Frances
by Graeme Clifford
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bart Burns, Jessica Lange, Jonathan Banks, Kim Stanley, Sam ShepardDirector: Graeme Clifford
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-02-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of Frances
Movie Review: Director Cuts 45 minutes out of Frances; Stanley Biography A Travesty
Summary: 4 Stars
The director of "Frances" allowed all the "trimmings" (outtakes, extras, bonus features shown on "Special Edition" DVD's with commentary), to be discarded - or he threw them away himself. Why? No idea. That's like an author throwing away the First Edition of his published book... Legendary stage actress Kim Stanley portrays Lillian Farmer, Frances' star-struck mother. When Frances decides she no longer wants to be part of Hollywood, Lillian has her committed to a mental institution. In a tour de force performance, Lange earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Meryl Streep took home the prize for Sophie's Choice; but Lange won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Tootsie." This was only the 2nd time in Oscar history an actress was nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year.
Stanley's performance in "Frances" is worth mentioning for several reasons. She rarely did movies; preferring the stage and live television in the 1950s and 1960s. A powerful Method actress, with an intensity and brilliance like Geraldine Page, Stanley's life had its share of ups and downs. The "downs" are luridly portrayed in the forgettable biography "Female Brando," by somebody Krampner...he's an LA Times entertainment editor whose name is best forgotten. He brutalized Stanley in the book, detailing and belittling her brilliant life's work in such a way that is...well...beneath contempt. Liz Smith wouldn't stoop so low as Krampner did. Instead of celebrating this brilliant actress' life, he wrote more pages on her alcoholism, failed marriages, and repeatedly referred to her as "grossly overweight." This is the actress who did a total of four films in her career - and was nominated for Academy Awards for two of them: "S?ance on a Wet Afternoon," and "Frances." If that's not a record-breaking batting average, I don't know what is. That means 50% of her movies she was up for awards. She won Tony Awards - did Broadway; and of course, like all talented actors, her gift came with a high price. Krampner loves shredding legends...only he can't write, and will never have the talent Kim Stanley had - or the passion. Perhaps that's why he is so vicious to her in his book. The author barely wrote more than two pages about Stanley's performance in "Frances", preferring to focus on her aged appearance, and "bad teeth." The scenes between Jessica Lange and Kim Stanley are mesmerizing...and it's the true story. A scam-biography, "Will There Ever Be a Morning" supposedly written by Frances Farmer, was written by a sycophant - Jean Ratcliffe...a TV movie called "Committed!" is based on that book. Frances Farmer couldn't have written that book - she could barely speak coherently after the was lobotomized - and "Will There Ever Be a Morning?" overflows with grisly details of the mental institution like an exploitation film...Radcliff moved in, took advantage of Frances Farmer in her final years of life, and wrote the book herself. What I don't understand is why Krampner conveniently overlooked interviewing people from "Frances" who really knew Kim Stanley: Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, and Christopher DeVore. Perhaps they knew the book he was writing and wanted no part of it. Either way, these major players are strangely absent in "Female Brando," so the biography is unbalanced, unfair, poorly written, factually incorrect (i.e., he states Stanley complained that the director of Frances cut out long, important scenes that showed why Frances kept coming home to her mother, who repeatedly had her locked in primitive insane asylums in Seattle, Washington.) Both the director and the author of "Female Brando," said Stanley's criticism is unfounded (she said they cut 45 minutes out of the film), the director said it was more like 10 minutes. Go to the IMDB database, and look up the screenplay: It's 142 pages in length - which means 142 minutes of screen time (1 minute of screen time per page). The final edited film is barely over 90 minutes on DVD. Stanley was telling the truth...Did Krampner think film buffs would not do their own fact-checking? 142 minutes minus 90 equals...hmmm...yet Kramper defends the director it was only "a few minutes of screen time..." Right. That glaring error brings the entire biography into a questionable light.
I bought the book for the photographs of Stanley. If you want to get it - take the photos and use the rest of the book to line a cat box or do Paper Mache. The photographs are excellent. So is the cover.
In a Hollywood where you're as good as your last film - "Frances" and "The Elephant Man" are two great films by a brilliant screenwriter. If De Vore never pens another screenplay (which I sincerely hope is not the case) - he's done brilliant work that will not soon be forgotten. Nor will Kim Stanley or Jessica Lange... Krampner and the director of Frances...ummm...what's his name? Graham what? I haven't mentioned the director's name because I can't remember it are already history. If the director ever did another film (and I doubt he did), it would be titled, "National Lampoon's Sabotage and Envy," co-written by Mr. Krampner. Couldn't resist the sarcasm...because, as a film lover - I'm infuriated that the director despised the movie "Frances" enough to throw footage away of Kim Stanley - THE LEGEND!! and Jessica Lange...talk about "cinematic crime": The director wins the Oscar for that one. Nevertheless, see "Frances" - it launched the career of a brilliant actress, two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange. And as for Kim Stanley who rarely did film, she came out of retirement to do "Frances." Although the film is a tragedy, it's more than based on a true story - it IS closer to the truth than people will ever know - of what happened to Frances Farmer - and why laws were set up to prevent "involuntary commitment" to mental institutions. This film shows WHY such laws were enacted... Frances is on par with the writing of "Long Days Journey into Night. Sam Shepherd, Lange, and Stanley are in a league of their own in that film - stellar, brilliant - true artists. As for the director? Graham whats-his-name? He should be ashamed of himself...by the way - what notable Oscar nominated films has he done? Exactly. And Krampner? He and Graham must be brothers: The love to rip apart brilliance because they just ain't got it... Christopher De Vore, however, is THE MAIN MAN who knows the real story of Frances Farmer...some idiot author tried to take him to court over his story - and he lost...why? Because De Vore has integrity in a town where integrity is frowned upon. Bravo for Frances - the real story. Lange is in a Five-Star Performance....get it...just forget the "commentary" version...it's not worth hearing 98 minutes of complaining (and that's all Graham does...) Buy the one without commentary and watch the film...It's as good as it gets...sad though he cut 30-45 minutes out...that he THREW IT OUT says a lot about his character.
Summary of Frances
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 02/19/2002Jessica Lange gives a career performance in a role she was born to play: the talented and troubled Frances Farmer. Farmer's awful trajectory travels from bright Seattle girl to 1930s Hollywood starlet to degraded (eventually lobotomized) mental patient. Lange, who has the blond, clean look of Farmer's heyday, goes into these places with the fierce abandon of a true believer. Her performance, the lush John Barry score, and the period re-creation are all worth applauding; almost everything else fails. Everyone except Farmer is grotesquely caricatured to fit the movie's thesis, which is that if you are intelligent and nonconformist, the system will resolutely destroy you. (The medical establishment is evil incarnate.) This simple conclusion seems inadequate and disrespectful of Frances Farmer's tragic problems. For a radiant glimpse of what the real Farmer had to offer, see Howard Hawks's Come and Get It, which bristles with excitement over a new discovery. --Robert Horton
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