Mark Frankel Movies
Mark Frankel had a promising career as a leading man and was busy in feature films and television productions on both sides of the Atlantic when he died at age 34 in a motorcycle accident. The London-born Frankel was the son of a British Air Force pilot and the grandson of a noted concert violinist/conductor. He originally trained for the stage and received classical instruction at such institutions as the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art where he studied under Jack Waltzer. Before that he attended college and during that time was a professional tennis player. He made his stage debut in Days of Cavafy. Though by the early '90s, the darkly handsome Frankel was a television veteran, having appeared in telemovies such as
Young Catherine (1991, opposite
Julia Ormond), and starred in the miniseries chronicle of Michelangelo's life
A Season of Giants (1991), he did not make his feature-film debut until 1993 when he starred as a Jewish youth who abandons city life and his family to raise pork in the British-made comedy
Leon the Pig Farmer. The film won the Charlie Chaplin Award at that year's Edinburgh Film Festival and a critics Award at the Venice Film Festival. He then landed a starring part in another British production, the romantic comedy Solitaire for Two. (1994). He made a splash on American television during the 1992-93 season of the NBC dramedy Sisters, playing handsome millionaire Simon Bolt. In 1996, he starred in the short-lived series The Kindred. Frankel last appeared in
For Roseanna- (1997). The motorcycle accident occurred in London on September 24, 1996. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

- 1997
- PG13
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A man trying to honor the last wish of his beloved wife has to keep an entire city alive in this bittersweet romantic comedy. Marcello (Jean Reno) is the owner of a restaurant in a small village in Italy. His wife Roseanna (Mercedes Ruehl) has received some awful news: she has learned that her weak heart has gotten worse, and she has only a few weeks to live. Roseanna has given Marcello a final request: she wants to be buried next to her daughter, who died some years before. Marcello wants nothing more than to comply with her wishes, but there's a problem; the town's cemetery is quite small, and right now funeral plots are on a first-come, first-served basis. The spot next to Roseanna's daughter does happen to be open, but she'll only get it if no one else dies first. So Marcello suddenly becomes the village's watchdog of health and safety, trying to make sure no one needlessly dies, and even shuffles around a few bodies of people who do happen to pass on. Meanwhile, Roseanna is worried about both Marcello and her sister Cecilia (Polly Walker) and would like them to marry after her death so they won't have to be alone. However, Marcello and Cecilia don't always get along very well, and besides, Cecilia is in love with Antonio (Mark Frankel), whose father has prevented the town's cemetery from expanding. For Roseanna was filmed under the title Roseanna's Grave and was briefly publicized as For the Love of Roseanna. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Jean Reno, Mercedes Ruehl, (more)

- 1994
- R
This British romantic comedy examines a trouble relationship between a behavioral psychologist and a paleontology lecturer with serious sexual hang-ups. Currently Dr. Daniel Becker is holding seminars for teaching body language to executives. Katie, the lecturer, seems to defy all he seems to know with her habit of knocking out any male she suspects of harboring sexual thoughts about her. They go out on a dinner date. Immediately, Katie-the-mind-reader smacks the waiter. Intrigued, Daniel blindfolds her to see if she really can read thoughts. Katie, who sees no future in their relationship, plans to go on a research trip to India with her peer, Sandip. Daniel tries to thwart her plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Amanda Pays, Mark Frankel, (more)

- 1992
-
A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
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- Starring:
- Mark Frankel, Janet Suzman, (more)

- 1991
-
Season of Giants succeeds more in ambition than in execution. This 195-minute TV movie proposes that a great professional rivalry existed between Renaissance geniuses Michelangelo (Mark Frankel) and Leonardo da Vinci (John Glover). While the Florentine and Roman scenery is authentic, certain elements of the story cause the viewer to doubt its credibility. For starters, both Michelangelo and Da Vinci weather several years' time without either aging or changing their clothes; also, the "creative process" is minimized, with both artists going from inspiration to final product in what seems to be a matter of hours (maybe Michelangelo used a roller on the Sistine Chapel). Season of Giants was originally shown in two parts over the TNT Cable service, with a surprising paucity of advertising fanfare. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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- 1991
-
The made-for-cable costume drama Young Catherine is the story of Catherine the Great (Julia Ormond). As the film begins, Catherine is a teen-aged German girl who marries into the Russian royal family of the 18th century; by the end of the long production, she has ascended to the throne of Russia. Though the film looks fantastic, it is slightly too long and slowly paced to be consistently compelling. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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