"Frankie and Johnny are Married" dramatizes the autobiographical story of TV producer Pressman’s attempts to put on the play “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune” as a vehicle for actress Chess. The ensuing problems cost the family $100,000, and Pressman’s stress doubled when he had to take over as the male actor in the two character play.
The film derives humor from Chess’s disastrous auditions, where she can’t even get a role on Pressman’s own shows. Alan Rosenberg plays himself as a completely insane actor. Pressman won’t name the actor who actually caused trouble in the real production. But the couple’s ultimate achievement proves the strength of their relationship. The real Michael and Lisa talk to us about the humor, the romance and the reality of their new film.
Lisa, why couldn't Michael just get you the job?
Lisa Chess: It's never a good thing to arrive on a set where you feel like you've been forced on somebody, and I never wanted that. And because I feel that I am talented in my own right, I always wanted to be hired because they really wanted to hire me. So throughout our lives together, we sort of backed off that position a lot. When I did work on, for instance, "Picket Fences," Michael actually absented himself from the room and said, "I think she'd be right for this part but I'm going to take myself out of the mix. If you think it's a good idea, then you hire her and if not, it'll be understood and that's okay." And it worked out, but it's always been the best way to do it. As a matter of fact, sometimes it's the hardest situation to go in with a room full of producers that you know and have socialized with because your husband works with them. You feel like you have to prove yourself even more. You have to be better than you normally would have to be to get a job, so it's a real double-edged sword. But we never worked in such a way that either one of us has wanted to have him push it over and be the deciding factor, make sure he can get me the job. It just doesn't work that way. Even if it did, it would not be a good idea.
How hard was it to open up your intimate life like this?
Michael Pressman: Well, it was difficult, but I will say, and I've said this time and again, there was nothing more difficult than acting on stage. We actually did the play about two years before we made the movie, and we acted together on stage. I think that was the single hardest thing to do. The next thing was the writing of the screenplay and I think in the writing of the screenplay, we were able to dramatize, fictionalize, separate ourselves from the actual experience in a more fictionalized account. Then it became the challenge of playing the role of Michael and Lisa. That became quite a challenge. But even though there is a tremendous intimacy in the movie - and there is. It is our lives - we have a kind of professional distance on it, wouldn't you say, Lisa?
LC: I always feel like it's an aspect of our lives and our personalities which certainly is true, and I feel like I do reveal a big part of myself. But then there are certainly a lot of other things that I don't reveal. So it's funny, because I showed the script to a friend of mine early on and she said, "Aren't you a little reticent to reveal all this about yourself?" And it actually hadn't occurred to me because I felt like the people who know me already know this about me. There's nothing terribly shocking to them. And people that don't know me, truth be told, a lot of people in professional situations have struggled, so probably it may be a bit universal in that sense.
MP: Yeah, and I also think that as actors, you're always revealing a part of yourself even if you're in a character. Here, it's a character that just has our same names and similar backgrounds, but one is always baring themselves naked dramatically, emotionally when you play a character.
