6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Francis and Peter (Donald O'Connor) get a job working on a horse-breeder's ranch and end up saving it from financial ruin when Francis, who has the inside track with the racehorses, provides Peter with names of the winners before the races are run. Sure enough Peter finds himself with a fistful of cash and uses it to buy a racehorse for the farm. Unfortunately, the mare he chooses is suffering from a debilitating lack of confidence. Fortunately, Francis is around to perk her up.
Starring: Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, Cecil Kellaway, Jesse White, Barry KelleyFamily | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.38:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Francis the Talking Mule 7 Film Collection.
None other than the legendary Stephen Sondheim opined that "you gotta have a gimmick" in one of his more celebrated lyrics for Gypsy, which true trivia fans will know was subtitled as "a musical
fable" in its original Broadway incarnation. That sobriquet may help to elucidate that Sondheim was offering near "Aesop moral" levels of advice
about what
was needed to achieve success in the wild and woolly world of show business. In that regard, Arthur Lubin had a long and interesting career in
both the theater and
film (and, later, television) industries, and his career in Hollywood lasted for decades, resulting in a number of well remembered projects in a rather
dazzling array of genres, including several films starring Abbott & Costello, the 1943 version of Phantom of the Opera and Technicolor exotica like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. If some online data aggregators insist that Lubin is "best remembered"
these days for having offered Clint Eastwood his first contract, some folks may counter that Lubin is at least as "immortal" (in certain circles,
anyway) for having carved out
one of the weirdest niches in show
business history by (here comes the "gimmick" part) first spearheading a series of films featuring a talking mule, and then slightly tweaking that
premise some years later for the
decidedly similar television sitcom Mister Ed: The
Complete
Series (note that the link points to a DVD release). Now Kino Lorber and Universal are offering the complete Francis the Talking Mule
series on Blu-ray, all advertised as having been "newly remastered in 2K", and all having some rather interesting and surprisingly far reaching
commentaries included as bonus features.
Francis Goes to the Races is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber and Universal with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.38:1. From a detail standpoint, this is quite similar in appearance to the first Francis film, though I'd argue that this element has less of the recurrent damage seen in Francis, and as a result may offer a somewhat more consistent viewing experience. That said, there can still certainly be inarguably visible damage, as can be seen in screenshot 2, for just one example. Detail levels generally are quite good throughout, with an understanding that some stock footage of races don't offer the same depth and clarity. Fine detail is okay if not overwhelming, though once again Lubin's preference for midrange framings may play into things. Grain is again pretty thick at times, but resolves without any issues.
Francis at the Races features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that, again, is quite like the audio on the first Francis film in that there really aren't any major issues in terms of delivery of dialogue and effects, but there's still a noticeable thinness in the upper frequencies in particular as well as some prevalent background hiss. The race sequences with sounds of announcements and crowd noises can sound a bit artificial and boxy at times. Optional English subtitles are available.
Francis the Talking Mule and Francis Goes to the Races share a disc. The disc features the following supplements:
Francis gets to quip, "Who ever heard of a talking horse?" in this film, which of course will strike lovers of Mister Ed in particular as a kind of cheekily prescient comment. Francis at the Races manages to deliver some decent laughs, many courtesy of the antics of the likes of Jesse White as a harried racetrack detective trying to figure out how Peter can repeatedly hit the veritable trifecta in every race. Technical merits are again fine, if not outstanding, and while some may question commentator Eddy Van Mueller's assertion about how "important" this film is, his analysis is good listen as well. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
1955
1962
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1954
High and Dry
1954
1962
1924
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Warner Archive Collection
1963
Limited Edition to 3000
2012
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2016