Francis (1950)

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Francis is a 1950 American comedy film produced and distributed by Universal-International that launched the Francis the Talking Mule film series. The film was produced by Robert Arthur and directed by Arthur Lubin. It stars Donald O'Connor and Patricia Medina, with the distinctive voice of Francis provided by actor Chill Wills.

Production

Director Arthur Lubin became attached to the film in March 1948. He was attracted to the light material because "as a movie fan myself, I am tired of watching neurotic material on the screen. I can easily skip the latest psychiatric spell binders, but I've seen Miracle on 34th Street a half dozen times."

In September 1948, it was announced that Robert Stillman, Joseph H. Nadel and Lubin had purchased the film rights from David Stern, with Stillman to produce and Lubin to direct. Lubin took the film to Universal, which had a commitment to Donald O'Connor for $30,000 and was looking to produce something inexpensive. The studio advanced Lubin $10,000 as a test to determine whether he could create the illusion of the mule speaking.

Universal records show that Lubin was paid a flat fee of $25,000.

Filming started on May 7, 1949 and continued until June. Parts of the film were shot at the Conejo Valley Airport in Thousand Oaks, California.

Producer Robert Arthur said that the film was budgeted at $580,000 but finished $42,000 over budget. Lubin later claimed that the film had cost $150,000 and said: "Donald got $30,000 at the time, the mule cost nothing. We had three mules then. And we made that picture in fifteen days."

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