Saint Frances of Hollywood [Paperback]

Sally Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Her star rising as a Hollywood diva, Frances Farmer chooses to join the socialist Group Theatre in New York. This idealistic, raucous and non-conforming movie star, pursued by the government for her alleged communist connections, was finally incarcerated with the help of her mother at Steilacoom, a Seattle psychiatric hospital, where she was lobotomized and released as “cured” in 1949. Saint Frances of Hollywood has taken the biographical details of Frances Farmer’s life and transformed them into a mesmerizing and quintessential classical tragedy.

Cast of 4 women and 4 men.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sally Clark
Born in Vancouver, Sally Clark is a critically acclaimed playwright who has been dazzling audiences with her penchant for dark humour, ironic wit and sharp character portrayals. Her plays, typically presented in a series of short, vivid and fast-paced scenes, seamlessly combine comedic and tragic motifs to tell the stories of strong and adventurous women. She is also an accomplished painter, director and filmmaker.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Talonbooks; 1 edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889223661
• ISBN-13: 978-0889223660
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,298,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars What an Awful Play!, July 12, 2011

By 

Laura D "opera buff" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Saint Frances of Hollywood (Paperback)

I should have heeded the other reviewer's "caveat emptor" -- wondered if a play would be as interesting as the film (or the long-missed, never available made-for-television movie) but boy, was this play horrible. Why is it these junk authors who can't write for crap get their work published, their plays produced (and filmed)? Any metaphor or allegory was lost on me; just Francis sitting around yelling and swearing with a blank bleating cast supposed to be symbolizing the institutions, government, film industries and malevolent people who exploited and abused her, And the ending -- ! The whole work sounded like that of a precocious high school girl with just-developing writing talent trying herself out, but past the teenage sleaze language, this play is hopeless, especially with its Britishy Canadian spelling and slang, which is contemporary and unfathomable to 1940's United States. I don't think any author can really do that poor Francis Farmer's suffering life justice, but if this play is the rewritten revision at the behest of this author's critics kindly telling her "what was wrong with it," I'd hate to see the first draft.

This goes into the bin to be traded at the next used book swap in our neighborhood.

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT WHAT I EXPECTED, March 28, 2011

By 

JOSEPH STANICK - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Saint Frances of Hollywood (Paperback)

THIS BOOK WHICH I EXPECTED TO BE A BIOGRAPHY TURNED OUT TO BE SOME PLAY THAT WAS A TOTAL WASTE OF MY TIME. ALL I CAN SAY IS DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS BOOK. IT'S A SHAME THERE IS NOT A ZERO STAR RATING!