6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Francis witnesses a murder and then befriends bumbling reporter David Prescott (Mickey Rooney), who may be next in line. With Francis' help and guidance, Prescott uncovers a mystery involving murder, an inheritance, and a spooky old mansion on the edge of town.
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Virginia Welles, James Flavin (I), Paul Cavanagh, Mary Ellen KayHorror | 100% |
Family | 7% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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 in the Haunted House is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber and Universal with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. With a haunted house setting, there's more of a quasi-chiaroscuro look to things at times in this presentation, and the good news is that blacks are nicely deep and contrast is rather winning throughout the presentation. However, some of the omnipresent darkness can lead to slight deficits in shadow detail and especially overall fine detail at times. "New" director Charles Lamont, replacing longtime series shepherd Arthur Lubin, seems to not be so loathe to offer something other than a series of midrange framings, and fine detail enjoys an uptick in some closer camera work. Grain is once again a bit on the gritty side at times, but actually resolves more tightly in this presentation than in some of the others in this set. Damage is relatively minor and inconspicuous. My score is 3.75.
Once again, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track is provided for Francis in the Haunted House, as with the other tracks in this set. The supposedly "spooky" effects may not have a ton of depth and reverberance, but dialogue and score are both represented very well for the most part and there's really no overt damage of any kind to report. Optional English subtitles are available.
Francis Joins the WACS, Francis in the Navy and Francis in the Haunted House share a disc. The disc features the following supplements:
This halting attempt to rejigger the Francis franchise was probably doomed from the get go, and if it's not spectacularly funny or frankly ever very scary, it's decent enough for a low budget midlevel comedy. Rooney and Frees do their best, but there was something kind of special about the interplay between O'Connor and Wills that this film just can't quite duplicate. Technical merits are generally solid, and the commentary very enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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1951
1962
1952
High and Dry
1954
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1962
1969
1954
1985
1986
1945
1964
1968
Warner Archive Collection
1963
Limited Edition to 3000
2012
1968
Ghostriders
1987
1981
1970