Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983)

An Exercise In Nonsense

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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

Susan Blakely shines in this 1983 made for television production about Frances Farmer based on her auto biography.I watched this movie a couple of nights ago and I was not all that impressed.I have seen "Frances" with Jessica Lange and that movie I rate about the same as this one.The best part of this movie is the cast.Susan Blakely was amazing.Lee Grant and Royal Dano as the parents were excellent too.I have decided that the reason that I am not too crazy about the two versions of the Frances Farmer story is because the subject matter is downright depressing.Excellent acting but way too depressing as a story.I have this movie.

I saw this excellent made for TV film when it debuted on CBS in 1983. However, I have not seen it since! It was never (to my knowledge) re-aired on CBS and I have never seen it played on any cable stations (Lifetime, TBS, TNT, etc.) I wish it would be released on DVD or even played on TV instead of sitting on a shelf somewhere. I found this version of Frances Farmers' story to be more detailed, yet less compelling, than the feature film "Frances" but, still good. I read the book "Will There Really Be a Morning?" as well as the book "Shadowlands" I've read all I can find about the life of Frances Framer and I feel this film presented the facts of the story quite well. I remember Susan Blakley's performance was remarkable. I hope to see it again one day or better yet own it!

This was a good movie, but the portrayal of Frances Farmer by Actress Jessica Lange was absolutely worthy of an award. That version of her life is truly a film every aspiring actor should see. "Frances" is one of the most powerful movies I have seen and I highly recommend it.

Trying to reflect an image of a persons life, nothing more or less then it was, is very difficult. Especially when the particular person has lived an extraordinary life. But, 'Will There be Really a Morning' is an exceptional example of how an autobiography should be filmed. The story is simple. A young teenage girl (Frances Farmer, played by Susan Blakely), who grew up in Seattle, turned out to be a very talented actress. She moved to Hollywood (1936), despite the disapproval of her parents, who characterized the glamorous life as Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll, which they rejected strongly. Frances was an instant success, she had the right look, the right talk, and the right walk. All the ingredients for living the American dream. But, she paid a prize for that. Not used to the glamour and glitter, and not able to control her life, she became an addict. Eventually, she was sent into a clinic where she got treatments to recover from her addicts and breakdowns (1942). After 11 years she was declared competent, and healthy. She took care of her parents, and after their death she felt that she was finally ready for her own life. Compliments to the cast, who enabled the viewer to experience the tremendous emotional struggles of Frances almost physically. Watching her life in two hours is like a waterfall of emotions pounding into your head, leaving the viewer wondering when she will explode and becomes really psycho, when everybody around her considers her for 11 years wrongly as incompetent, while she knows she's not. As times goes by, the viewers' amazement changes, via anger, into admiration for the way Frances picks up her normal life again. She starts all over again, she has nothing. But, she knows who she is, she has seen the ultimate limit of herself, and with that knowledge you can't get a better start. This movie is not spoiled with the characteristic 'over-acting' (like in 99% of the American movies), and is not waiting for sentimental sympathy of the viewer. Susan Blakely showed us what acting is all about. It's just what it is, nothing more, and nothing less. Will There be Really a Morning can be considered as one of the best films (in its own genre). All the starting actors should be urged to watch this movie, learning what acting really means.