Fearless Frank | |
---|---|
Directed by | Philip Kaufman |
Written by | Philip Kaufman |
Produced by | Philip Kaufman |
Starring | Jon Voight Monique van Vooren Severn Darden Lois Darling Lou Gilbert |
Cinematography | Bill Butler |
Edited by | Luke Bennett Aram Boyajian |
Music by | Meyer Kupferman |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Trans American Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Fearless Frank is a 1967 American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Philip Kaufman. It is notable as the film debut of Jon Voight. Voight plays a murdered drifter who gets reanimated and turned into a superhero by a scientist (Severn Darden). Other notable cast members include Nelson Algren as a mobster named Needles, and Ken Nordine as the narrator, credited as "The Stranger." [1] [2]
Frank is an unsophisticated country boy who journeys to Chicago to find his fortune. Upon arrival he crosses the path of Plethora, who is on the run from a gangster known only as The Boss. The Boss's henchmen arrive, take Plethora and shoot Frank dead.
His body is discovered by The Good Doctor and his servant Alfred. Claude uses his invention to create what he believes will be a "brave new man", resurrecting Frank. Claude trains Frank to become an educated and benevolent citizen, before revealing to his pupil that the latter has supernatural powers. Frank then begins his career as a crime-fighter, having many adventures and misadventures along the way.
Philip Kaufman saw Jon Voight in an off-Broadway adaption of A View from a Bridge . Kaufman soon cast Voight in the film, which was shot circa 1965. [3]
Jonathan Vincent Voight is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and four Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2019, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Films in which Voight has appeared have grossed more than $5.2 billion worldwide.
The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American independent drama film noir directed by Otto Preminger, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren. Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang and Darren McGavin, it recounts the story of a drug addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. Although the addictive drug is never identified in the film, according to the American Film Institute "most contemporary and modern sources assume that it is heroin", although in Algren's book it is morphine. The film's initial release was controversial for its treatment of the then-taboo subject of drug addiction.
Nelson Algren was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name.
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Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning nearly five decades. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award along with nominations for an Academy Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has been described as a "maverick" and an "iconoclast," notable for his versatility and independence, often directing eclectic and controversial films. He is considered an "auteur" whose films have always expressed his personal vision. Kaufman's works have included genres such as realism, horror, fantasy, erotica, western, and crime.
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