We watched a lot of silly movies, growing up in the 1950s, movies that would have no chance whatsoever if they were made today. We had zany Jerry Lewis movies, Abbot and Costello, The Marx Brothers, The Little Rascals, and even a movie about an invisible rabbit named Harvey.
We also had a series of movies starring Francis the Talking Mule. They were funny and each of the seven flicks filmed between 1950 and 1956 was a hit.
The idea of a talking mule came from Peter Stern who wrote a series of articles for Esquire Magazine about an Army 2nd lieutenant fighting the Japanese in the jungles of Burma and his experience with an Army Mule.
United Artists picked up the film rights and cast Donald O’Conner, a young soldier who befriended Francis and discovered he could talk. Francis was funny and the situations were hilarious as O’Conner fumbled through Army life with a mule that could talk.
The basic premise of each film was that with the sage advice from Francis – who overheard war strategy from other horses under other generals, O’Conner was able to alert his generals about pending doom. When asked how he knew all this, O’Conner gave credit to a talking mule and the fun began.
The thought of seven hugely successful movies starring a talking mule reflects on the innocence of that era. It was proof that in the 1950’s, Americans could laugh at, imagine and enjoy most everything.
If only Hollywood could once again capture that magic in a bottle, perhaps more people would go see their movies.
