Frances 1982

type: Movie

language: English

duration: 140 min

genre: drama

theme: biographical

director: Graeme Clifford

Score: 5 / 10

Frances is a 1982 American biographical tragedy film directed by Graeme Clifford and written by Eric Bergren, Christopher De Vore, and Nicholas Kazan. The film stars Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, a troubled actress during the 1930s whose career suffered as a result of her mental illness. It also features Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns, Christopher Pennock, Jonathan Banks, and Jeffrey DeMunn in supporting roles. The film chronicles Farmer's life from her days as a high school student, her turbulent relationship with her emotionally abusive mother, her short lived film career in the 1930s, her institutionalization for alleged mental illness in the 1940s, her deinstitutionalization in the 1950s and her appearance on This Is Your Life.

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, she becomes controversial again when she wins (and accepts) an all-expenses-paid trip to the USSR to visit its Moscow Art Theatre. Determined to become an actress, Frances is equally determined not to play the Hollywood game: she refuses to acquiesce to publicity stunts, and insists upon appearing on screen without makeup. She marries her first husband, 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 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.

Cast

More details

author	Eric Bergren Nicholas Kazan
director	Graeme Clifford
editor	John Wright
genre	drama
keywords	abuse affair alcohol alcoholism amphetamine b-film broadway broadway theatre cinema of the united states clifford odets come and get it daytime tv electroconvulsive shock therapy end force frances farmer presents golden boy group theatre hollywood hollywood roosevelt hotel illegal drugs indianapolis institutionalize insulin la crescenta legal guardian lobotomized lobotomy london mental illness military base moscow art theatre nervous breakdown new york city play playwright psychiatric hospital publicity stunt ralph edwards rape soviet union talk television program the powers that be the scholastic art and writing awards theatre play this is your life ussr walk wannabe wash western state hospital win write young age
musicBy	John Barry
nomination	Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
producer	Jonathan Sanger
productionCompany	Brooksfilms EMI Films
publisher	Associated Film Distribution Universal Pictures
theme	biographical biographical drama high school independent