Frances (1982)

Frances: Directed by Graeme Clifford. With Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, Kim Stanley, Bart Burns. The story of Frances Farmer’s meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.

“u0026#39;Francesu0026#39; is a highly touching reconstruction of the life of fifties actress Frances Farmer, from Seattle. Jessica Lange did a miraculous job in playing Frances, with paranoia in her rolling eyes, which -I must admit- makes her look like a madwoman indeed. The movie shows how someone can be completely destroyed by misunderstandings, enlarged by a ridiculous amount of media attention. The most beautiful part is that, where Frances returns to Seattle, now a star. The people who used to scorn her, are now kissing her butt to gain her sympathy. She stands still in the middle of the hallway, and with all eyes on her she starts to scream they are hypocrites. After that, she is of course again considered crazy, like before. Even when she only wants to be left alone, she is haunted and harassed by those who feel called upon u0026#39;helping heru0026#39;. This, combined with a rather sensitive and unstable character, makes her paranoid and finally leads to her destruction.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI first heard about Frances Farmer through an interview with Kurt Cobain, who admired her courage and was experiencing the same as she had. Courtney got married in one of her dresses and even though their baby wasnu0026#39;t named after her but after a male Frances, they both thought of her later. Cobain also wrote a song about her, u0026#39;Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattleu0026#39;, which appeared on the second Nirvana studio album u0026#39;In Uterou0026#39;.”