Frankie and Johnny (1991) on Netflix
Fresh out of prison on a forgery charge, Johnny finds work cooking at a New York diner. He falls for Frankie, a waitress there, and she turns him down.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/1039,385 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes69%
Trailer
Plot summary
Johnny is released from prison after serving time for check fraud and looks for work at the Apollo Cafe in New York City. In jail he discovered he could cook, and Nick gives him the job despite his record. Frankie waitresses at the cafe, has just come back from her godson's baptism in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and keeps to herself. On a shift Nick sends another waitress, Helen, home early when she complains of dizziness. Johnny asks Frankie for a date, and she says no. He asks again, and again she says no. He spends a night with Cora, another waitress, and Cora tells Frankie and Nedda about it.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Frankie and Johnny (1991)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While Frankie & Johnny was shooting, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was filming on a nearby studio stage. Garry Marshall arranged for William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley to stand fully costumed, out of shot, behind a door so Al Pacino would get a genuine surprise when he opened it.
- Kathy Bates created the lead female role in Terrence McNally's play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, but in 2025 she said Garry Marshall refused to cast her in his film version because he did not think she looked pretty enough to be a romantic lead.
- Terrence McNally rewrote his two-hander play for the screen, adding several supporting characters and locations: in the original stage version only the two title characters appear and the whole drama happens in one apartment.
