updated

Francis Goes to West Point
Francis Goes to West Point FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
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 byMilton Carruth
Music byMilton Rosen
Frank Skinner
Herman Stein
Distributed by Universal-International
Release date
  • July 1952 (1952-07)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2 million (US rentals) [1]

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.

Contents

This is third film in Universal-International's Francis the Talking Mule series. [2]

Plot

Bumbling 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.

Even at his low ebb,Peter is an important confidante to roommate Wilbur Van Allen,the football team's star quarterback. Van Allen feels pressured to attend West Point by his military family, and is seriously considering resigning to marry his fiance' Barbara Atwood.(Cadets are not allowed to be married). Francis is on the mascot sidelines for every Army football game, and his whispered advice to coach Chadwick helps the team to an undefeated season. When Army is losing to Navy at the half, Francis reveals himself and gives the locker room pep talk that helps Army win. Thinking he is protecting Van Allen, Peter takes the blame when a false rumor spreads that an important cadet is married.Francis has to straighten out that mess---and takes to the open road when the Army is planning to hand him over for scientific research. Peter remains behind--Francis judges he has gained enough self-confidence to get along without him.

Cast

Production

As 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

The 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

  1. ↑ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
  2. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (14 September 2019). "The Cinema of Arthur Lubin". Diabolique Magazine.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ (The DiscoVision Library)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.