| Frankie | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conor Doyle as Frankie | |
Character Details
| |
| Full Name | Frankie Gardner |
| Played By | Conor Doyle Daniel Whiley |
| Starts Loop | Studio 5
|
History[]
Frankie is a young actor at the studio, desperate to be a big movie star. Desperately wants to become a star and auditions and gets a role at Temple Studios. Uses and is used by the studio’s executives. He’s vulnerable and fragile and is innocent to the machinations of Temple Pictures. His quest for fame sees him taken in and then systematically ravaged by the studio.
Appearance[]
Wears casual loose clothing most of the time, but dresses up as other characters as well.
He wears a striped white and blue t-shirt and a brown jacket in the Seamstress shop and until he gets changed in Studio 5 with the high school jacket for the Locker Dance. Then, he wears a suit to "Meet the Boss" and get initiated.
At the Orgy he wears a white jacket without shirt and a dark scarf.
Loop - Basic[]
- Goes through Seamstress maze into… (Seamstress Store)
- Sings and Dances "Jeepers Creepers" walking down the stairs (Stairs)
- Dances with Marshall (Woodchip Caravan Park)
- Gets ready (Woodchip Caravan Park)
- Flirtatious dance with Dolores and Marshall (Woodchip Caravan Park)
- Tells Dolores story on way to… (Birthday Tent)
- Get a bit drunk at party (Birthday Tent)
- Given role of Bobby by Alice (Finale Stage)
- Prepares in front of mirror (Studio 5)
- Locker dance (Studio 5)
- Auditions with Alice and Claude (Studio 5)
- Left alone en route to… (Basment)
- Initiated by Mr. Stanford (Masonic Temple Room)
- Infidelity Ballet (Studio 5)
- Fawned over by Claude (Stairs/Stairs)
- Orgy (Masonic Temple)
- Tussles with Claude (Masonic Temple Room)
- Dances on Boardroom Table (Boardroom)
- Accepts imaginary award (Cinema)
- Found and cleaned by Seamstress (Fountain)
Loop - Extended[]
He starts his loop with The Seamstress in her shop. She’s helping him get cleaned up and dressed. When he’s ready, they move to the back of the shop and disappear through a dark labyrinth of curtains. They end up in her workshop where Frankie puts on a plaid jacket. He sings ‘Jeepers Creepers’ under his breath, like Faye in ‘The Day of the Locust’. He sees Conrad in a corridor and they greet each other amicably. As they part, Conrad whispers ‘Schmuck’ behind his back.
Frankie goes downstairs to Studio 2, the Woodchip Trailer Park where he meets Marshall. They josh around like old friends, dancing on the notes of "I Love Marie" , then Dolores appears on the Finale stage nearby. The two men act like excited schoolboys in front of the glamorous star. Dolores approaches and Frankie asks for her autograph. The three of them dance together " Forever More" and Dolores flirts with Marshall. Frankie wants to show Dolores a surprise and takes her to the Birthday Tent which has been decorated for her birthday party. Another actor, Eugene, is already there and Marshall and Wendy show up soon afterwards. He proposes a toast, they drink champagne. The five of them sing and dance " I can never go home anymore" and Wendy is pulled on stage to sing.
Frankie and the others ridicule her and she storms off, angry and humiliated. The party disintegrates and Frankie walks to the Finale stage where he meets a casting agent, Alice Estee. She looks at him coolly and gives him a script. She wants him to play ‘Bobby’, the lead role in a big musical called ‘Leader of the Pack’. Delighted, he embraces her. ‘Chick Habit’ by April March plays in the background and he performs a frantic tap dance across the stage. He looks like the product of a stage-pushy parent, like Adore Loomis in ‘The Day of the Locust’. He sings about ‘Bobby’ as he walks to Studio 5.
He prepares in front of a mirror backstage and swaggers around. He perform "I Love Marie" pretending to be a great star, standing on the spotlight with sunglasses. The studio next door is set up as a teenager’s bedroom and Mary and Dwayne are acting out a pretend romance. The other actors file in, excited about the shoot. Frankie flirts with Drugstore Girl and Andy inspects his shoes. Filming starts and Mr Stanford calls out, ‘Let those eyes shine!’
On the bedroom set, the girls sing along to ‘Bull Dog’ by The Shagri-La’s, before the boys march in and strut their stuff. The action moves to a high school locker room and Frankie waits backstage for his big entrance. He crouches by a window, steeling himself, only for Dwayne to jump out before him. Having been mugged of his role, Frankie calls out ‘Hey, Bobby was mine!’
For a cheeky finale, a naked Dwayne drops his towel. Mr Stanford calls, ‘And cut. Thank you everyone’, and the actors disperse. Faye approaches Frankie for a chat, but he’s upset. He thought he’d been given the lead role, but somehow Dwayne has stolen the limelight. It’s been suggested that Frankie was set up by Alice and Claude so that they could assess his command of 'bitter disappointment'.
A ‘Daily Call Sheet’ for ‘Leader of the Pack’ is lying on the dressing table in the backstage area. Andrea is listed as ‘Betty Weiss’, who was one of the singers in The Shangri La’s. It lists Faye as ‘Cheerleader 1’ and Dwayne as ‘Tod Danton’. ‘Danton’s Tod’ was the first play written by Georg Büchner. Tod also happens to be the name of the lead character in ‘The Day of the Locust’. Frankie’s part seems to have been downgraded from ‘Bobby’ to ‘Jock 1’. In fact, there’s no mention of ‘Bobby’ at all on the call sheet.
Faye walks off with Drugstore Girl and Frankie is left alone, sitting on a bench and staring into the darkness. He starts to cry as Alice approaches him quietly from behind. She suddenly bellows, ‘That was so moving’. Her husband, Claude, joins them and the two executives proceed to cajole and bully the young actor.
Alice yells, ‘Yeah Frankie! Show us what you’ve got! C’mon Frankie, c’mon!’ He answered back "You wanna see the body? You wanna see the body?" " Yeah", replays Alice ‘Now that is an arm!’ . They hold his face and run him through a number of ridiculous facial expressions, hysterically gurning along with him. They both lust after him and tell him what a star he’s going to be. They grin and point their fingers at him like guns. ‘Um, you guys are crazy’ he says, trying his best to laugh along. Alice holds out his arm and exclaims,
‘Hey, do you wanna meet the boss?’ Alice yells. Frankie nods, "You bet I do!". "Yeah, let’s go see the boss! C’mon, it’s time to meet the boss!’ she squeals, and they head off to the Basement. Alice storms ahead in typical forthright fashion shouting at Frankie " Are you excited?" He stops ans screams " Am I excited? I wasn't so excited from Christmas!" then he makes the typical Frankie laugh. They both leave him behind, lost in a corridor and calling for help. He cackles and screams as he walks towards the Masonic Temple Hall, and to the lion’s den. He wants to be a star so badly, but it seems he’s bitten off more than he can chew.
He wanders into the hall and sees Mr Stanford. Suddenly, he’s surrounded by three heavies dressed in black suits and ugly skin masks. What follows is ‘Frankie’s Initiation’. It’s a terrible ordeal, complete with baseball bats and simulated torture. ‘The Method Works’ by Tom Tykwer, from the ‘Perfume’ soundtrack, plays in the background. He’s molested, beaten and forced to his knees. Mr Stanford crams an orange segment into his mouth and shoots a blank from a pistol at him.
The ceremony involves a number of rituals taken from a typical Masonic induction. The following passage about Masonic practices describes the use of a ‘load bang’ and the candidate being forced to his knees – ‘The blindfolded candidate is further disturbed by a loud and unexpected bang. This surprise can take many forms and often differs from area to area. One Chapter may fire a blank round from a gun at the initiate, another may smash a set of cymbals, another may simply drop the poles of the lodge's banner on the floor beside him. Regardless of the method, the aim of the Chapter is always to unsettle the unsuspecting candidate and reduce him to a vulnerable condition. The disoriented candidate is then forced to his knees, where he is required to pray for his own deliverance.’
When Frankie’s torment is over, the three masked men reveal themselves as Claude, Alice and Dolores Grey. Frankie looks devastated, but Alice cries out, ‘Congratulations Frankie’ and presents him with a contract. He’s dreamt of making it in Hollywood and he’s just been anointed as the latest star of the studio.
After his initiation, he’s completely unhinged. He staggers off to Studio 5 to shoot the ‘Infidelity Ballet’. On the way, he screams at Romola on the stairs. He changes backstage with the help of The Seamstress and shrieks at Wendy who’s playing his wife, ‘Hi honey, how are you? You’re my wife, Wendy!’ She grimaces and tries to ignore him.
He climbs through a window and falls onto the set, yelling ‘Don’t try and stop me!’ He sits at the kitchen table, psyching himself up for the shoot. Andrea enters wearing a red sequined stripper costume. She flirts playfully, ‘Do you like my dress’. He barks like a dog and tells her she’s hot. He continues joshing, but the sense of fun drains out of him and he looks demented. He barks at her over and over again, and Andrea eyes him worryingly.
Wendy joins him in the kitchen and they’re directed by the disembodied voice of Mr Stanford. The action goes back and forth between the house and a strip club, as Claude watches from the wings. Eventually, Wendy derails the scene and waves about a pair of scissors, forcing Mr Stanford to yell, ‘Cut’.
Frankie is angry and storms out into the corridor. He’s stopped by Claude who fawns over him. They embrace and Frankie seems willing at first, but gives a dead-eyed look over Claude’s shoulder that says he’s selling himself, body and soul, in the pursuit of stardom.
He slips away from Claude and darts down to the Basement. The final toots of ‘Stratusphunk’ are fading away and Frankie slows down, running his hand along the wall. A menacing clang of guitar booms out and ‘The Pink Room’ starts up. Frankie enters a small dressing room and stares at himself in the mirror. He puts on a white tuxedo jacket and heads to the party, where he joins the rest of the staff in their bizarre line dance. The group take turns to seduce and strip Marshall until he’s naked. The party collapses in on itself and the characters run off in different states of upheaval.
Claude approaches Frankie and again tries to kiss him, but is rebuffed. Frankie wanders off, and mumbles flatly, ‘What a swell party’. He darts behind Mr Stanford’s curtained altar, and discards his white blazer and yellow scarf. Slowly, he begins to walk back down the corridor, arms outstretched and head bowed as if everything hurts him.
In a growing state of agitation, he moves upstairs through the Medical Room and to the Boardroom, where he performs a desperate solo dance on the table. He falls down hard, holding his hand in pain, and it starts to bleed.
He walks into a cinema with velvet curtains and thirty-six scarlet seats. He sits down to watch a film of a horse running endlessly on a loop.
Frankie’s mind is unraveling and he turn his head to the person sitting at his left, saying: "It's only a matter of luck, right? Good luck to you". Suddenly hears the voice of Mr Stanford through the clattering music. Mr Stanford announces that ‘Frankie Gardner’ is the winner of the ‘Best Actor’ award. Frankie’s elated and rushes up to the stage. On his way, he shakes the hands of audience members and says that living in Hollywood is like ‘living in a dream’.The last person whom shakes hand is the same who has spoken before. He wispers at the ear " Listen, is just luck, next year is gonna be your chance, is gonna be your year" then he rushes on stage.(Conor Doyl's version)
As part of his acceptance speech he recites, ‘ I'll try to keep this brief. Some towns are built of marble. Some cities built on schemes. Only one is built of magic. Only one that's built on dreams. My world of Hollywood.’ The words are taken from a 1967 documentary
called ‘Mondo Hollywood’.
He shakes his head at one young man and says, ‘Too bad, maybe next year’. He thanks his mother and then sees her in the
crowd. He runs and hugs a startled
woman, shouting ‘I love you mom’.
Delirious, he wanders outside to the front of the cinema and collapses.
As he lies scratching
in the dirt, he looks at the audience with an empty, broken, accusatory
stare. Temple Pictures is devouring
Frankie, but it’s also feeding him to the hungry audience. The crowds wallow in his misery just like the
predators at the studio.
The Seamstress comes out and takes him into her shop. She strips him to his pants, dresses his
wound and helps him change into another outfit. While she is doing that, he stare in the eyes a White Mask singing sadly " Jepers creepers...where you get those peepers, jeepers...creepers..where you get those eyes"
The radio announces that Romola Martin has died in a tragic car crash.
Final Show[]
Trivia[]
His story brings to mind the Val Kilmer quote, ‘Hollywood eats it’s young’.
In his file in the Drafting Room, it says that Frankie’s goals are ‘To be a star’ and ‘To be loved’. As he lies scratching in the dirt, he looks at the audience with an empty, broken, accusatory stare. Temple Pictures is devouring Frankie, but it’s also feeding him to the hungry audience. The crowds wallow in his misery just like the predators at the studio.
In his file in the Drafting Room, it says that Frankie’s goals are ‘To be a star’ and ‘To be loved’.
Quotes[]
- "It's bright being a star"
- "I'll try to keep this brief!
Some towns are built on marbles,and
Some cities are built on schemes!
Only one is built on magic
And only one is built on dreams!
My world! My world! Hollywood!
Thank you! Thank you!"