Tonight's Movie: Francis Covers the Big Town (1953) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN (1953) is the fourth of seven films in the Francis the Talking Mule Blu-ray collection available via Kino Lorber.

I've previously reviewed FRANCIS (1950), FRANCIS GOES TO THE RACES (1951), and FRANCIS GOES TO WEST POINT (1952).

This time around Peter Stirling (Donald O'Connor) and his pal Francis the Mule (real name Molly, voiced by Chill Wills) have left West Point, no explanation given.

Peter gets a job at a New York newspaper, but though he wants to be a reporter, he must start as a lowly copy boy.

Francis, however, is soon feeding Peter scoops he learns from police horses in the neighborhood. Peter gives tips to other reporters (Nancy Guild and Larry Gates) and has opportunity for promotion, but he always seems to get into trouble when he's asked about his sources...

Meanwhile back in Peter's neighborhood, the grocer's sweet daughter Maria (Yvette Duguay) pines for Peter, who's initially taken with sophisticated reporter Alberta (Guild), not realizing she's a phony who doesn't take him seriously.

This is a pretty good entry in the series; they're all a bit of a one-joke format, with Peter getting in trouble for saying he talks to a mule and Francis eventually proving Peter's telling the truth, but the familiar framework is built around a reasonably interesting crime/newspaper story and the 86 minutes move along briskly.

By this point it strikes me as kind of funny that sweet Peter, who's incredibly loyal to Francis, seems to be a love 'em and leave 'em type -- given that his leading lady changes in every single movie! Maria is clearly thinking marriage, but given that Duguay isn't listed among the many women in the cast of the next film in the series, FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS (1954), she's clearly another woman doomed to be abandoned offscreen by Peter.

I enjoyed seeing Duguay in this; she's an actress I first knew from a guest role on TV's MAVERICK, and more recently I saw her playing Maria Montez as a child in ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (1944). Having started out as a child actress in 1941, Duguay retired from films and television as of 1960. She was only 54 when she died in 1986. Not a great deal more information seems to be available on her.

Nancy Guild is a familiar face from SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT (1946) and THE BRASHER DOUBLOON (1947). This would be her last feature film until a small role in SUCH GOOD FRIENDS (1971) 18 years later. She did work briefly in television in the mid '50s. Guild had married Broadway producer Ernest H. Martin (GUYS AND DOLLS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC) in 1951, a union which would last until 1975. Guild died in 1999 at the age of 73.

The supporting cast of FRANCIS COVERS THE BIG TOWN includes Gene Lockhart, Silvio Minciotti, Lowell Gilmore, and Gale Gordon.

The movie was directed by Arthur Lubin and filmed in black and white by Carl E. Guthrie. The script was written by Oscar Brodney with additional dialogue from FRANCIS creator David Stern.

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray print is from a new 2K master. Like the other films in the set, there's nothing distinguished about the cinematography, but the prints all look and sound just fine. The film includes a commentary track by Stephen Vagg.

The FRANCIS films won't set the world on fire, but I enjoy seeing who turns up in each film and find them relaxing, undemanding viewing. I'm particularly looking forward to FRANCIS JOINS THE WACS, with a cast which includes Julie Adams, Mamie Van Doren, and Lynn Bari, plus the return of Zasu Pitts as the funny nurse she played in the first movie in the series.

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

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