When looking at what next to watch and decided to watch another of the Francis movies. I was mildly surprised to find that it was another movie about horse racing. Francis Goes To The Races is the second in the Francis The Talking Mule series. Like the first it was directed by Arthur Lubin, working from a script by Oscar Brodney.
Donald has lost his job when his boss discovers Francis talks. He stumbles into a job at a race track because he can get inside info from Francis. Piper Laurie is the daughter of Cecil Kellaway, the owner of the stable. Cecil owes money to a sharpie played by Hayden Rorke. Hayden takes all of Cecil's horses but Piper asks Donald to buy one back. He buys a different horse and the police, Jessie White in a rumpled suit, comes calling at Cecil's request. Donald, acting on a tip from Francis, bets the races and wins enough money to make Jessie notice. He tries to buy the horse back from Cecil but he doesn't want to sell. Then a gangster kidnaps Donald to find out how he won the 7 races. It gets hairy for Donald as things don't go so well and the gangster is out 200Gs. Lucky for Donald the gangster doesn't kill him. Donald and Francis team up with Cecil and Piper to turn the horse into a winner. It's about as entertaining as the first. Good for a laugh, always a good thing.
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