What do you think?
Rate this book
Frances Farmer: The Life and Films of a Troubled Star
Previous biographies of American actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970) have downplayed her professional achievements to emphasize her turbulent personal life, including several police arrests and repeated confinements in a state mental hospital. By focusing upon her acting career, this book endeavors to restore her position as a significant Hollywood player of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. An analysis of her film, radio and television work is offered, as well as assessments of the three Frances Farmer biopics and the documentaries in which she is featured. Each of her 16 films receives a chapter-length discussion. A very lengthy biographical chapter is included.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
260 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 28, 2023
The Publisher Says: Previous biographies of American actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970) have downplayed her professional achievements to emphasize her turbulent personal life, including several police arrests and repeated confinements in a state mental hospital. By focusing upon her acting career, this book endeavors to restore her position as a significant Hollywood player of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. An analysis of her film, radio and television work is offered, as well as assessments of the three Frances Farmer biopics and the documentaries in which she is featured. Each of her 16 films receives a chapter-length discussion. A very lengthy biographical chapter is included.
My Review: Librarian and film fanboy Peter Shelley takes a new tack on explaining the waste that was the life of Frances Farmer: He gives a lot of background in a biographical essay, then analyzes quite thoroughly the actual work turned out by Frances Farmer in her short career. He goes on to bring us the details of the various post-mortem biopics made about her, with analysis of their merits aesthetic and factual. It's quite a lot of work, this, finding and screening and mulling over entertainments long unseen. Kudos for caring so much.
Because I certainly don't. This is amazingly dense stuff. Since I, a mere civilian, can't get most of these films, I have no context to put them in. I trust Mr. Shelley a little less with each sloppy mistake, like I do all authors. The one that came close to causing me to put the book down permanently came in the biographical essay, where Frances was was fobbed off with a car. A Plymouth Dusenberg.
This is a Duesenberg:
This is a Plymouth of the same era:
Google is your friend. Use it. Duesenbergs were huge, luxurious cars not made after 1936. Plymouths were cheapiemobiles sold to Aunt Mildred and Uncle Cyrus to get them from the farm to the church on Sunday. Mr. Shelley's Australian, it's true, but a quick check would've told him what was what. Why, even a car-phobic friend to whom I bleated disgruntledly said "you're kidding" when I mentioned this!
There were others much more minor that I caught; but I find that, when I catch one or two howlers like this, I wonder what howlers I'm too ignorant to catch, and trust the book I'm reading less and less. So why give it three stars? Why not simply consign it to the local cathedral's charity bin, as I do with books I detest and don't ever want to see again? Because of Farmer and her enduring mystique. She's famous if you know who she is, she's got that tragic queen of Hollywood thing, she's forgotten by all but the few who, in this day and age, seek out Jessica Lange's memorable portrayal of her from 1982 in the film "Frances". I batten on obscure grandeur. This book limns it for me in klieg lights. I like that enough to hold my nose and add a star to what I feel the book, solely on its merits, deserves.
My Review: Librarian and film fanboy Peter Shelley takes a new tack on explaining the waste that was the life of Frances Farmer: He gives a lot of background in a biographical essay, then analyzes quite thoroughly the actual work turned out by Frances Farmer in her short career. He goes on to bring us the details of the various post-mortem biopics made about her, with analysis of their merits aesthetic and factual. It's quite a lot of work, this, finding and screening and mulling over entertainments long unseen. Kudos for caring so much.
Because I certainly don't. This is amazingly dense stuff. Since I, a mere civilian, can't get most of these films, I have no context to put them in. I trust Mr. Shelley a little less with each sloppy mistake, like I do all authors. The one that came close to causing me to put the book down permanently came in the biographical essay, where Frances was was fobbed off with a car. A Plymouth Dusenberg.
This is a Duesenberg:
This is a Plymouth of the same era:
Google is your friend. Use it. Duesenbergs were huge, luxurious cars not made after 1936. Plymouths were cheapiemobiles sold to Aunt Mildred and Uncle Cyrus to get them from the farm to the church on Sunday. Mr. Shelley's Australian, it's true, but a quick check would've told him what was what. Why, even a car-phobic friend to whom I bleated disgruntledly said "you're kidding" when I mentioned this!
There were others much more minor that I caught; but I find that, when I catch one or two howlers like this, I wonder what howlers I'm too ignorant to catch, and trust the book I'm reading less and less. So why give it three stars? Why not simply consign it to the local cathedral's charity bin, as I do with books I detest and don't ever want to see again? Because of Farmer and her enduring mystique. She's famous if you know who she is, she's got that tragic queen of Hollywood thing, she's forgotten by all but the few who, in this day and age, seek out Jessica Lange's memorable portrayal of her from 1982 in the film "Frances". I batten on obscure grandeur. This book limns it for me in klieg lights. I like that enough to hold my nose and add a star to what I feel the book, solely on its merits, deserves.
March 29, 2016
This was an odd book. It wasn't written particularly well, but it did have a lot of interesting information and some good insight. More than anything, I was continually amazed at the lack of clear facts known about Frances Farmer and her life. Even now, most of it is speculation, conjecture, and puzzling together bits of her life to try and make a whole. I did like how Shelley seemed to have great empathy for Farmer, and went to great lengths to legitimize her role as a actress and star, and not just a footnote in the Hollywood scandal scene.
May 31, 2023
Three stars for trying.
I first came across Frances Farmer in her breakout film "Come and Get It," a 1936 film based on the Edna Ferber novel. It was on the late late show on WHBQ in the early 80s. I was astounded by the incredible job she did in conveying two very different people; a mother and daughter during Robber Baron days. She absolutely glowed as the daughter. As the mother, she put a spin on the world weary saloon hostess that Marlene Dietrich would come to be known for. As far as that goes, she probably gave Dietrich the inspiration.
There is a LOT of information here, but I was hoping for a little bit of a different take...because I already knew 90% of it. I did NOT know about her latter years, but to be honest, her latter years were almost as much of a mess as her collapse in the 40s. And it just wasn't that interesting.
What I DID want to know, and which this author states that he wants to write about, were the actual films, and what Frances contributed. He does give a lot of technical details, like cast lists and what other films her co-stars and directors were known for. I appreciate that dedication. But which films were considered good and which ones weren't? This is what I was curious about, because most of her work is not available on DVD or through classic film channels. They're not quite "lost," but they are rarely if ever shown.
I wanted to know more about Frances herself as well, and I don't get a sense of that at all. Rather, I get a lot of conflicting opinions from other biographers who have written about her, and which I have already read. I am not even sure what the author himself thinks about Frances as a person or an actor.
The pluses: There were a few photos I had never seen before. I also liked the information the author provided BEFORE she became known as a film star. This was interesting, and something I hadn't come across before. I liked the minutiae of her film details, which can also be found any number of other places, but it was nice to have it all in one place.
So in summary, this book is only for would be die-hard fans who are just beginning the journey of discovery about Frances. It's decent information. Just not written very well and not compelling.
I first came across Frances Farmer in her breakout film "Come and Get It," a 1936 film based on the Edna Ferber novel. It was on the late late show on WHBQ in the early 80s. I was astounded by the incredible job she did in conveying two very different people; a mother and daughter during Robber Baron days. She absolutely glowed as the daughter. As the mother, she put a spin on the world weary saloon hostess that Marlene Dietrich would come to be known for. As far as that goes, she probably gave Dietrich the inspiration.
There is a LOT of information here, but I was hoping for a little bit of a different take...because I already knew 90% of it. I did NOT know about her latter years, but to be honest, her latter years were almost as much of a mess as her collapse in the 40s. And it just wasn't that interesting.
What I DID want to know, and which this author states that he wants to write about, were the actual films, and what Frances contributed. He does give a lot of technical details, like cast lists and what other films her co-stars and directors were known for. I appreciate that dedication. But which films were considered good and which ones weren't? This is what I was curious about, because most of her work is not available on DVD or through classic film channels. They're not quite "lost," but they are rarely if ever shown.
I wanted to know more about Frances herself as well, and I don't get a sense of that at all. Rather, I get a lot of conflicting opinions from other biographers who have written about her, and which I have already read. I am not even sure what the author himself thinks about Frances as a person or an actor.
The pluses: There were a few photos I had never seen before. I also liked the information the author provided BEFORE she became known as a film star. This was interesting, and something I hadn't come across before. I liked the minutiae of her film details, which can also be found any number of other places, but it was nice to have it all in one place.
So in summary, this book is only for would be die-hard fans who are just beginning the journey of discovery about Frances. It's decent information. Just not written very well and not compelling.
August 21, 2021
This book was frustrating. It gives about 30 pages of back story on her life. Then, the author analyzes her movies. I struggled to get through this book.
June 4, 2016
Brains, beauty, talent and attitude: Frances Farmer had, and lost, it all. In contrast to sensationalist tone of early biographies (including her own disputed memoir), this is essentially a reference guide. The first third of the text is a biographical essay, with author Peter Shelley pointing out the many inconsistencies in previous accounts of Farmer's life - most notably the alleged lobotomy, which may never have happened. Nonetheless, her mistreatment was very real, and is still shocking. Tragic as these events were, it is somewhat miraculous that she managed to make even a partial comeback, which says a lot for her strength of character. The remainder of the book covers all her film and television work in detail. Sadly, Farmer's outspoken, rebellious personality made her a Hollywood outcast, and she never really got the opportunities she deserved.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews