Frank And Ava
The Movie
Synopsis
Romantic
Frank & Ava
Time: 100 minutes
Language: English
Country: United States and Italy
Company: 8th House Entertainment
Distributor: Gravitas Ventures (North America)
The steel line of sex and tension is palpable throughout Frank and Ava, the harrowing and heart-stirring Hollywood romance between Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.
It’s 1949 and Sinatra, the former king of swoon who once enchanted millions of “bobby soxers”, is at the downturn of his career as the once golden “Voice” is now compromised by a hemorrhage to his vocal cords while his reputation is lambasted by the press who parade his alleged Mafia connections, liberal sympathies, and extramarital affairs. In the midst of his despair, he falls hard and fast for Gardner, MGM’s sultry starlet with whom he shares proclivities for passion, whiskey, obstinace, and sexual infidelities. Equal to his desire to maintain the interest of the mercurial Gardner, is his almost sacred infatuation aimed at attaining the role of Private Angelo Maggio in Columbia Picture’s From Here to Eternity, the sole ray of hope in salvaging his career. An acknowledged long shot due to his questionable acting chops and heretofore box office bombs, Sinatra actively campaigns for the role while divorcing his wife, Nancy, and entering a sexually charged, but suspicion-filled marriage with Gardner that is marked by infidelities, Ava’s abortions and Frank’s suicide attempts as their hapless romance is parodied by the press who play them off each other. From Here to Eternity is an ultimate success that will extricate Frank from professional obscurity with his legendary Academy Award win, capping one of the greatest comebacks in Hollywood history, however this attainment is bittersweet. Directed by the recently acclaimed Michael Oblowitz, Frank and Ava was shot on location in Rome, Italy, Hollywood, CA and Sinatra’s Palm Springs home. In addition to introducing Rico Simonini and Emily Elicia Low in the title roles, the film also features Eric Roberts, Lukas Haas, Richard Portnow, Domenick Lombardozzi, Neil Sandilands, Jonathan Silverman, Terry Moore and the legendary Harry Dean Stanton; in his last feature film appearance.
Cast
Rico Simonini is an actor and producer, known for Dear Eleanor (2016), A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) and Max Payne (2008)
Emily Elicia Low is an actress and costume designer, known for David Lynch: Crazy Clown Time (2012), Frank and Ava (2018) and The Grand Guignol (2015).
A veteran of stage, film and television with a variety of characters to his credit, Richard Portnow was named one of the ``Actors We Love`` by the actors' trade newspaper Back Stage West.
Lukas was born on April 16, 1976 in West Hollywood, California. His Texas-born mother, Emily Tracy, is a writer, and his German-born father, Berthold Haas, is an artist.
Prolific character actor Harry Dean Stanton's drooping, weather-beaten appearance and superb acting talent have been his ticket to appearing in over 100 films, and 50 TV episodes.
One of Hollywood's edgier, more intriguing characters running around and about for decades.
Director
Screenplay
Editor
Editor
Michael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker who has directed and produced a number of critically acclaimed movies and videos.
Willard Manus is a Los Angeles-based novelist, playwright, and journalist. His best known book is Mott the Hoople (1966), the novel from which the British 1970s hard rock band derived their name.
Chris has worked on feature films, television, music videos, documentaries and web based content. His parents met on the set of ``Singing in the Rain`` and he grew up in a ``show biz`` family.
Elaine Macaluso is known for her work on Stargo (2013), I Want to Get Married (2011) and Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire (2013).