Since Francis the talking mule was being transferred to a WAC base, naturally, Don O'Conner(as Peter Sterling), his confident, was mistakenly transferred there too. The WAC officers can't seem to get through the red tape to get him transferred elsewhere. Hence, he becomes the much laughed at leader of a platoon, training them to take part in a camouflage exercise with a men's company looking for them, to squirt them with dye to prove they were found. Francis shores up Don's confidence that women can be good at camouflage by observing that "Every beauty salon is a camouflage operation."
The hard-boiled Major Simpson(Lynn Bari)suspects that Don is a spy for the men who will compete in the war game. She hatched a plan to discredit Don(being a man) as a platoon leader by putting him in charge of the platoon that has been lagging behind in practices. The plan backfires, as Don whips this platoon into shape, with the help of Francis, after a very shaky start. Francis also plays a major role in the war game, giving advice, and supplying smoke grenades. When Don switches walkie-talkies so the WACs could listen in on the men's communications, he forgot that the men could then listen in on the WACs communication.
Captain Jane Parker(Julie Adams)has a hilarious run in with Don when she goes to the train station to receive a new officer. Don knocks her down when running, then throws his suitcase out the window onto her head, then soaks her with water from the train water tower when he grabs onto to rope that releases the water. She continues to be very negative toward him, but eventually softens, especially when she discovers that Francis can really talk.
Starting with Don, each person is sent to the base psychiatric ward when they claim they heard Francis speak. This is especially funny when Major Simpson and General Kaye end up there.
Don O'Connor was Francis's pal in the first 6 films in this series. Chill Wills was the voice of Francis in each of those films. This film is unique in that Chill also played an important part in the screenplay, meaning that Francis could say things attributed to him, which much contributed to the comedy.
I haven't yet seen the other films in this series, but find it difficult to imagine any being more fun than this one. Director Arthur Lubin would go on to direct and produce the rather similar Mister Ed TV series.
The hard-boiled Major Simpson(Lynn Bari)suspects that Don is a spy for the men who will compete in the war game. She hatched a plan to discredit Don(being a man) as a platoon leader by putting him in charge of the platoon that has been lagging behind in practices. The plan backfires, as Don whips this platoon into shape, with the help of Francis, after a very shaky start. Francis also plays a major role in the war game, giving advice, and supplying smoke grenades. When Don switches walkie-talkies so the WACs could listen in on the men's communications, he forgot that the men could then listen in on the WACs communication.
Captain Jane Parker(Julie Adams)has a hilarious run in with Don when she goes to the train station to receive a new officer. Don knocks her down when running, then throws his suitcase out the window onto her head, then soaks her with water from the train water tower when he grabs onto to rope that releases the water. She continues to be very negative toward him, but eventually softens, especially when she discovers that Francis can really talk.
Starting with Don, each person is sent to the base psychiatric ward when they claim they heard Francis speak. This is especially funny when Major Simpson and General Kaye end up there.
Don O'Connor was Francis's pal in the first 6 films in this series. Chill Wills was the voice of Francis in each of those films. This film is unique in that Chill also played an important part in the screenplay, meaning that Francis could say things attributed to him, which much contributed to the comedy.
I haven't yet seen the other films in this series, but find it difficult to imagine any being more fun than this one. Director Arthur Lubin would go on to direct and produce the rather similar Mister Ed TV series.