Fearless Frank (1969)

Waste of time

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This was an amazing find for me and my girlfriend. We were watching late night television and were enthralled by this comic gem from the great director Philip Kaufman starring the young Jon Voight before he did "Midnight Cowboy", etc. This film was made before the television series "Batman", etc. and has some brilliant comic book conceits that have been copied in the Batman films, etc. After Frank is brought back to life by the good doctor, there's a wonderful scene which could have been the inspiration for Geoffrey Rush's character in "The King's Speech". The film stars a who's who from Chicago's Second City and is full of humor and energy. The acting and the directing are spot on for a little independent film and it foreshadowed Kaufman's talents for his later films like "the Right Stuff" and, in some ways, "The Unbearable lightness of Being". Hope it plays again soon. Does anyone know how to get a hold of a DVD of this film? We would love to get a copy.

Fearless Frank is a genuinely odd early work by Philip Kaufman, featuring an early performance by Jon Voight as a flawed superhero. It attempts to recreate the feel and atmosphere of a comic book, particularly in its first half. Ultimately, it is a mixed bag that will have difficulty appealing either to children or to fans of experimental film.If you watch only the first half hour, Fearless Frank appears to be intended as a children's film. The characters seem straight out of a Dick Tracy comic, complete with bizarrely disfigured criminals. There is a definite camp element to this section of the film, with comic narration provided by a mysterious, and melodramatic, on screen narrator with a typewriter. Similarly, a scientist's patented evil detector gives the proceedings the feel of a sixties children's matinée. Only the plot line, which revolves around a young farm boy resurrected from the dead to become a superhero suggests anythingHowever, the film gets increasingly odd as it goes along. A clone of the hero is introduced, and the plot shifts from a straight superhero story to one of a character corrupted by success. From here the film becomes increasingly surreal and inaccessible. In the end, it becomes more of a film for Kaufman completists than a film one would watch for enjoyment.

and it's deep if you want it to be. john voight is great in the dual role of frank and false frank. the writing/narration is funny too. i saw this on late night tv in the early 70's. i wish it would be released on dvd.

This movie was a breath of fresh air after watching too many formulaic Hollywood clones. Campy, clever and novel this gave me a new appreciation for Jon Voight. It was decidedly low budget, like a film school project but the director worked around this in humorous ways. Some cliche villains made this like reading a children's story, but with a wicked grin and a wink. It reminded me of performance art my college roommate used to do that kept us up laughing until all hours of the night. This movie single-handedly convinced me not to cancel my subscription to Showtime, because I never would have watched it if it wasn't coming on at the same time I was channel surfing, but I'm so glad I caught it and would recommend it to anyone who is sick of seeing the same soulless big-budget movie over and over with different titles.