Zasu Pitts

During World War II, a junior American Army officer, Lt. Peter Stirling, gets sent to the psychiatric ward whenever he insists that an Army mule named Francis speaks to him. The truthful soldier Stirling didn't know how to lie about his source of information, the talking army Mule, Francis, so he was treated as a lunatic and led to one after another hilarious situations, where the mule was the only one that appeared in his right mind. In the process of all this, the mule assisted in uncovering a spy, Maureen, who pretended to be lost among the jungles. —Winston Song

New York City, 1883 Businessman Clarence Day strives to run his Madison Avenue home as efficiently as his business. His temperamental outbursts over the smallest infractions so terrorize the servants that even the charm of his sweet-tempered wife Vinnie cannot keep a maid longer than a few days. Vinnie and Clare have four sons, all of whom are redheaded like their parents. The eldest, Clarence, Jr., is headed for Yale. John, the next eldest, likes to invent things, while brother Whitney struggles to learn his catechism, and Harlan, the youngest, is most interested in his dog. Knowing how much Clare dislikes it when visitors stay in the house, Vinnie neglects to tell her husband that their cousin, Cora Cartwright, and her young companion, Mary Skinner, will spend a week with them. Clare is even more put out when he learns that Vinnie has promised that he will take Cora and Mary to Delmonico's restaurant for dinner. As usual, however, Vinnie gets her way. Clare even agrees to take Clarence, who has developed a crush on Mary, to dinner. Later, Mary divulges that she is a Methodist, unlike the Days, who are Episcopalian. During the course of the ensuing religious discussion, it is revealed that Clare has never been baptized. Vinnie is very upset and insists that Clare rectify the oversight to ensure that they will be reunited after death, but Clare refuses, certain that God would never be so imprudent as to deny him entry into heaven. Meanwhile, Clarence becomes convinced that wearing Clare's made-over suit forces him to behave like his father. When his stern reaction to Mary's innocent flirtation sends her away in tears, Clarence becomes determined to earn enough money to buy his own suit. He and John get a job selling patent medicine and try it on Vinnie without her knowledge. The medicine makes Vinnie so ill that Clare, believing her to be near death, promises that he will be baptized if she gets well. When Vinnie recovers, however, Clare reneges on his promise. Unknown to Clare, Vinnie then arranges for him to be baptized at a church in Audubon Park so that he will not be embarrassed in front of his acquaintances, but he remains adamantly opposed. Vinnie's opportunity arrives when Clare is repulsed by a ceramic pug dog that she recently purchased and refuses to be baptized as long as it remains in the house. Vinnie quickly dispatches Clarence to return the dog to the store and authorizes him to spend the money on a new suit, which just happens to cost exactly the same amount as the piece of pottery. The next morning, Cora and Mary return for another visit and, wearing his own suit, Clarence makes up with Mary. Taking advantage of the confusion, Vinnie arranges for an expensive cab to drive Clare to Audubon Park. Although Clare protests the expense and denies that he agreed to be baptized if the pug was returned, Vinnie uses her own subtle persuasion to round up the entire family to witness Clare's long-postponed baptism.

A publicity stunt staged on a train known as the Broadway Limited creates problems because of an unknown baby that was part of the stunt. As a ploy to gain publicity, a motion picture director wants his star actress to take a baby with her on a train trip. The director's secretary asks the train's engineer, an old boyfriend, for help. As the engineer ponders what to do, a stranger in the train station tells him that he has a baby that could be used. On board the train, the actress meets a young doctor whom she knew in school, and whom she is still in love with. The presence of the baby causes a series of misunderstandings between them, but the real problems begin when the engineer begins to suspect that the baby may have been kidnapped. —Snow Leopard

Perky young Nanette attempts to save the marriage of her uncle and aunt by untangling Uncle Jimmy from several innocent but ensnaring flirtations. Attempting one such unentanglement, Nanette enlists the help of theatrical producer Bill Trainor, who promptly falls in love with her. The same thing happens when artist Tom Gillespie is called on for help. But soon Uncle Jimmy's flirtations become too numerous, and Nanette's romances with Tom and Bill run into trouble. Will Uncle Jimmy's marriage survive, and will Nanette find happiness with Tom, Bill, or somebody else? —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

An English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life. While visiting Paris in 1908, upper class Lord Burnstead loses his butler playing poker. Egbert and Effie Floud bring Ruggles back to Red Gap, Washington. Effie wants to take advantage of Ruggles' upper class background to influence Egbert's hick lifestyle. However, Egbert is more interested in partying and he takes Ruggles to the local 'beer bust'. When word gets out that "Colonel Ruggles is staying with his close friends" in the local paper, the butler becomes a town celebrity. After befriending Mrs. Judson, a widow who he impresses with his culinary skills, Ruggles decides to strike out on his own and open a restaurant. His transition from servant to independent man will depend on its success. —Gary Jackson <garyjack5@cogeco.ca> 1908. Married couple Egbert and Effie Floud are among the nouveau riche in the small but booming town of Red Gap, Washington. Egbert is a self-made millionaire in local resources and ranching, while Effie comes about her money through her mother, 'Ma' Pettingill, who struck oil. Egbert is a good old boy who likes to hang out and drink with his equally down home friends - rich or poor - which is much like Ma, while Effie, who wears the pants in the family, wants to be seen as socially and financially important, with all the trappings. The Flouds live in Ma's mansion, with Effie's equally snobbish sister and brother-in-law, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Bellknap-Jackson, who flaunt their wealth and self-importance. While vacationing in Paris, the Flouds meet British Lord, the Earl of Burnstead, and his manservant, Ruggles, who comes from a long line of gentlemen's gentlemen. In a drunken stupor, the Flouds "win" Ruggles in a poker game against the Earl. By the sober light of the next day, Egbert has no intention of collecting on the bet, while Effie has every intention of doing so, seeing the addition of Ruggles to their Red Gap lives, specifically as Egbert's manservant, as elevating their social standing. Egbert sees the addition of Ruggles to their lives solely as another drinking buddy with who to hang out. Beyond Ruggles being a fish out of water in Red Gap, he faces the struggle of whether Egbert or Effie is his ultimate master. Complications ensue when before Effie can make the official social announcement of Ruggles being Egbert's new manservant, the newspaper reports that he is actually the Floud's important house guest, British Colonel Marmaduke Ruggles, this misunderstanding based partly on Egbert referring to him in public colloquially and in friendship as colonel. Regardless, Ruggles may get a different perspective on life residing in the frontier of the proverbial land of the free. —Huggo An English gentleman loses his stuffy manservant, Ruggles, in a poker game with an unmannered cowboy and his wife. Ruggles accompanies his new employers to the tiny, wild town of Red Gap, Washington. Rich, rowdy Egbert Floud introduces Ruggles as "Colonel" Ruggles, and the town ladies are quite taken by the sophisticated servant in disguise as he enamors them with fictitious stories of battles gone by. Ruggles proves his newfound patriotism in one of the best scenes of the film, his recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in the Silver Dollar Saloon. The dream of freedom leads him to open his own restaurant, where one of his first customers is the nobleman who has come to reclaim his former servant. —Fiona Kelleghan <fkelleghan@aol.com>

A group of amateur detectives sets out to expose The Crooked Circle, a secretive group of hooded occultists.