Frankie's House (TV 1992)

In 1964 in Laos, young Tim Page discovers his vocation as a photojournalist and is given a job, a camera, and a trip to Vietnam. There, he learns the ropes, learns about the war first in ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Fisk

Writers:

Andy Armitage, Matt Ford,

Stars:

Iain Glen, Kevin Dillon, Steven Vidler

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Iain Glen	...	Tim Page
Kevin Dillon	...	Sean Flynn
Steven Vidler	...	Steve Cotler
Alan David Lee	...	Martin Stuart-Fox
Stephen Dillane	...	Antony Strickland
Alexandra Fowler	...	Kate Richards
Kaline Carr	...	Danielle Charasse (as Caroline Carr)
Todd Boyce	...	John Steinbeck IV
Nicholas Hammond	...	Major Frey
Kay Tong Lim	...	Frankie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marilyn Allen	...	Mrs. Page
David Arnett	...	An Khe Journo I
Steve Bastoni	...	GI Jarvis
Don Battee	...	Che Lai Marine Sergeant (as Donald Battee)
Betty Bobbitt	...	Surgeon

Storyline

In 1964 in Laos, young Tim Page discovers his vocation as a photojournalist and is given a job, a camera, and a trip to Vietnam. There, he learns the ropes, learns about the war first in Saigon, and then "in country" on patrol with troops. He and his colleagues, including the sons of Errol Flynn and John Steinbeck, capture the war in pictures, recover from their wounds, swap stories, battle censorship, and support each other between the explosions at the brothel run by Tranh Ki: "Frankie's House".

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Plot Keywords:

saigon | brothel | laos | vietnam | execution | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Australia UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 May 1992 (UK)

Also Known As:

Frankien huoratalo

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

A&E Television Networks, Anglia Films, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

185 min 60 min (4 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Fantastic account

This movie is a fantastic account of Tim Page's experience of Vietnam. Although the common belief is that "the media made the US lose the war in Vietnam", we see that most journalists were sitting around in 5-star hotels attending press conferences held by the Army. The only truly subversive reporters were the war photographers like Page who went to the frontlines and sent back images that conflicted with the version of the Pentagon spinmasters... and a picture is hard to refute.

Page himself was a casualty of the war: he was injured multiple times, lost part of his brain, and became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Frankie's house is a brothel where Page and his colleagues lived; they lived in the fast lane and it caught up with them fast. Most of Page's colleagues died in the war... somewhere along the way he won award after award and many of the most memorable photos of the war were in fact shot by Page.

A must see film full of interesting characters... It was later learnt that Flynn, his best friend, also a photographer and son of the famous actor Errol Flynn, who disappeared in the film was in fact ambushed and executed in the jungle.

I fear though that the profession of fearless war photographer is dead... most journalists just phone it in now. After seeing Frankie's House you understand why...