Sal Mineo Movies
Actor Sal Mineo enjoyed great success as a teen idol during the late '50s, shooting to fame opposite James Dean in the perennial Rebel Without a Cause. Born January 10, 1939, in the Bronx, NY, Mineo was an incorrigible youth, tossed out of parochial school and by age eight a member of a street gang. In an attempt to reform her son, his mother enrolled him in dancing school; still, he persisted in running wild until he was arrested for robbery in 1949. Given the choice between juvenile confinement or professional acting school, Mineo chose the latter. Two years later, he appeared on Broadway in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, followed by a prominent role in The King and I opposite Yul Brynner. He made his film debut in 1955's Six Bridges to Cross, followed by the Charlton Heston vehicle The Private War of Major Benson. Mineo closed out the year portraying the ill-fated Plato in the Nicholas Ray classic Rebel Without a Cause; diminutive and sad-eyed, his performance perfectly captured the film's themes of youthful desperation, and struck a chord with audiences as well as critics, earning him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination.For the remainder of the decade, Mineo remained a high-profile screen presence, co-starring in films including 1956's Giant and Somebody up There Likes Me. In 1957, he also attempted to mount a career as a pop singer, scoring a pair of Top 40 hits with "Start Movin' (In My Direction)" and "Lasting Love." In 1959, Mineo starred as the titular jazz drummer in the film biography The Gene Krupa Story, and a year later earned a second Oscar nomination for his work in Exodus. In 1962, he co-starred in The Longest Day, but then the offers stopped coming in. Apart from 1965's The Greatest Story Ever Told, the majority of his subsequent projects were low-budget offerings, and eventually he turned almost exclusively to television. In an attempt to shed his youthful image, Mineo also returned to theater to direct the 1969 drama Fortune and Men's Eyes, which enjoyed successful runs on both coasts. He still continued acting, but by the time of 1971's Escape From the Planet of the Apes, he had literally been reduced to playing a monkey; it was his last major screen appearance. Mineo's life came to a tragic end on the night of February 12, 1976, when he was brutally stabbed on the streets of West Hollywood; he was only 37 years old, and virtually broke at the time of his death. His murderer received a sentence of life imprisonment three years later. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1954
This 1950s medical drama focused on the life of Janet Dean, a registered private duty nurse who seeks the facts behind her patients' problems. The two episodes shown on this compilation tape are "The Apple Case" and "The Garcia Case." ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1955
A too-tough Army major gets himself sent to run an ROTC program at a Santa Barbara military school after he calls unwanted attention to the military by mouthing off to a prominent news magazine. When he arrives to his new post, the major is shocked to find it run by nuns and that his new troops are school children. His assignment is to make "men" out of the rambunctious recruits so that the school can keep from losing its ROTC certification. At first the hard-as-nails major treats his young charges with all the tenderness of a old army boot and the boys, tired of his constant barrage of insults and demands, come to hate him. Further complicating matters is the major's disconcerting romantic feelings for the school's lovely doctor. Unfortunately, she isn't about to put up with his ultra-macho guff anymore than the children are and before this romantic comedy is through, the major learns important lessons about the value of humanity in dealing with others. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, (more)
- 1955
This exciting caper outing is loosely based on the famous robbery of Brinks in Boston that netted the crooks $2.5 million. The story covers the six years small-time hood Jerry Florea (Tony Curtis) spent planning the heist. The story begins with the events that led a young Florea (played by Sal Mineo) to become a crook. Hoping to save him from a life of crime, a kindly policeman and his wife take him under their wing. Though he appreciates their kindness, Florea seems destined to become a criminal. As a young man, he begins pretending to reform and even gets a job at Brinks. The loving couple have no clue that it is only a ruse and that he is preparing to rob the establishment. It is only after he and his gang pull-off the job that Florea reconsiders his actions and then makes a daring attempt to make amends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, George Nader, (more)
This landmark juvenile-delinquent drama scrupulously follows the classic theatrical disciplines, telling all within a 24-hour period. Teenager Jimmy Stark (James Dean) can't help but get into trouble, a problem that has forced his appearance-conscious parents (Jim Backus and Ann Doran) to move from one town to another. The film's tormented central characters are all introduced during a single night-court session, presided over by well-meaning social worker Ray (Edward Platt). Jimmy, arrested on a drunk-and-disorderly charge, screams "You're tearing me apart!" as his blind-sided parents bicker with one another over how best to handle the situation. Judy (Natalie Wood) is basically a good kid but behaves wildly out of frustration over her inability to communicate with her deliberately distant father (William Hopper). (The incestuous subtext of this relationship is discreetly handled, but the audience knows what's going on in the minds of Judy and her dad at all times.) And Plato (Sal Mineo), who is so sensitive that he threatens to break apart like porcelain, has taken to killing puppies as a desperate bid for attention from his wealthy, always absent parents.
The next morning, Jimmy tries to start clean at a new high school, only to run afoul of local gang leader Buzz (Corey Allen), who happens to be Judy's boyfriend. Anxious to fit in, Jimmy agrees to settle his differences with a nocturnal "Chickie Run": he and Buzz are to hop into separate stolen cars, then race toward the edge of a cliff; whoever jumps out of the car first is the "chickie." When asked if he's done this sort of thing before, Jimmy lies, "That's all I ever do." This wins him the undying devotion of fellow misfit Plato. At the appointed hour, the Chickie Run takes place, inaugurated by a wave of the arms from Judy. The cars roar toward the cliff; Jimmy is able to jump clear, but Buzz, trapped in the driver's set when his coat gets caught on the door handle, plummets to his death. In the convoluted logic of Buzz' gang, Jimmy is held responsible for the boy's death. For the rest of the evening, he is mercilessly tormented by Buzz' pals, even at his own doorstep. After unsuccessfully trying to sort things out with his weak-willed father, Jimmy runs off into the night. He links up with fellow "lost souls" Judy and Plato, hiding out in an abandoned palatial home and enacting the roles of father, mother, and son. For the first time, these three have found kindred spirits -- but the adults and kids who have made their lives miserable haven't given up yet, leading to tragedy. Out of the bleakness of the finale comes a ray of hope that, at last, Jimmy will be truly understood.
Rebel Without a Cause began as a case history, written in 1944 by Dr. Robert Lindner. Originally intended as a vehicle for Marlon Brando, the property was shelved until Brando's The Wild One (1953) opened floodgates for films about crazy mixed-up teens. Director Nicholas Ray, then working on a similar project, was brought in to helm the film version. His star was James Dean, fresh from Warners' East of Eden. Ray's low budget dictated that the new film be lensed in black-and-white, but when East of Eden really took off at the box office, the existing footage was scrapped and reshot in color. This was great, so far as Ray was concerned, inasmuch as he had a predilection for symbolic color schemes. James Dean's hot red jacket, for example, indicated rebellion, while his very blue blue jeans created a near luminescent effect (Ray had previously used the same vivid color combination on Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar). As part of an overall bid for authenticity, real-life gang member Frank Mazzola was hired as technical advisor for the fight scenes. To extract as natural a performance as possible from Dean, Ray redesigned the Stark family's living room set to resemble Ray's own home, where Dean did most of his rehearsing. Speaking of interior sets, the mansion where the three troubled teens hide out had previously been seen as the home of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Of the reams of on-set trivia concerning Rebel, one of the more amusing tidbits involves Dean's quickie in-joke impression of cartoon character Mr. Magoo -- whose voice was, of course, supplied by Jim Backus, who played Jimmy's father. Viewing the rushes of this improvisation, a clueless Warner Bros. executive took Dean to task, saying in effect that if he must imitate an animated character, why not Warners' own Bugs Bunny? Released right after James Dean's untimely death, Rebel Without a Cause netted an enormous profit. The film almost seems like a eulogy when seen today, since so many of its cast members -- James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Nick Adams -- died young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The next morning, Jimmy tries to start clean at a new high school, only to run afoul of local gang leader Buzz (Corey Allen), who happens to be Judy's boyfriend. Anxious to fit in, Jimmy agrees to settle his differences with a nocturnal "Chickie Run": he and Buzz are to hop into separate stolen cars, then race toward the edge of a cliff; whoever jumps out of the car first is the "chickie." When asked if he's done this sort of thing before, Jimmy lies, "That's all I ever do." This wins him the undying devotion of fellow misfit Plato. At the appointed hour, the Chickie Run takes place, inaugurated by a wave of the arms from Judy. The cars roar toward the cliff; Jimmy is able to jump clear, but Buzz, trapped in the driver's set when his coat gets caught on the door handle, plummets to his death. In the convoluted logic of Buzz' gang, Jimmy is held responsible for the boy's death. For the rest of the evening, he is mercilessly tormented by Buzz' pals, even at his own doorstep. After unsuccessfully trying to sort things out with his weak-willed father, Jimmy runs off into the night. He links up with fellow "lost souls" Judy and Plato, hiding out in an abandoned palatial home and enacting the roles of father, mother, and son. For the first time, these three have found kindred spirits -- but the adults and kids who have made their lives miserable haven't given up yet, leading to tragedy. Out of the bleakness of the finale comes a ray of hope that, at last, Jimmy will be truly understood.
Rebel Without a Cause began as a case history, written in 1944 by Dr. Robert Lindner. Originally intended as a vehicle for Marlon Brando, the property was shelved until Brando's The Wild One (1953) opened floodgates for films about crazy mixed-up teens. Director Nicholas Ray, then working on a similar project, was brought in to helm the film version. His star was James Dean, fresh from Warners' East of Eden. Ray's low budget dictated that the new film be lensed in black-and-white, but when East of Eden really took off at the box office, the existing footage was scrapped and reshot in color. This was great, so far as Ray was concerned, inasmuch as he had a predilection for symbolic color schemes. James Dean's hot red jacket, for example, indicated rebellion, while his very blue blue jeans created a near luminescent effect (Ray had previously used the same vivid color combination on Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar). As part of an overall bid for authenticity, real-life gang member Frank Mazzola was hired as technical advisor for the fight scenes. To extract as natural a performance as possible from Dean, Ray redesigned the Stark family's living room set to resemble Ray's own home, where Dean did most of his rehearsing. Speaking of interior sets, the mansion where the three troubled teens hide out had previously been seen as the home of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Of the reams of on-set trivia concerning Rebel, one of the more amusing tidbits involves Dean's quickie in-joke impression of cartoon character Mr. Magoo -- whose voice was, of course, supplied by Jim Backus, who played Jimmy's father. Viewing the rushes of this improvisation, a clueless Warner Bros. executive took Dean to task, saying in effect that if he must imitate an animated character, why not Warners' own Bugs Bunny? Released right after James Dean's untimely death, Rebel Without a Cause netted an enormous profit. The film almost seems like a eulogy when seen today, since so many of its cast members -- James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Nick Adams -- died young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Dean, Natalie Wood, (more)
- 1956
A must-see for students of 1950s pop culture, Rock, Pretty Baby was Universal-International's earliest acknowledgement of the rock 'n' roll craze. John Saxon plays 18-year-old high schooler Jimmy Daley, who intends to pursue a musical career despite the objections of his physician father (Edward C. Platt). Daley organizes a student band, then tries his best to obtain bookings. One of Jimmy's musical cohorts is none other than Rod McKuen, cast as one "Ox Bentley". Inevitably, the film comes to a noissome conclusion during a televised "bandstand" show, hosted by LA deejay Johnny Grant. The supporting cast of Rock, Pretty Baby runs the age gamut from teenaged Sal Mineo to veteran film favorite Fay Wray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, John Saxon, (more)
- 1956
Frankie Dane (John Cassavetes) is the leader of the hornets, a local street gang that has had its share of rumbles and other trouble with the police. When one of his members is fingered to the police by a neighbor (Malcolm Atterbury) for having a gun, Frankie vows revenge, and when the same man humiliates him in public, he decides it's got to be murder. But only two members of the Hornets, mentally unstable Lou Macklin (Mark Rydell) and would-be full-fledged member "Baby" (Sal Mineo), are willing to go along, and even one of them is shaky -- the rest of the gang draws a line at killing. Social worker Ben Wagner (James Whitmore), who runs the local youth center, has been trying to reach out to the members of the Hornets and sees that something is splitting Frankie and a couple of the others off from the main gang, and is concerned enough to find out what it might be -- especially when Frankie's younger brother, a really nice kid named Richie (Peter J. Votrian), tells him that he thinks Frankie's planning to kill someone. He tries getting help from Frankie's mother (Virginia Gregg), who's too tired from her job to do much more than keep Richie from becoming like his brother, and Mr. Gioia (Will Kuluva), "Baby"'s father, who doesn't understand what went wrong between him and his son. A three-way battle of wills ensues as Frankie tries to hold his plan together and resist Wagner's efforts to intercede -- in the end, several lives are at risk, as Frankie ends up with his knife at the throat of his own brother, fully ready to use it. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Whitmore, John Cassavetes, (more)
George Stevens' sprawling adaptation of Edna Ferber's best-selling novel successfully walks a fine line between potboiler and serious drama for its 210-minute running time, making it one of the few epics of its era that continues to hold up as engrossing entertainment across the decades. Giant opens circa 1922 in Maryland, where Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson) has arrived to buy a stallion called War Winds from its owner, Dr. Horace Lynnton (Paul Fix). But much as Bick loves and knows horses, he finds himself even more transfixed by the doctor's daughter, Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), and after some awkward moments, she has to admit that she's equally drawn to the shy, laconic Texan. They get married and Leslie spends her honeymoon traveling with Jordan to his ranch, Reata, which covers nearly a million acres of Texas. Once there, however, she finds that she has to push her way into her rightful role as mistress of the house, past Bick's sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), who can't accept her brother's marriage or the changes it means in the home they share. Also working around Reata is the laconic ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) -- from a family as rooted in Texas as the Benedicts but not nearly as lucky (or "foxy"), Jett is dirt-poor and barely educated at all, and he fairly oozes resentment at Bick for his arrogance, although Luz likes him and for that reason alone Bick is obliged to keep him on. One thing Jett does have in common with his employer is that he is in awe of Leslie's beauty; another is his nearly total contempt for the Mexican-Americans who work for them -- Jett and Bick may have contempt for each other, but either one is just as likely to dismiss the Mexican-Americans around them as a bunch of shiftless "wetbacks." Luz feels so threatened with a loss of power and control that she decides to assert herself with War Winds, yet another "prize" that Bick brought back from Maryland that resists her authority -- then decides to ride the stallion despite being warned that no one but Leslie is wholly safe on him, and spurs him brutally in an effort to break him, which ends up destroying them both in the battle of wills she starts.
After Luz's death, Jett learns that she left him a tiny piece of land for his own, on Reata, which he refuses to sell back to Bick, preferring to keep it for his own and maybe prospect for oil on it. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bick have their own problems -- Leslie can't abide the wretched conditions in which the Mexican families who work on Reata are allowed to live, taking a special interest in Mr. and Mrs. Obregon and their baby, Angel; but Bick doesn't want his wife, or any member of his family, concerning themselves with "those people." Leslie's humanity and her independence push their marriage to the limit, but Bick comes to accept this in his wife, and in four years of marriage they have three handsome children, a boy and two girls, and a loving if occasionally awkward home life. Meanwhile, Jett strikes oil on his land -- which he's named Little Reata -- and in a couple of years he's on his way to becoming the richest man in Texas, getting drilling contracts on all of the land in the area (except Reata) and making more money than the Benedicts ever saw from raising cattle. Bick is almost oblivious to the way Jett grows in power and influence across the years and the state, mostly because he's got his own family to worry about, including a son, Jordan III (Dennis Hopper), who doesn't want to take over the ranch from him, but wants instead to be a doctor; an older daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett), who wants to study animal husbandry and marry a local rancher (Earl Holliman) and start a tiny spread of her own; and a younger daughter, Luz (Carroll Baker), who's just a bit man-crazy and star-struck by the movies.
The American entry into the Second World War and the resulting need for oil forces Bick to go into business with Jett and allow him to drill on Reata, and suddenly the Benedicts are wealthy enough to be part of Jett Rink's circle, which includes the governor of the state and at least one United States senator at his beck and call -- and Luz develops a serious crush on Jett, who likes his women young and is especially attracted to her, as Bick's and Leslie's daughter. Young Jordan marries Juana, a Mexican-American nursing student (Elsa Cardenas), and his father accepts it begrudgingly, with help from Leslie. The war kills Angel Obregon (Sal Mineo), a death that even affects Bick, but the Benedict family gets through it wealthier than ever and grows some more with the birth of Jordan IV to Jordie and Juana. When the family attends a gala opening of Jett Rink Airport, which concludes with a dinner honoring Jett's success, however, young Jordan's wife is humiliated by Jett's racist edicts, and he is beaten up by Jett's men after punching the oil baron. Seeing this, Bick challenges his old rival to the fight that's been brewing for a quarter of a century and wins by default, Jett being too drunk to defend himself or to hit; he's also too drunk to make the grand speech that was to climax the celebration, and he ends up alone in the ballroom. The Benedicts have it out with each other, young Jordan accusing his father of being as much a racist as Jett, and Leslie caught in the middle between her husband and her son. It looks like the Benedicts may lose each other, until an encounter with a racist diner owner forces Bick to stand up and get knocked down (more than once) defending his daughter-in-law and his grandson.
Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
After Luz's death, Jett learns that she left him a tiny piece of land for his own, on Reata, which he refuses to sell back to Bick, preferring to keep it for his own and maybe prospect for oil on it. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bick have their own problems -- Leslie can't abide the wretched conditions in which the Mexican families who work on Reata are allowed to live, taking a special interest in Mr. and Mrs. Obregon and their baby, Angel; but Bick doesn't want his wife, or any member of his family, concerning themselves with "those people." Leslie's humanity and her independence push their marriage to the limit, but Bick comes to accept this in his wife, and in four years of marriage they have three handsome children, a boy and two girls, and a loving if occasionally awkward home life. Meanwhile, Jett strikes oil on his land -- which he's named Little Reata -- and in a couple of years he's on his way to becoming the richest man in Texas, getting drilling contracts on all of the land in the area (except Reata) and making more money than the Benedicts ever saw from raising cattle. Bick is almost oblivious to the way Jett grows in power and influence across the years and the state, mostly because he's got his own family to worry about, including a son, Jordan III (Dennis Hopper), who doesn't want to take over the ranch from him, but wants instead to be a doctor; an older daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett), who wants to study animal husbandry and marry a local rancher (Earl Holliman) and start a tiny spread of her own; and a younger daughter, Luz (Carroll Baker), who's just a bit man-crazy and star-struck by the movies.
The American entry into the Second World War and the resulting need for oil forces Bick to go into business with Jett and allow him to drill on Reata, and suddenly the Benedicts are wealthy enough to be part of Jett Rink's circle, which includes the governor of the state and at least one United States senator at his beck and call -- and Luz develops a serious crush on Jett, who likes his women young and is especially attracted to her, as Bick's and Leslie's daughter. Young Jordan marries Juana, a Mexican-American nursing student (Elsa Cardenas), and his father accepts it begrudgingly, with help from Leslie. The war kills Angel Obregon (Sal Mineo), a death that even affects Bick, but the Benedict family gets through it wealthier than ever and grows some more with the birth of Jordan IV to Jordie and Juana. When the family attends a gala opening of Jett Rink Airport, which concludes with a dinner honoring Jett's success, however, young Jordan's wife is humiliated by Jett's racist edicts, and he is beaten up by Jett's men after punching the oil baron. Seeing this, Bick challenges his old rival to the fight that's been brewing for a quarter of a century and wins by default, Jett being too drunk to defend himself or to hit; he's also too drunk to make the grand speech that was to climax the celebration, and he ends up alone in the ballroom. The Benedicts have it out with each other, young Jordan accusing his father of being as much a racist as Jett, and Leslie caught in the middle between her husband and her son. It looks like the Benedicts may lose each other, until an encounter with a racist diner owner forces Bick to stand up and get knocked down (more than once) defending his daughter-in-law and his grandson.
Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, (more)
- 1956
- NR
Once you get past the fact that handsome Paul Newman could never pass for plug-ugly boxer Rocky Graziano in real life, you will be able to accept Somebody Up Their Likes Me as one of the more accomplished movie biopics of the 1950s. Based on Graziano's autobiography (co-written with Rowland Barber), the film accurately depicts the teen-aged Rocky as an unregenerate punk, evidently doomed by his slum environment, and his own lousy attitude, to a life of petty crime. Determining that the only way he'll make a living is with his fists, Rocky becomes a boxer, at first willing to participate in a series of fixed fights. Eventually, Rocky develops a conscience and sense of self-respect, no small thanks to his sweetheart (and later wife) Norma (Pier Angeli). The film ends on an optimistic note after Rocky wins a "clean" bout with Tony Zale (playing himself). Training extensively with Graziano prior to and during production, Newman is quite impressive in his first worthwhile film role (this was only his third film, following the execrable The Silver Chalice and the forgettable outing The Rack). The title song in Somebody Up There Likes Me was written by Bronislau Kaper and Sammy Cahn, and performed by Perry Como. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Anna Maria Pier Angeli, (more)
- 1957
Adapted from his own TV play by Reginald Rose, Dino stars Sal Mineo (who also appeared in the TV version) in the title role. Sent to reform school for his complicity in a gang killing, Dino is released in the custody of kindly settlement worker Sheridan (Brian Keith). Despite the efforts by Sheridan and parole officer Mandel (Frank Faylen) to set the boy on the right path, sullen Dino intends to rejoin his old gang at the first opportunity. Only when he realizes that his younger brother Tony (Pat DeSimone) is in danger of becoming an irredeemable juvenile delinquent does Dino gets wise to himself. It also helps when he falls in love with Shirley (Susan Kohner), a "plain-Jane" girl he meets at Sheridan's settlement house. Rarely seen today, Dino is one of the better "j.d." films of its era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, Brian Keith, (more)
- 1957
17-year-old Sal Mineo was one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood when The Young Don't Cry was specially tailored for his talents. Filmed on location at the Bethesda Home for Boys in Savannah, Georgia, the film stars Mineo as Leslie Henderson, a lonely older orphan who befriends escaped convict Rudy Krist (James Whitmore). Like Leslie, Rudy has spent his entire life feeling alone and unloved, but in his case he is totally irredeemable, using Leslie to further his own getaway plans. At long last, Leslie figures out that Rudy is a no-good--and also finds his own true niche in life. Worth noting is the film's sympathetic treatment of its two principal black characters, played by Leigh Whipper and Ruth Attaway; in 1957, it was still chancy to show any sort of equanimity between black and white people on screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, James Whitmore, (more)
- 1958
Sal Mineo plays the title role in this made-for-TV musical based on the famous folk tale, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Starring alongside Mineo are Basil Rathbone as the Emperor, Cyril Ritchard as the Magician, Anna Maria Alberghetti as the Princess, and Geoffrey Holder as the Genie. Songs include "No Wonder Taxes Are High," "I Am Loved," "Ridin' High," "Opportunity Knocks but Once," and "Wouldn't It Be Fun." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1958
This Disney adventure differed from many films of its era in that it depicted an unusually humanistic view of Native Americans as it tells the story of a young Sioux who finds a wild horse, captures the magnificent animal, names him Tonka, and patiently gentles him. According to custom, he is supposed to give it to his elder cousin, a despicable and cruel fellow who takes pleasure in beating Tonka and who eventually sells him to the cavalry. A kindly cavalry captain buys Tonka and names him Comanche. Meanwhile, the grieving youth, decides he must be with his horse and so sneaks into the fort where he is promptly captured. Fortunately, the captain, who has come to love his horse as much as the boy does, understands the youth. Later the captain rides the horse into the fateful battle at Little Big Horn and in the end, Tonka is the only survivor. The youth takes his horse and is later made an honorary member of the cavalry. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, Philip Carey, (more)
- 1959
A trio of energetic young men try to put on a good show for their Army camp, in this lightweight comedy by Raoul Walsh. Luigi (Sal Mineo just risen to stardom), Jerry (Berry Coe), and Mike (Gary Crosby) are in boot camp when they are presented with a chance to represent their unit in competition on a national television show. The three guys are up to the challenge, which begins a chain of unusual circumstances that not only have them singing and dancing at the proper times, but also running into a trio of alluring young women (Barbara Eden, Terry Moore, and Christine Carere). Then there is that little mix-up when the Assistant Secretary of War mistakenly marries herself off to a doped-up Private Jerry, all for a good cause. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, Christine Carère, (more)
Sal Mineo, who'd previously registered well as the lead in the TV drama Drummer Man, essays a strikingly similar role in The Gene Krupa Story. The film details Krupa's troubled home life: (he wanted to be a musician; his father wanted him to become a priest), his rise to fame as drummer for the Benny Goodman orchestra, his years on top as a bandleader, and his ongoing problems with drug abuse. A fictional romantic subplot is grafted onto the proceeding involving clearly defined "good" and "bad" girls Ethel Maguire (Susan Kohner) and Dorissa Dinelli (Susan Oliver). Yvonne Craig has an entertaining scene as an anachronistically garbed good-time girl. Craig would later recall that, at the time of shooting The Gene Krupa Story, she weighed more than Sal Mineo, and that in the scene where he's required to lift her off the floor, she virtually had to lift him. Mineo, a drummer of some accomplishment, convincingly wields the sticks during the musical highlights, though the trickier drum solos were dubbed in by Gene Krupa himself. Real-life recording stars Anita O'Day, Red Nichols, Bobby Troup and Shelley Manne make cameo appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, Susan Kohner, (more)
Produced and directed by Otto Preminger, Exodus is a 212-minute screen adaptation of the best-selling novel by Leon Uris. The film is concerned with the emergence of Israel as an independent nation in 1947. Its first half focuses on the efforts of 611 holocaust survivors to defy the blockade of the occupying British government and sail to Palestine on the sea vessel Exodus. Paul Newman, a leader of the Hagannah (the Jewish underground), is willing to sacrifice his own life and the lives of the refugees rather than be turned back to war-ravaged Europe, but the British finally relent and allow the Exodus safe passage. Once this victory is assured, 30,000 more Jews, previously interned by the British, flood into the Holy Land. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1962
Essentially a chase film from beginning to end, this standard adventure yarn by director Ronald Neame is set in "Zahrain," a barely-disguised Middle Eastern nation. Sharif (Yul Brynner) is a rebel who has taken up arms against the country's corrupt government and the forces of Western imperialism. Now he and a small party of supporters (one a kidnapped woman about to become a supporter) take off across the desert with soldiers in hot pursuit. As the group flees through untamed country, there are brief moments of respite but no immediate escape in sight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yul Brynner, Sal Mineo, (more)
The Longest Day is a mammoth, all-star re-creation of the D-Day invasion, personally orchestrated by Darryl F. Zanuck. Whenever possible, the original locations were utilized, and an all-star international cast impersonates the people involved, from high-ranking officials to ordinary GIs. Each actor speaks in his or her native language with subtitles translating for the benefit of the audience (alternate "takes" were made of each scene with the foreign actors speaking English, but these were seen only during the first network telecast of the film in 1972). The stars are listed alphabetically, with the exception of John Wayne, who as Lt. Colonel Vandervoort gets separate billing. Others in the huge cast include Eddie Albert, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Gert Frobe, Curt Jurgens, Peter Lawford, Robert Mitchum, Kenneth More, Edmond O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Jean Servais, Rod Steiger and Robert Wagner. Paul Anka, who wrote the film's title song, shows up as an Army private. Scenes include the Allies parachuting into Ste. Mere Englise, where the paratroopers were mowed down by German bullets; a real-life sequence wherein the German and Allied troops unwittingly march side by side in the dark of night; and a spectacular three-minute overhead shot of the troops fighting and dying in the streets of Quistreham. The last major black-and-white road-show attraction, The Longest Day made millions, enough to recoup some of the cost of 20th Century Fox's concurrently produced Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1964
Sal Mineo guest stars as Private Larry Kogan, who bears witness when Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) is trapped under a fallen beam during an enemy attack. Though he has plenty of time to pull Saunders out, Kogan panics and runs away--then reports to Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) that the sergeant has been killed. By episode's end, however, Kogan has experienced an epiphany, risking his own life by heading back into occupied territory to rescue Saunders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Ford's last western film, Cheyenne Autumn was allegedly produced to compensate for the hundreds of Native Americans who had bitten the dust in Ford's earlier films (that was the director's story, anyway). Set in 1887, the film recounts the defiant migration of 300 Cheyennes from their reservation in Oklahoma territory to their original home in Wyoming. They have done this at the behest of chiefs Little Wolf (Ricardo Montalban) and Dull Knife (Gilbert Roland), peaceful souls who have been driven to desperate measures because the US government has ignored their pleas for food and shelter. Since the Cheyennes' trek is in defiance of their treaty, Captain Thomas Archer (Richard Widmark), who agrees with the Indians in principle, reluctantly leads his troops in pursuit of the tribe. While there was never any intention to shed blood, the white press finds it politically expedient to distort the Cheyennes' action into a declaration of war. Thanks to the cruelties of such chauvinistic whites as Captain Oscar Wessels (Karl Malden), the Cheyennes are forced to defend themselves--and whenever Indians take arms against whites in the 1880s, it's usually misrepresented as a massacre. Only the intervention of US secretary of the interior Carl Schurz (Edward G. Robinson) prevents the hostilities from erupting into wholesale bloodshed. Based on a novel by Mari Sandoz, Cheyenne Autumn is a cinematic elegy--not only for the beleaguered Cheyennes, but for John Ford's fifty years in pictures. It is weakest when arbitrarily throwing in a wearisome romance between Richard Widmark and pacifistic schoolmarm Carroll Baker, who out of sympathy for the Indians has joined them in their 1500-mile westward journey. When the Warner Bros. people decided that the film ran too long, they chopped out the wholly unnecessary but very funny episode involving a poker-obsessed Wyatt Earp (James Stewart). Contrary to popular belief, this episode was included in the earliest non-roadshow prints of Cheyenne Autumn; the scene was excised only when the film went into its second and third runs in 1966 (it has since been restored). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, (more)
- 1965
Shot on location in Manhattan during the mid-'60s, Who Killed Teddy Bear? is a startling piece of dramatic filmmaking. Juliet Prowse portrays Nora, a deejay and hostess at a sleazy midtown discothèque who starts to receive obscene phone calls. Nora dismisses them, until she crosses paths with Bill Madden (Jan Murray), a grim, obsessive police lieutenant specializing in sex crimes (his obsession, as he later reveals, derives from the fact that his own wife was assaulted and murdered while out alone one night); he manages both to offend and frighten Nora with his depth of knowledge and suspicions about the kinds of people who commit those crimes. They develop a close but wary relationship even as the caller, whoever he is, proves to know not only a great deal about her personal life, but also about events transpiring right inside her apartment. She goes about her life as best she can, attending auditions and making the rounds of theaters, and socializing with her co-workers at the club, including the bus boy, Larry (Sal Mineo), who seems lonely and has a very sweet younger sister who is mildly retarded. She looks to her club manager (Elaine Stritch) for help, but then rejects her when she suspects that the older woman is attracted to her -- and then Stritch is killed by the stalker, by mistake, outside Nora's building when she is seen wearing the girl's coat. Nora tries to relax and looks to Larry for friendship, only to discover that he is the stalker. Madden also makes the connection, and figures out how he was observing her inside her apartment, but he's too late to save Nora from being assaulted. Larry ends up on the run from the police, who are in hot pursuit as he flees through Manhattan's streets. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sal Mineo, Juliet Prowse, (more)
Filmmaker George Stevens chose Monument Valley, Utah for his exterior sequences in The Greatest Story Ever Told, this ($20 million) adaptation of Fulton Oursler's best-selling book. The "Greatest Story" is, of course, the life of Jesus Christ, played herein by Max Von Sydow. The large supporting cast includes Dorothy McGuire as Mary, Claude Rains as Herod the Great, Jose Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Charlton Heston as John the Baptist, Donald Pleasence as Satan (identified only as "The Dark Hermit"), David McCallum as Judas Iscariot, Sidney Poitier as Simon of Cyrene, Telly Savalas as Pontius Pilate and Martin Landau as Caiaphas. Even Robert Blake as Simon the Zealot, Jamie Farr as Thaddaeus, and motorcyle-flick veteran Richard Bakalyan as Dismas, the repentant thief, are well-suited to their roles. Originally roadshown at 260 minutes, Greatest Story Ever Told was later available in a 195-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, (more)
- 1966
Wandering cowpoke Kiowa Jones (Robert Horton) is deputized by a mortally wounded marshal (Gary Merrill) for a deadly mission. Jones is to transport two killers (Sal Mineo, Nehemiah Persoff) to a faraway fort. One of the criminals has offered a $2000 reward to anyone who will help him escape. Since Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones was the pilot for a TV series, we can say with some confidence that Mr. Jones completes his mission. This made-for-TV movie--the first such for MGM--was first networkcast on Christmas day, 1966; later on, MGM released the film theatrically in Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) is fed up with the insubordination of streetwise punk Private Vinnick (Sal Mineo), and with Vinnick's constant ragging of fellow GI Private Burke (Tom Skerritt). Accused by Vinnick of being a coward, the resentful Burke is determined to prove his courage under fire, thus placing everyone else's life in jeopardy. Further complicating the storyline is the fact that one of the two warring privates is wanted for murder in the States! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Assigned to a reconnaisance mission, Hanley (Rick Jason) is aided by veteran Resistance fighter Leon Poulon (Fernando Lama), who agrees to cooperate only if the squad takes his younger brother Marcel (Sal Mineo) along. Though Marcel has an all-consuming fear of death, Leon pretends not to notice, certain that the boy will perform heroically when the going really gets tough. But Leon's good intentions may prove fatal when he and Marcel are captured for interrogation by a cruel SS officer (played in deadly earnest by The Mary Tyler Moore Show's future "Ted Baxter"!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
A prime early example of how to make a truly worthwhile TV movie, Stranger on the Run is a tough, minimalist western in the tradition of the theatrical oaters of director Anthony Mann (one of whose favorite actors, Dan Duryea, has a supporting part in Stranger). Michael Parks is painfully convincing as a sadistic 1880s railroad detective who has a curious notion of fun and games. Upon catching drifters who hitch rides on the trains in his Southwestern jurisdiction, Parks allows the "criminals" one hour head start in the desert, with horse and supplies; then he and his deputies track the men down and kill them. Parks' latest victim is hard-bitten ex-convict Henry Fonda, who has come to town to deliver a message to his cellmate's sister. Fonda proves to be more of challenge than Parks is accustomed to, a fact that gives this brutal little tale its teeth. Anne Baxter costars in this superior TV-movie outing. Stranger on the Run's multilayered teleplay is by Reginald Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
