---
name: "Carl Franklin"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/carl-franklin"
fi1m_id: "carl-franklin"
imdb_id: "nm0002083"
tmdb_id: 21712
wikidata_id: "Q643246"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "11 April 1949"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 77
average_as: "director"
average_over: 7
updated: "2026-09-23T12:02:35.249758+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Carl Franklin

## Identity

Carl Franklin

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/carl-franklin
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** carl-franklin
- **IMDb ID:** nm0002083
- **TMDB ID:** 21712
- **Wikidata ID:** Q643246
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Franklin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q643246, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002083/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21712

Director and producer. Born 11 April 1949 in Richmond, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 11 April 1949, Richmond, California, USA
- **Active:** 1992–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 8: 7 directing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Jeremy Podeswa](https://film.one/person/jeremy-podeswa.md), [Carly Wray](https://film.one/person/carly-wray.md), [David Nutter](https://film.one/person/david-nutter.md), [Keith Gordon](https://film.one/person/keith-gordon.md), [Lesli Linka Glatter](https://film.one/person/lesli-linka-glatter.md), [Tim Van Patten](https://film.one/person/tim-van-patten.md), [Todd London](https://film.one/person/todd-london.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as director, over 7 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (1), 2000s 82 (1), 2010s 80 (4), 2020s 49 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 77 to 70 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Crime 4, Action & Adventure 2, War & Politics 2, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $2m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Franklin, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q643246, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002083/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/21712

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Leftovers*](https://film.one/tv/the-leftovers.md) (87), [*Rome*](https://film.one/tv/rome.md) (82), [*The Pacific*](https://film.one/tv/the-pacific.md) (74)
- **Netflix:** [*MINDHUNTER*](https://film.one/tv/mindhunter.md) (83), [*DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story*](https://film.one/tv/dahmer-monster-the-jeffrey-dahmer-story.md) (51)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*One False Move*](https://film.one/film/one-false-move.md) (86)
- **Disney+:** [*Homeland*](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Carl Franklin

> Carl Franklin makes crime thrillers worth caring about by giving awkward, proud people time to become familiar. We rate his patient handling of actors highly, though *One False Move* sometimes presses the violence too hard.

In *One False Move* (1992), three criminals are heading towards a small Arkansas town, and ordinary scenes there become uneasy before they arrive. Carl Franklin lets us get to know the people who will have to face them. We rate him highly for that patience: he makes a crime story more worrying by giving its people something beyond a place in the plot. Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson’s screenplay supplies the awkwardness and pride, and Franklin gives both room to register.

Bill Paxton and Cynda Williams provide much of the warmth that makes the threat matter. Williams’s Fantasia gives the criminal trio an emotional weight that menace alone could not supply. Franklin pays attention to racial and sexual inequality through how these people behave and how readily we excuse them. Nobody has to stop the pursuit to deliver a lecture.

After films for Roger Corman, *One False Move* was the breakthrough, followed by the studio noir *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995). Franklin wrote and directed that Walter Mosley adaptation, with Denzel Washington as its Black protagonist in 1940s Los Angeles. The attention to race belongs naturally in his crime stories. *One True Thing* (1998), with Meryl Streep, took him outside thrillers. *Out of Time* (2003) reunited him with Washington for a Florida thriller about a compromised lawman.

The clean visual style and carefully arranged movement suit a director interested in what actors can tell us. In *One False Move*, though, he sometimes insists too hard on the menace. We were horrified by the opening violence; its brutality made the subsequent pursuit impossible to settle into comfortably. The danger is clear, but the emphasis risks overwhelming the quieter scenes we value most.

Since the 2010s, he has directed primarily for television, including episodes of *The Pacific*, *House of Cards* and *Mindhunter*. Those credits should discourage us from treating the features as the whole career. Start with *One False Move*, but take the opening’s brutality seriously.

## Biography

Carl Franklin is an American film and television director, screenwriter and former actor. Born in Richmond, California, he studied at the University of California, Berkeley before working as a television actor in the 1970s and 1980s, with regular roles including on *The A-Team*. He later trained at the AFI Conservatory, graduating with an MFA in directing in 1986.

Franklin made his feature directorial debut with the 1992 crime thriller *One False Move*, which earned him the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award. He went on to direct *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995) and *Out of Time* (2003), and has directed episodes of series including *House of Cards*, *Mindhunter*, *The Pacific* and *13 Reasons Why*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (8)

### Directed (7) — the average rests on these

- *DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story* (2022), Fi1m 51, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/dahmer-monster-the-jeffrey-dahmer-story.md)
- *MINDHUNTER* (2017), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/mindhunter.md)
- *The Leftovers* (2014), Fi1m 87, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-leftovers.md)
- *Homeland* (2011), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *The Pacific* (2010), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-pacific.md)
- *Rome* (2005), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)
- *One False Move* (1992), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/one-false-move.md)

### Produced (1)

- *Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story* (2026), Fi1m 47, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/monster-the-lizzie-borden-story.md)

## Complete filmography (65)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Monster: The Ed Gein Story* (2025), series, Executive Producer
- *Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story* (2024), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez* (2024), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *Manhunt* (2024), series, Executive Producer, Director
- *DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story* (2022), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 51, [page](https://film.one/tv/dahmer-monster-the-jeffrey-dahmer-story.md)
- *I Am the Night* (2019), series, Director
- *MINDHUNTER* (2017), series, Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/mindhunter.md)
- *Ten Days in the Valley* (2017), series, Director
- *13 Reasons Why* (2017), series, Director
- *Good Behavior* (2016), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Vinyl* (2016), series, Director
- *Bloodline* (2015), series, Director
- *The Affair* (2014), series, Director
- *The Leftovers* (2014), series, Director — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-leftovers.md)
- *Ray Donovan* (2013), series, Director
- *Bless Me, Ultima* (2013), Director, Screenplay
- *House of Cards* (2013), series, Director
- *The Newsroom* (2012), series, Director
- *Magic City* (2012), series, Director
- *Homeland* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/homeland.md)
- *Falling Skies* (2011), series, Director
- *The Pacific* (2010), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-pacific.md)
- *The Riches* (2007), series, Director
- *Rome* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)
- *Out of Time* (2003), Director
- *High Crimes* (2002), Director
- *One True Thing* (1998), Director
- *Devil in a Blue Dress* (1995), Director, Screenplay
- *Laurel Avenue* (1993), series, Director, Creator
- *One False Move* (1992), Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/one-false-move.md)
- *In the Heat of Passion* (1992), as Police Det. Rooker
- *Full Fathom Five* (1990), as Fletcher · Director
- *Capital News* (1990), series, as Cop
- *Last Stand at Lang Mei* (1989), as Sergeant T. Deveraux · Writer
- *Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy* (1989), as Col. Rawlins · Director, Writer
- *Nowhere to Run* (1989), Director
- *Too Good to Be True* (1988), as Dr. Boyd
- *Roseanne* (1988), series, Actor — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/roseanne.md)
- *A Smoky Mountain Christmas* (1986), as Lt. Danvers
- *ALF* (1986), series, as Dr. Willoughby
- *Punk* (1986), Writer, Director
- *MacGyver* (1985), series, as Andrew T. Wiley
- *Cover Up* (1984), series, Actor
- *One Cooks, the Other Doesn't* (1983), as Officer Lloyd Green
- *The A-Team* (1983), series, as Captain Crane
- *McClain's Law* (1981), series, as Det. Jerry Cross
- *Hill Street Blues* (1981), series, Actor — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/hill-street-blues.md)
- *Joshua's World* (1980), Actor
- *Trapper John, M.D.* (1979), series, Actor
- *The Legend of the Golden Gun* (1979), as Joshua Brown
- *Loose Change* (1978), series, as Ed Thomas
- *The Incredible Hulk* (1977), series, as Crosby
- *Lou Grant* (1977), series, Actor
- *The Fantastic Journey* (1977), series, as Dr. Fred Walters
- *The Fantastic Journey* (1977), as Dr. Fred Walters
- *Battle of the Network Stars* (1976), series, Actor
- *Quincy, M.E.* (1976), series, Actor
- *Caribe* (1975), series, as Sgt. Mark Walters
- *It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy* (1974), as Hovey
- *The Rockford Files* (1974), series, as Roger Orloff — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-rockford-files.md)
- *Good Times* (1974), series, Actor
- *The Laughing Policeman* (1973), as Man on Bus
- *Five on the Black Hand Side* (1973), as Marvin
- *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, Actor
- *Cannon* (1971), series, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Carl Franklin](https://film.one/media/person/82237/gallery-c84a2fac8c11.jpg) Carl Franklin — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Carl_Franklin_publicity_photo_from_Fantastic_Journey_cast%2C_1977_%28cropped%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Carl Franklin](https://film.one/media/person/82237/gallery-4941d408d95a.jpg) Carl Franklin — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/carl-franklin