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Frances
The true story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.
1982 · Directed by Graeme Clifford · 140 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 5 frames
Tagline
Her story is shocking, disturbing, compelling... and true.
Plot
Born in Seattle, Washington, Frances Elena Farmer is a rebel from a young age, winning $100 in 1931 from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for a high school essay called God Dies. In 1935, Frances attracts controversy again when she wins (and accepts) an all-expenses-paid trip to the USSR to visit its Moscow Art Theatre.
After her return, Frances is determined to become an actress. She is equally determined not to play the Hollywood game: she refuses to acquiesce to publicity stunts, and insists upon appearing on screen without makeup.
Frances marries Dwayne Steele, despite being advised not to, but cheats on him with alleged Communist Harry York on the night of her hometown's premiere of her film Come and Get It. Her defiance attracts the attention of Broadway playwright Clifford Odets, who convinces Frances that her future rests with the Group Theatre.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Nicholas Kazan, Christopher De Vore, Eric Bergren
- Cinematography: László Kovács
- Edited by: John Wright
- Music: John Barry
- Production design: Richard Sylbert
- Produced by: Jonathan Sanger
Cast
- Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer
- Sam Shepard as Harry York
- Kim Stanley as Lillian Farmer
- Bart Burns as Ernest Farmer
- Christopher Pennock as Dick Steele
- James Karen as Juge Hillier
- Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Médecin spécialiste de la lobotomie
- Sarah Cunningham as Alma Styles
- Allan Rich as Mr. Bebe
- Woodrow Parfrey as Docteur Doyle
Production
- Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Brooksfilms, EMI Films
- Budget: $8,000,000
- Box office: $5,000,000
- Themes: strong woman, falsely accused, insanity, movie business, feminism, biography, based on true story, evil mother, psychiatric hospital, female protagonist
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