I was shocked when I watched the first film in the series, "Francis". Why? Because I gave it a score of 9...for a film about a talking mule! I was surprised how clever the movie was and how much I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, while I liked the second film, "Francis Goes to the Races", it's not nearly as good.
While the title of the film might make you think Francis becomes a racing mule, this isn't at all the story. Instead, Francis becomes friends with a race horse and the owner sees that the mule has a calming effect on the horse...so he keeps Francis in the neighboring stall. While Francis is hanging out with the horses, he learns all their problems and potential...and soon is giving Peter (Donald O'Connor) the winners for all the races. But there's more to the story than this...just watch it and see for yourself.
The story is fun...but the writing isn't quite up to the first movie's standards. Francis' dialog isn't as snappy or fun and the plot also is decent but nothing more. My advice is by all means watch it...but watch the first movie first. After all, if you start with "Francis Goes to the Races", you're likely not to be all that impressed and you'll stop there instead of seeing any of the other six films in the series.
While the title of the film might make you think Francis becomes a racing mule, this isn't at all the story. Instead, Francis becomes friends with a race horse and the owner sees that the mule has a calming effect on the horse...so he keeps Francis in the neighboring stall. While Francis is hanging out with the horses, he learns all their problems and potential...and soon is giving Peter (Donald O'Connor) the winners for all the races. But there's more to the story than this...just watch it and see for yourself.
The story is fun...but the writing isn't quite up to the first movie's standards. Francis' dialog isn't as snappy or fun and the plot also is decent but nothing more. My advice is by all means watch it...but watch the first movie first. After all, if you start with "Francis Goes to the Races", you're likely not to be all that impressed and you'll stop there instead of seeing any of the other six films in the series.