Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True life mystery: Intrigues, horrifies, and inspires, May 22, 1999
By A Customer
If you're a Jessica Lange fan, you might have seen the film FRANCES. If you're a Nirvana fan, you may remember Kurt Cobain's immortal words, "I miss the comfort of being sad" from the song FRANCES FARMER WILL HAVE HER REVENGE ON SEATTLE. The mystery, the influence, the legacy, and the haunting of Frances Farmer continues to reach beyond what she may have dreamed possible...and what others, years before, had hoped was not possible.In the mid to late 70s, William Arnold, a reporter for a Seattle newspaper stumbled into a movie house, where a classic film was showing. He was so taken by a particular actress, that he HAD to know why he had never seemed to have heard of her beforehand. A new fan chasing a goddess, Arnold soon discovered that the actress, Frances Farmer (ironically a Seattle native), had been one of the most popular and outspoken actresses in the world. And in the years before and leading up to her death in 1970, had been subject to a very troubled, yet absolutely mysterious set of circumstances. Most notably was a series of committments to mental institutions at the very height of Frances' career. Denouncing the fury of the Communist witch hunters and the plastiscene face of Hollywood, Frances Farmer was unlike any performer the world had seen before. It seemed that any statement she made, or trip she took, or part she refused was the "wrong" one in the eyes of the more conservative masses and for this, she was believed to have slipped into mental illness. One of many questions Mr. Arnold needed to answer was WAS Frances Farmer insane? Was she the target of a conspiracy? Would a conspiracy even be necessary to "silence her"? If there was anything wrong with her in later years, was it the result of the "treatments"? What IS insanity? And how could such a puzzling set of events happen to one of the biggest stars of the day in without the world seeming to notice...or care. For three years, Mr. Arnold retraced Frances' steps around the world, from her modest beginnings in Seattle to a trip to Russia (which would be a prime catalyst for many events) to Hollywood, her stay in sanitariums and beyond, piecing together a life passionately led, then violently interrupted. This is "Frances Farmer:SHADOWLAND", a chilling, true story of one man's present-day quest for answers from an era that didn't allow questions. You'll be amazed at Arnold's honest, fairly objective reporting. You'll feel as if you are on a very involved journey with him, of dire importance to uncover the truth and claim justice for Frances. Arnold seems to ask all the the questions any of us might. And he allows you to come to your own conclusion with the information he unravels, a steady stream of surprises. You too will be inspired go chasing after a goddess, but along the way you, too, may find that what mattered most was that she was human. Sometimes people forget that, when you're shining in the bright lights of Hollywood. One of the best reads I've ever had.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Riveting--until you find out it's fiction, December 16, 2005
"Shadowland" is the book that seems to have introduced most people to the story of Frances Farmer. It is a riveting, disturbing and visceral read--until you find out that it is in large part "fictionalized," as its author admitted himself in the copyright infringement case he brought against the producers of the feature film "Frances," which used his book as source material (despite the producers' denials). "Shadowland" is so rife with factual errors and outright fabrications (including the lobotomy, which never happened to the real Frances) that it would be comical if it weren't such an insult to the memory of this valiant woman who struggled so hard to regain her emotional equilibrium. The reviews below which claim "Shadowland" is thoroughly factual are simply wrong--the list of outright factual errors in "Shadowland" is truly mind-boggling, starting, for example, with her birthyear which Arnold incorrectly states as 1914 (Frances was born in 1913). Unfortunately, Frances' ghost-written autobiography "Will There Really Be A Morning", despite the well-intentioned review below, is also filled with errors and fabrications, which its author Jean Ratcliffe was at least honorable enough to admit she had sensationalized in order to facilitate a movie sale. The best biography of Frances available is the self-published one by her sister Edith Farmer Elliot, entitled "Look Back in Love." For an in-depth look at the many errors and "fictionalizations" in "Shadowland," use a search engine and search for the web article "Shedding Light on Shadowland." The truth about this incredible woman deserves to be known.
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A search for the real truth behind a forgotten actress., September 7, 1999
By A Customer
Around the state of Washington, and practically everywhere else, Frances Farmer seemed to a person practically no one was willing to discuss, or so author William Arnold claims. But why? Whatever happened to this radiant screen beauty who had once been teamed with talents such as Cary Grant and Tyrone Power? Why had so many claimed that she had suddenly "gone crazy" with no apparent explaination, and why did she suddenly seem to just disappear? In "Shadowland",William Arnold tries to unravel the tragic and poignant mystery behind the life and death of motion picture star Frances Farmer. Beginning with her beautifully written essay about an etremely conroversial subject, the death of God, Frances Farmer became no stranger to unwanted trouble. Furthermore, it seemed that every attempt made to free herself- failed. Lilian V. Farmer, a clinging, demanding and stern woman in devout oppostion to Communism, became enraged when she found that her impressionable sixteen year old daughter had won an all expense paid trip to Russia for her beautifully written and poignant essay. To the passionet and level-headed Frances, it was the opportunity to do what she'd always wanted- to travel through another country and study the beautiful artwork and the elaborate theatrical performances. To her mother, it was raging paranoia. "Shadowland" is William Arnold's account of what he discovered in his search for the real truth behind this incredibly complicated story. He explores the the question of the truth behind the tell-all autobiography released after her death. Why was it that she claimed she could not recall whole years of her life, and just how horrific were the conditions in the hospitals she was confined to? Though this book is primarily about motion pictures and theater, it is unique in that it is also a detailed study in the the attitudes and stereotypes that have accompanied mental illness and a shocking look into past treatments and diagnoses (or mis-diagnoses as the case may be). I was glad to have read this book merely because of the author's interest in a seemingly forgotten subject, and I would strongly recomend the autobiographical book, "Will There Really Be A Morning?" By Frances Farmer. Read them both and compare!
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