Monday, October 31, 2022

Tonight's Movie: Francis Joins the WACS (1954) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS (1954) is the fifth movie in the seven-film Francis the Talking Mule Blu-ray collection from Kino Lorber.

I've been steadily working my way through this set since it was released a few months ago, and this was one of the series' most engaging titles thanks to a good cast.

Since the conclusion of FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN (1953), in which Peter Stirling (Donald O'Connor) became a reporter, he's gone back to his previous occupation as a bank teller. He's stunned when he receives a telegram -- he's been called back to military service!

Peter is none too happy, but he's got an even bigger shock ahead when he reports for duty and finds himself on a WACs (Women's Army Corps) military installation. Somehow Peter has been called to service in the women's branch of the military!

Major Louise Simpson (Lynn Bari), the commanding officer, tries to get Peter transferred off the base, but in the meantime he's assigned to work training the women in camouflage techniques. The women will be in a competition overseen by General Benjamin Kaye (Chill Wills), who's skeptical of women in the military, and they want to prove themselves.

Of course, Peter's pal Francis the Talking Mule is on the base as well, and the strange thing is...he sounds just like General Kaye!

Peter is surrounded by lovely ladies in uniform including Julie Adams, Mamie Van Doren, Mara Corday, and Allison Hayes. He's also reunited with the goofy nurse (Zasu Pitts) from the mental health clinic he visited in the very first film.

This movie has a little bit more to it than some of the other films in the series, thanks to the storyline of Peter attempting to help the WACs succeed in their competition. It's still no great shakes, but Adams and the other ladies make it a pleasant 95 minutes. Checking out the interesting casts is a big part of the fun in watching this series.

FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS was directed by Arthur Lubin and filmed in black and white by Irving Glassberg.

The FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS Blu-ray is from a brand-new 2K master. The disc includes a newly mastered version of the trailer and a commentary track by Lee Gambin and Staci Layne Wilson.

Previous reviews in this set: FRANCIS (1950), FRANCIS GOES TO THE RACES (1951), FRANCIS GOES TO WEST POINT (1952), and FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN (1953).

The final two films to be reviewed from the Francis collection are FRANCIS IN THE NAVY (1955) with O'Connor, Clint Eastwood, and Martha Hyer, and FRANCIS IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE (1956) with Mickey Rooney and David Janssen.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

3 Comments:

Blogger Walter S. said...

Laura, I've been enjoying your good write-ups of the enjoyable, funny, and entertaining FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE movies. These movies are good for laughs and FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS(1954) is a good one, because of the cast. What a cast of talented and beautiful ladies in uniforms. Julie Adams, Mamie Van Doren, Lynn Bari, Zasu Pitts, Joan Shawlee, Allison Hayes, Mara Corday, and Karen Kadler. like you, I so enjoy checking out the interesting casts of the movies of the Classic Era. Also, I recall seeing a publicity photograph of Mamie Van Doren sitting on top of Francis the Talking Mule. Mamie was sitting side-saddle without a side-saddle!

In my neck of the woods the FRANCIS movies were shown a lot on tv during the 1970's. The first one that I recall viewing was FRANCIS IN THE NAVY(1955), which aired on Memphis' WHBQ Channel 13 DIALING FOR DOLLARS MOVIE in 1972. I finally caught up with FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS in 1977 on WHBQ Channel 13's SATURDAY SHOWCASE. Those were the days.

6:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am a big fan of JULIE ADAMS. I remember her from the ep of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW where she played a nurse. RAFE HOLLISTER didn't want to get a shot. I especially liked Julie on MURDER, SHE WROTE as EVE SIMPSON, the real estate woman. PLUS she worked with ELVIS in TICKLE ME. Some other things I know her from are the soap CAPITOL with ED NELSON, some eps of PERRY MASON and BEND OF THE RIVER with JIMMY STEWART. FRANCES BAVIER (AUNT BEE on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW) was also in that movie. CLASSIC TV FAN

9:50 AM  
Blogger Laura said...

Thank you so much for checking out my Francis reviews, Walter! This one really did have a marvelous lineup of actresses. Curiously, this film is the only one of the Francis films I had seen before this summer, though I can't say any of it seemed familiar when I revisited it.

Classic TV Fan, Julie Adams certainly did a lot of work. BEND OF THE RIVER is a big favorite. I first knew her from seeing her guest on MAVERICK when I was a teenager.

Best wishes,
Laura

7:53 PM  

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