Frances (film)

Frances
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Graeme Clifford
Written by	Eric Bergren Christopher De Vore Nicholas Kazan
Produced by	Jonathan Sanger
Starring	Jessica Lange Sam Shepard Kim Stanley
Cinematography	László Kovács
Edited by	John Wright
Music by	John Barry
Production companies	EMI Films Brooksfilms
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Associated Film Distribution
Release date	December 3, 1982 (1982-12-03)
Running time	140 minutes
Country	United States[1][2]
Language	English
Budget	$8 million[3]
Box office	$5 million

Frances is a 1982 American biographical tragedy film directed by Graeme Clifford and written by Eric Bergren, Christopher De Vore, and Nicholas Kazan. The film stars Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, a troubled actress during the 1930s whose career suffered as a result of her mental illness. It also features Kim Stanley, Sam Shepard, Bart Burns, Christopher Pennock, Jonathan Banks, and Jeffrey DeMunn in supporting roles. The film chronicles Farmer's life from her days as a high school student, her turbulent relationship with her emotionally abusive mother, her short lived film career in the 1930s, her institutionalization for alleged mental illness in the 1940s, her deinstitutionalization in the 1950s and her appearance on This Is Your Life.

Frances was released theatrically on December 3, 1982, by Universal Pictures. Lange's performance was unanimously praised and has been cited by many (including her) as her best performance. At the 55th Academy Awards, it received two nominations for Lange and Stanley as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively.