This does tell a lot about Frances Farmer. She is a woman who has been thorough hell from being a Hollywood star to being a patient in a mental institution. I have no doubt that Hollywood triggered her anxiety, including her mother Lillian who pushed her to go back to Paramount when Frances didn't want to. Seriously, she is a grown adult, she shouldn't have treated her like that. I swear to you, Frances was a really intelligent person and she was way better then the doctors,lawyers and so on who were involved in putting her into an asylum. Of course there you go with ignorance, shutting people with all kinds of problems and not trying to find solutions or goals to make that happen for the individual. Thankfully that ignorance is history even this world is still crazy today with wars!Anyways, Jessica Lange was absolutely amazing and brilliant to play Frances Farmer. It was funny to think herself and her co-star Sam Shepard who played Frances lover Harry York were an actual couple in real life. I guess it was love at first sight on set eh? I have to say, this is a great film to watch even though there is one rape scene that can be extremely uncomfortable to look at and of course, the angry outbursts were upsetting. Two hours is really worth your time and you get interested in the life of Frances Farmer regardless if you know her or not!

Overly long, pointless, standard issue biopic that doesn't seem to know what to make of Frances Farmer who never was a big film star, but who was apparently a big train wreck, and so is the film. She's portrayed as a victim of the press, the law, the studio, the medical profession and her mother. Hollywood and the world in general appear to exist for the sole purpose of making her life hell. And the sole purpose of the film seems to be to earn an Oscar for Lange by giving her a series of show downs that has her shrieking at and/or physically assaulting any and everyone, and though Lange does indeed resemble Farmer, she's largely shrill and one-note making Farmer look like an obnoxious, self righteous, self appointed martyr; a Lindsay Lohan with delusions of grandeur. The film is a dud and Sam Shephard plays a fabricated character who wanders in and out of the proceedings in an attempt to provide an unfocused script with a sense of structure. It's a mess, and the scenes set in the mental institution recall such camp classics as The Caretakers(1963) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). Kim Stanley who plays Frances' mother gave a powerful performance in The Goddess (1958) as a lonely, unloved, unwanted girl who sought fame as a way to escape her emptiness, but discovered Hollywood was not a cure nor as the film had it the cause of her unhappiness. Frances lacks that insight and observation.

I have to say that "Frances" was far from being an enjoyable film to watch, but that certainly doesn't mean that it wasn't fascinating, as well."Frances" is a harrowing bio-film that chronicles the tragic life of 1930s movie star Frances Farmer who brazenly snubbed the Hollywood power-structure and wound up being involuntarily committed to an insane asylum where she was subjected to horrific treatment, including repeated rapes. (Farmer was eventually lobotomized, at the age of 35, thanks to the legal power of her crazed mother)Even though "Frances" is an exceptionally well-crafted film, with a superb performance by Jessica Lange as the title character, this is a cold and extremely depressing movie where we never learn to understand the reasons behind Farmer's apparent self-destructive tendencies.Released in 1982, "Frances" is a chilling motion picture that clearly shows us a truly dark and, yet, very real side of Hollywood.If you are at all interested in learning more about Frances Farmer's life, there's a book that's worth checking called "Shadowland", which was written by William Arnold.

Jessica Lange has delivered an outstanding tour-de-force in this horrifying true story about a somewhat unstable Hollywood actress who was continually pronounced insane by her mother for nothing more than open defiance. Miss Lange's performance is hardly short of incredible, and more than deserved the Oscar nomination it garnered.Graeme Clifford tells this shocking tale with the utmost assuredness, never hitting the audience overly hard (in fact perhaps not hard enough) nor attempting to sway their opinion. The screenplay from Eric Bergren, Nicholas Kazan and Christopher De Vore is even throughout, and always the writers are careful to avoid bias, allowing film goers to come to their own conclusions.Frances Farmer is never portrayed as a complete victim by Lange, and each facet of her personality is brought to life with equal passion in this unparalleled turn. In most worthy support is Kim Stanley (nominated for Best Supporting Actress) whose performance as Frances' self-serving, domineering mother is frighteningly efficient and convincing. Alongside her is Bart Burns as Mr. Farmer, and Sam Shepherd as a young admirer who takes the wayward girl under his wing for a time. John Barry has provided a typically melodic score."Frances" is certainly a movie that will disturb those who believe that insanity is more an illness than something a person can be driven to. This is truly a very discomforting look at how the human spirit can be totally crushed by tragic, though changeable, circumstances. An original story like this carries enough weight on its own to impart much dramatic power. Coupled with Jessica Lange's triumphant performance (she literally owns this film), this is doubly so.Monday, June 12, 1995 - Video