10
Thursday, March 10, 19S3
Daily Nebresken
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Entertainment
.
By Mike Frost
i n n n
In a way, it's appropriate that the
movie's tide is summed up m one word,
"Frances," because so much of its strength
can be summed up in one word as well:
Jessica.
"Frances" is the moving film bio
graphy (although sometimes the term
"biography" is an inappropriate one) of
actress Frances Farmer. Most moviegoers
have never heard of Farmer, because, just
as her career was gearing up, she suffered
a series of nervous breakdowns, landing
herself in a number of mental institutions
for the next decade or so.
Farmer wrote an autobiography before
she died in 1970 entitled Will There Really
liver lie a Morning. However, the book was
virtually ignored for more than 10 years.
Now, in typical overkill fashion,
Hollywood has jumped on a Frances
Farmer bandwagon. First, a TV movie was
prepared (a predictably limp effort, encum
bered by the usual limitations imposed on
all TV productions) and now a major
motion picture, starring budding actress
Jessica Lange.
The casting of Lange as Frances Farmer
was one of sheer brilliance. Someone with
much foresight must have been able to spot
Lange's potential. Surely her screen work
up to now has been unexceptional 3t best.
(This movie was made before "Tooisie," in
which Lange has a pivotal, yet ultimately
undemanding, role). However, Lange meets
and surpasses even the most optimistic
expectation in "Fiances."
Much ot this can be attributed to the
kinship between actresses Frances Farmer
and Jessica Lange. Besides the physical
similarities (usually the sole criterion for
casting in 3 screen biography), both Lange
and Farmer achieved their initial burst
of success in their late 20s. Both faced
difficulties with studio executives who
didn't take their talents seriously. Both
hoped to enter the alluring world of intel
lectual art (Farmer through an affair with
playwright Clifford Odets, Lange through
a well-publicized liaison with Mikhail
Baryshnyikov), and both ultimately
received the same abrupt heave-ho from
their lovers. Both were left with lifelong
tokens of their affairs - Lange with a
child, Farmer with the mental scars that
would eventually lead to her incarceration
in a host of mental institutions.
There is a major difference between
the two, however. Jessica survived, Frances
did not. This dissimilarity seems to be the
catalyst for Lange's brilliant portrayal. The
(Gynmshoe emarieinices oaimi
In shape of
By Pat Cbrk
nice olace to die
The G. Cue: I made my move on the
GQ Guy, but he dissolved into the rock
abilly nirvana at the Morell Majority
meeting. 1 nabbed instead a guy named
Mustafbena Miztaykh, the haze-voiced
nightfly at KZEN-FM. Got him snugly
around the ankle, with the other half
of the cuffs clamped firmly to my wrist.
It was the kind of a snare only one guy
in a million makes. It was a shame to
take this opportunity away from 999,999
other guys.
, v '"'"'J -
14 X. Wfe-
...
1 could tell right away that the do-wa
diddlers on the dance floor had taken a
dislike to the slapstick waltz Miztaykh
and I made of standing up. The one they
call Brother Lou pointed a Finger at us
and urged on the bedlam brotherhood,
crooning, "If you think you'd like to
shake and push, go ahead." Miztaykh
and I made silent and hasty confederation
in an effort to put the Showcase behind
us. Miztaykh scrambled to his feet First
and lunged in the general direction of the
door. I followed in a St. Vitus shuffle on
my hands and knees.
Two feet not belonging to either of us
blocked the path. They were the kind of
feet that let you see the anger smoldering
behind hammer toes, the kind of feet
that my unguarded face wished were
miles away.
"You ingrate!" came the voice. I
recognized it as the voice of the dame
I encountered in the john at O'Rourke's.
"I pay your way in and then you disap
pear," she said, punctuating her tirade
with a viper swipe at my shoulder with
her unyielding boot. "You men are all
alike," she screamed, glaring at Miztaykh
with acupuncture eyes. "I hope you'll
be very happy together."
Miztaykh voiced a rescue lie. "Couldn't
be helped, ma'am," he said, with the kind
of voice you could p ur over pancakes.
"Police business." He flashed what he
later revealed to me was a Waverly public
library card. "Don't worry, he will be
prosecuted to the fuTlest extent of the
law." He leaned closer to the dame's
face, as though to exchange a confidence.
"We've been looking for this one for
years."
The dame let us through, but not
without claiming a generous pound of my
flesh with a final swift kick. It was the
kind of a kick that made the Gumshoe
family line a tortured thought for the
distant future.
I could hear Mona Vermaimi scream
ing white noise about calling the cops and
'Miztaykh saying something about fire
code violations that must have ended
the tirade, but mostly I could hear and
see and fell pain, pure pain; native bearers
carrying clay pots full of pain, pain with
a good beat that was easy to dance to,
pain in the shape of a nice place to curl
up and die.
I knew I was still alive because I had
to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to
open my eyes, but I could hear a voice
drip liquid welcome in through all of
the openings on my Play-Doh face:
"... and that was The Beatles on the
KZEN weekend Pagoda Party and next
up we will be opening a few Doors ..."
The voice stopped, but I had heard
enough. I looked up through rheumy
eyes at Miztaykh 's face. It was the kind
of a face that made you think of Groucho
Marx posing as Mahatma Gandhi.
"Miztaykh "1 gargled.
"That's an understatement," he said
calmly.
"Izzisa studio?" I said, in mastery of
the obvious.
"Where else would we be?" he said.
Continued on Page 1 1
actress seems to totally empathize with
Frances" plight. The emotions we see in
this picture are real. Lange docs what so
few thespians are able to do: leave the
realm of playing a character and actually
become that character.
Nothing can ever come close to Lange's
performance, although sometimes it seems
as if no one i's trying to.
Kim Stanley, as Farmer's domineering
mother, seems to totter between Faye
Dunaway's portrayal of Joan Crawford
and Viki Lawrence's Mama. While Lange
portrays a real person, Stanley seems intent
on making Mrs. Farmer nothing more than
a character in a screenplay, 3iid her per
formance suffers for it.
Sam Sheppard's portrayal of Harry
York is adequate, although an even
stronger actor could not justify this charac
ter's existence. York is a totally fictional
character, created to serve as both a quasi
narrator and as a reference point for
Farmer's mental deterioration. lie is the
happiness and sanity she can always have,
yet will always reject.
While that might be an important func
tion, it lends a ring of untruth to an
otherwise credible biography. Since York
is pivotal in so many scenes, he becomes
unable to tell what is truth and what is
fiction. Farmer's real story was dramatic
enough - the fictionalization of it is
unnecessary.
aonge
Except for this flaw (it is a serious one,
to be sure), the script is a moving piece
of screenwriting. Writers Eric Bergren,
Christopher DeVore and Nicholas Kazan
do a moving job of depicting Frances'
mental deterioration, and the subsequent
sadistic treatment she received. More than
anything else, they relate the absolute
horror of seeing a young, intelligent
woman, because of what probably is only
a slight mental disorder, first abused and
then totally discarded by society. The
final scene where a "cured" Farmer
blankly stumbles off toward an uncertain
future, is one of the most moving
sequences in the film.
The script is aided by the careful
direction of Graeme Clifford. Through the
effective use of water in many of the
crucial scenes, Clifford gives the whole
production an almost impressionistic air.
Similarly, the "snake pit" sequences (the
bowels of mental institutions) arc both
moving and horrific, certainly more ter
rifying than the most gory horror film
could be.
Rumor has it that "Frances" was
rushed into release in order to be included
in this year's Academy nominations. And
like the title, the Academy nominations
can only include one name: Jessica. "Fran
ces" is truly Jessica Lange's picture. Lange
is a brilliant actress. "Frances," then, is a
brilliant film.
V, lWi Wis
The following is a list of local
happenings for the coming weekend,
today through Sunday:
BARS
Aku Tiki Lounge, 5200 O St. - All
Spice tonight through Saturday, $150
cover.
Chesterfield, Bottomsley & Potts, 245
N. 13th St. - North Wynd Friday and
Saturday, no cover.
Drumstick, 547 N. 48th St. - Pinky
Black and the Excessives tonight S2
cover. The Staff Friday and Saturday,
$2 cover.
Green Frog, 1010 P St. - Ecstasy,
tonight through Saturday, no cover.
Larry's Showcase, 1316 N. St. - Bone
and the Boilers tonight, $1.50 cover.
The Morells Friday and Saturday, $4
cover.
Little Bo's West, 2630 Cornhusker
Highway - Wondersea tonight through
Saturday, no cover.
Judges, 2630 Cornhusker Highway
Mainstreet tonight through Saturday, $2
cover.
Living Room Lounge, 1501 Cedar
Park Road - Carol Howard Friday and
Saturday, no cover.
McGuffey's, 1042 P St. - Jazz Society
tonight, no cover. Paul Burner Friday and
Saturday, $1 cover.
Pla-Mor Ballroom, 6600 W. O St. -Dennis
Wesely Saturday. Dean Hansen,
Sunday.
Rivera's, 1920 W. O St. - Fire and
Ice Friday and Saturday.no cover.
Sidetrack, 7th and P streets - Joyce
Durand, tonight through Saturday, no
cover.
Sweep Left, 815 O St. - Pud Brothers
Friday and Saturday, $2 cover.
Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St. - The Back
beats tonight, $1 cover. The Legendary
Blues Band Friday and Saturday, $450
cover.
MISCELLANEOUS
Kimball Recital Hall, UNL campus -Symphonic
Band, tonight at 8 p.m. John
Browning, piano, Friday at 8 p.m. The
University Orchestra Sunday at 3 pjn.
Howell Theatre, UNL campus - "The
Skin of Our Teeth" tonight through
Saturday, 8 p.m.
THEATERS
Cinema 1 and 2, 13th and P streets -"Frances"
- 7 and 9:30 pjn.; "Video
drome" - 7:45 and 9 :45 pjn.
Cooper, 54th and O streets - "Gandhi"
8 p.m.
Douglas 3, 1300 P St. - "Sophie's
Choice" - 5:40 and 8:30 pjn.; "The
Man From Snowy River" - 5:20, 7:20
and 9 20 pjn.; "The Verdict" - 5:10,
7:25 and 9:45 p.m.
East Park 3, 6100 O St. - "Treasure
of the Four Crowns" - 5:20, 7:20 and
9:20 p.m.; "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" -5:25,
7:35 and 9:45 pjn.; "Lovesick" -5:30,
7:30 and 9:30 pm.
Embassy, 1730 O St. - "Deep Throat"
10 a.m., 12:15, 2:30, 4:45,7,9:15 and
11:30 pjn., 1:15 a.m.; "The Devil in
Miss Jones" - 11 a.m., 1:15,3 30,5:45,
8, 10:15 pjn., 12:30 and 2:15 a.m.
Joyo, 6102 Havelock Ave. - "An
Officer and a Gentleman" - 7:30 pjn.
Plaza 4, 12th and P streets - "48
HRS." - 7:45 and 9:45 pjn.; "The Lords
of Discipline" - 7:30 and 9:30 pjn.;
"Treasure of the Four Crowns" - 7 and
9 pjn.; "A Boy and His Dog" - 7:15
and 9 :15 p.m.
" Sheldon Film Theatre - 12th and R
streets - Chinese Cinema: Films From
Taiwan - tonight thru Monday.
State, 1415 O St., - "The Sting II"
7:30 and "The Year of Living Danger
ously" 9:35 p.m.
Stuart, 13th and P streets - "Tootsie"
1,3:10,5:30,7:40 and 9:45 pjn.
