smart ass

I remember the actor/dancer Donald O'Conner playing sidekick to an army mule that always proved smarter than he was. The mule's name was Francis. Arthur Lubin (I Googled him) was the director of most of the Francis the Talking Mule movies. I found out that he was also the guy that produced many of the Abbott and Costello movies we fondly remember. Later, Lubin produced television's talking horse sitcom Mr. Ed for television. The premise for both Francis the Talking Mule and Mr. Ed were pretty much the same. Smart animal - dumb master. Mr. Ed's fame eventually eclipsed Francis but in my book - Francis kicked Mr. Ed's ass.

There was a character actor named Chill Wills that did the voice of Francis. If you heard his voice once you'd never forget it. Chill had the perfect voice for a jack ass. No, I mean it. Wouldn't you like to have lived in his shoes for a day? Every time he opened his mouth until the day he died, people would hear a jackass.

Donald O'Conner left the Francis franchise after "co-starring" with the mule six out of the seven movies made through out the 1950's. O'Conner had top billing but everyone knew who the real star of the show was. O'Conner cited upon leaving, "That mule gets more fan mail than I do!" Arthur Lubin directed only the shows O'Conner "co-starred." Francis was a big celebrity back then and it's been decades since I've seen one. It may be that I might not find the Francis movies so endearing if I were to see one again. They sure were a treat to me when I was I a kid.