James Franco returns to film Sal Mineo bio pic...

[elegant20]

James Franco Interested in Writing & Directing a Sal Mineo Biopic

You think it would work or not? What do you all think?

 

[Meniscus]

I can't really think of anyone better to write and direct a film about Sal Mineo. Franco has always struck me as a James Dean-esque actor (who, incidentally, has already played Dean--and quite well, at that). As a "serious" actor himself, I imagine that he'd do a good job depicting both Mineo's personal and professional life with the right awareness of how, for an actor like Mineo, those two aspects of his life overlap and intertwine.

With regards to Mineo's sexuality, most writers/directors would either downplay it or would over-emphasize and sensationalize it. Franco, on the other hand, has experience playing gay men in biographical films (Scott Smith in Milk and famously gay poet Allen Ginsburg in the upcoming Howl). He has also directed gay-themed student films.

I imagine Franco would create a story that has the right amount of sensitivity and respect toward's its subject without shying away from Mineo's sexuality or his personal struggles.

But maybe that little crush I have on Franco has biased me.:smile:

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

I think Franco would do a very good job on a bio of Sal Mineo.
If you want a sample of Sal Mineo's incredible charm as a young man, click on this.

 

[B_VinylBoy]

I think Franco would do a very good job on a bio of Sal Mineo.
If you want a sample of Sal Mineo's incredible charm as a young man, click on this.

Here's another one from the same show, this time in color. :biggrin1:
YouTube - What's My Line? w/ Sal Mineo

 

[BiItalianBro]

Here's another one from the same show, this time in color. :biggrin1:
YouTube - What's My Line? w/ Sal Mineo

LMAO...people dressed like that...on purpose???

 

[B_VinylBoy]

LMAO...people dressed like that...on purpose???

Now don't you be hatin' on 60s & 70s fashion now! :biggrin1:

 

[elegant20]

He was also in colored in movies, too. Like Exodus, A Private's Affair, etc. Did any of his co-stars knew about his sexuality at all or was it always hush-hush back then?

 

[Bbucko]

He was also in colored in movies, too. Like Exodus, A Private's Affair, etc. Did any of his co-stars knew about his sexuality at all or was it always hush-hush back then?

It's my understanding that his sexuality was an open secret, especially with someone as sympathetic as, say, Natalie Wood.

Franco is a fabulous choice IMO.

 

[elegant20]

Thanks. Accck! There goes my spelling grammar...I always screw up with some words, though. I meant to say "in color" instead of the long-winded sentence I written here. I am told the new biography of Sal Mineo is fantastic. It is probably better than the 2002 bio of Sal, but I haven't read it.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

Here's another one from the same show, this time in color. :biggrin1:
YouTube - What's My Line? w/ Sal Mineo

Yup. I'd seen that.
And he still a certain charm, the treason of his clothes notwithstanding.

 

[Bbucko]

Yup. I'd seen that.
And he still a certain charm, the treason of his clothes notwithstanding.

Did you go naked in the 70s? His clothes are just part of the era, like the pornstache and Brillo-Pad hair :tongue:

Looking back on some of my more...um...colorful ensembles, he seemed almost understated

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

Did you go naked in the 70s? His clothes are just part of the era, like the pornstache and Brillo-Pad hair :tongue:

Looking back on some of my more...um...colorful ensembles, he seemed almost understated

Bell bottoms, mustache, even, once, a perm ... been dere, done dat, Bb.
But I burned the pix.

 

[elegant20]

But wasn't Sal engaged to Jill Haworth for quite sometime? Surely, she must have known he was gay, even when she was dating him.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

But wasn't Sal engaged to Jill Haworth for quite sometime? Surely, she must have known he was gay, even when she was dating him.

Was he gay or bi?

 

[Bbucko]

But wasn't Sal engaged to Jill Haworth for quite sometime? Surely, she must have known he was gay, even when she was dating him.

I had to Google her as I'd never heard of her before. Evidently Sal was quite smitten when they first met making Exodus, when she was 15.

According to this biographical website:

During the making of Exodus, Sal Mineo was rumored to have fallen in love with 15-year-old actress Jill Haworth, who played the role of Karen Hansen. Suspicions were confirmed when the starlet moved into his Beverly Hills home after the movie was finished.

However, the relationship was short-lived. Haworth eventually moved on to bigger roles elsewhere, leaving behind Sal. Although the relationship was brief, the two remained close friends for many years afterwards.

Though this is obviously tangential, it is interesting that Haworth was the originator of Sally Bowles on Broadway's first run of Cabaret in 1966, six years later

 

[elegant20]

Well, then, Internet Movie Database has to change their biography a bit....correct? Might as well put short-lived instead of engaged for many years.

 

[Bbucko]

Agreed!

 

[elegant20]

Here's an interview exerpt from 1972, I believe.

Sal Mineo Official Website - Newstand