Frantic (1988)

In a hotel room in Paris, a doctor comes out of the shower and finds that his wife has disappeared. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue, espionage, gangsters, drugs and murder.

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach,

Stars:

Harrison Ford, Betty Buckley, Emmanuelle Seigner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harrison Ford	...	Dr. Richard Walker
Betty Buckley	...	Sondra Walker
Emmanuelle Seigner	...	Michelle
Djiby Soumare	...	Taxi Driver
Dominique Virton	...	Desk Clerk
Gérard Klein	...	Gaillard
Stéphane D'Audeville	...	Bellboy
Laurent Spielvogel	...	Hall Porter
Alain Doutey	...	Hall Porter
Jacques Ciron	...	Le Grand Hotel Manager
Roch Leibovici	...	Bellboy 2
Louise Vincent	...	Tourist
Patrice Melennec	...	Hotel Detective Le Grand Hotel
Ella Jaroszewicz	...	Restroom Attendant
Joëlle Lagneau	...	Florist

Storyline

A doctor and his wife go to Paris for a medical conference. While showering, his wife disappears. His lack of language, and the odd way she disappeared makes it nearly impossible for him to find any official help in his search as he enters the punk/drug culture to find out what has happened to her.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | police | shower | drugs | espionage | 

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Taglines:

They've taken his wife. Now he's taking action.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English French

Release Date:

26 February 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Búsqueda frenética

Filming Locations:

Lady Liberty Statue, Allée des Cygnes, Paris 16, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$17,637,950 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Mount Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Witold Sobocinski:  the Polish cinematographer makes a brief cameo in the early bar scene where Harrison Ford is asking about his wife (23rd minute). Sobocinski sits to the far right of the frame.

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Goofs

When the hotel manager grabs a telephone book to call the concierge at his gym, the phone book clearly has a break in the spine at exactly the page he needs, so that it flops open effortlessly.

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Quotes

Michelle: What kind of music do you like?
Richard Walker: What? Oldies, I like oldies.
Michelle: Oldies? Yeah, me too. You like this?
["I've seen this face before" by Grace Jones playing on the radio]
Richard Walker: This? This is not old.
Michelle: Well, three, four years.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits roll up.

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Connections

References The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

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Soundtracks

"The More I See You"
Performed by Chris Montez
Written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon
Courtesy of A&M Records

User Reviews

A great 80's film from one of the world's best directors

I highly recommend this film to this site members and visitors so that they can appreciate an excellent drama-thriller combination from director Roman Polanski. This film shows one of Harrison Ford's best, if not his best performance ever, and the introduction of Emmanuelle Seigner, whose character plays the most important role in the movie. Though the story takes place in a beautiful city, Polanski takes you to Paris' ordinary dark streets and alleys, and also gives us a realistic view of how good or dangerous people can be. Up to this day, I really don't know why this movie has not been that popular in the U.S. and even less why it didn't get nominated for any major awards when it was well done. Now that Polanski is popular again, I hope movie collectors take the chance to see why he is one of the greatest of all time.