this picture watched for first time in 1988 on TV, now on DVD in plenty way this biography of Francis Farmer starring Jessica Lange in great performance together with veteran Kim Stanley is really good and well done for the director and producers who listen many sources to tell the history But, have contradictions in the movie mainly about if really Francis Farmer was lobotomized...so have doubt about it among another events dramatized in this picture...maybe the truth never came out because Francis Farmer and your mother already died!!! but stay the picture as one source how Francis Farmer could be in real life!!Hope watch some documentary to compare both versions will be better to have a conclusion!

I'll stand by my original review, as I walked out of a theater in NYC when I was 21-years old, after watching this film in 1982. I recall as if yesterday, my sister asked, "What did you think?" I was actually angry..since I'd practically memorized the books,"Shadowlands" as well as Frances Farmer's own 'autobiography' (which has since been largely-credited to have been written by her partner, Jean Ratcliffe). I replied, "Frances Farmer spent her whole career, fighting against the phoniness of Hollywood--and this film is an insult to her memory-- since hardly ANY of this ever happened!" Jessica Lange doubtlessly gives a stunning performance. But WHY ALL THE LIES? The completely made-up character played by Sam Shepard, "Harry York," was created out of whole-cloth. The whole POINT of Frances Farmer's "real life" was that she had no one on her side! Why did they add this "romantic interest," who keeps popping up, out of nowhere, whenever Frances needs a friend? It's ludicrous and completely taints this essentially false film. As if the Frances Farmer story, itself, wasn't dramatic enough?! The script, in fact, is remarkably poor (one of the credited writers is the son of Elia Kazan, too). They add all these false notes that never happened--yet they leave out actual moments from Farmer's life (such as how she picked up an inkwell and threw it at the judge of her trial) which WOULD have added drama to the story. There are some glaringly shoddy performances, too (a completely-overacted performance by the guy who plays the fictionalized version of Frances' actual husband, Leif Ericson, "Dick Steele"--he's allowed to sail straight over the top, making a meal out of the scenery in his only real scene). And, sorry, but I think Kim Stanley's ham-bone performance as Mother Lillian is pretty false, too (though, full-disclosure: I don't really like her in anything). The direction by first-time director, Australian Graeme Clifford, is sloppy and strikes false notes at nearly every turn. But back to Jessica Lange: In certain shots, it is uncanny how she physically resembles Frances Farmer. She's often said that she felt as if Farmer actually "inhabited" her while making this film. I only wish she'd had the clout when making this film to rail against bad writing like Frances Farmer did, against the writers of a third-rate scripts like this...to get the quality bio-pic Farmer deserves.

This biopic of Frances Farmer traces her life from outspoken teen to Hollywood starlet, followed by long periods of mental illness and barbaric treatment in institutions.Jessica Lange is magnificent as Frances; her performance is riveting and heartbreaking. Sam Shepard co-stars as her lover and Kim Stanley is excellent as her mother.It is never clearly established whether Frances was really mentally ill or just a very high-strung and hard-to-handle alcoholic. The conditions she faced in the asylum were brutal and these scenes are very unpleasant.The whole film is a treat on one hand, as the acting is flawless. The story, however, is unceasingly grim, depressing and exhausting and I won't watch it again.

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.