The true ‘Frances’

Press, 31 March 1983, Page 10

The true ‘Frances’

“Frances,” the story of the American film star who suffered much abuse and degradation during her life, has aroused many questions about the accuracy of the movie’s portrayal of her life. In the following article, Graeme Clifford, the director of “Frances,” tries to set some of these matters straight:

At least two years of thorough research went into the development of the “Frances” screenplay. Great pains were taken to be accurate, honest and to treat this extraordinary life story with as much integrity as possible. Because of wrongful assumptions made on the part of some reviewers in the United States and England, I feel it necessary to add the following information to the existing notes. 1. Harry York is not a fictional character. His name is Stuart Jacobsen. He is alive and well and resides today in Los Angeles, Cali- . <■' A 'V

fomia. He provided much previously undisclosed information about Frances Farmer’s life and remained in contact with her until her death. He receives a credit on the film as script consultant. 2. “Will there really be a Morning” is not an authentic autobiography and was not written by Frances Farmer. It has nothing whatever to do with this movie. It was written by Jean Ratcliffe who, with inspired humility, dedicated it to herself.

3. Another major source of screenplay material was an authentic autobiography being co-written with Frances by Lois Kibbee at the time of Frances’ death. This work, although never completed, was purchased by Brooksfilm for use in the movie. Lois Kibbee also gets credit as script consultant on the picture. 4. There will always be debate about whether Frances was actually lobo-

tomised or not. Even the two most widely read books differ on this point. I was finally able to contact two people who were present when Frances was lobotomised and their totally separate and individual accounts convinced me that this brutal and experimental procedure was used on Frances (as well as on thousands of other unsuspecting guinea pigs). 5. The trans-orbital lobotomy doctor portrayed in the picture was modelled on a Dr Walter Freeman who visited Steilacoom shortly before Frances’ sudden release. He was touring the United States advocating acceptance and the increasing wide usage of his “icepick technique” (his words) as a means of permanently sedating troublesome individuals. Much of his dialogue in the picture has been taken from first person accounts of his demonstrations, and his seemingly outrageous behaviour has, in fact, been toned down in an effort to make him more believable to audiences who have not had the benefit of our research. 6. The visual representation of conditions inside Steilacoom were modelled directly on photographs published in “Life” magazine in the 19405. Once again, in fact, I have toned down the harshness of these conditions in an effort to retain credibility with an uninformed audience. 7. In the opening scenes of the picture, Harry York is seen with a politician named Kaminski. Kaminski is modelled on a man named Marion Zioncheck whom Stuart Jacobsen was working for when he met Frances Farmer.

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