Francis in the Haunted House (1956)

By r96sk

This series should've ended after the exits of Donald O'Connor, Arthur Lubin and Chill Wills. That's not to say that this is any worse than what that trio created together though; I'd say <em>'Francis in the Haunted House'</em> is better than <em>'Francis Goes to West Point'</em>, in fact. Mickey Rooney is actually a fairly decent replacement for O'Connor, though it never feels right that the other geezer isn't involved; it's his lead spot, for better or worse. No-one else on the cast sticks out - if I had to pick one: James Flavin. Finally, six follow-ups later: the end of the <em>'Francis'</em> series. An interesting (?) time capsule, given the amount of sequels, from the early 1950s, but a series that never quite reaches a positive level in my eyes. <em>'Francis Goes to the Races'</em> is comfortably the best one (relative, as still not good), the rest will be forgotten.