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Sinatra's SecretCynthia's Column January 2005 In more than twenty years of researching and writing screenplays, I have learned a lot of odd and sometimes useless but colorful things. In the interest of Re-use/Recycle here are some of the juicy little gems I have uncovered while looking for other things. The biggest of these is who killed JFK. But being a dramatist, I'll save this for the climax of the Column . To begin with the minutia, did you know that the word "posh" comes from the days of transatlantic luxury liners when the richest of the rich Brits could afford to book staterooms "Port Out, Starboard Home" so they'd have sunny southern exposure both ways? "Tip" as in tipping the waiter also comes from old England. Originally there was a bowl for coins labeled "To Insure Promptness." Do you know why they call it "flying by the seat of your pants?" Before instrumentation, early flyboys knew that it was dangerous to lose track of when they were flying level. Eyeballing it alone was sometimes dangerously deceptive. So they'd put a pan of water in their laps and if they flew too far off level they'd wet the seat of their pants. I came across a wonderful 11 syllable word that is now one of my favorites. Paraskevidekatriaphobia. This is what Emily Dickenson might call "a twenty-five cent word."It means fear of Friday the Thirteenth. (Which only has 7 syllables. )Oh well, it may not be efficient but it is elegant. And fun to say. Having written a lot of TV movie biographies, I have learned many surprising, sometimes juicy things about famous people. Here are a few highlights: James Madison, fourth president and "Father of the Constitution" was financially ruined by his wife Dolley's son John Payne Todd, who traveled in Europe drinking and gambling away the Madison family fortune. After James' death, Dolley even lost Montpelier, the family home in Virginia, which was later bought back by the country and restored as a national monument. Grace Kelly would have married fashion designer Oleg Casini long before she ever met Prince Rainier of Monaco, had her parents not forbid the match. Mark Twain's greatest regret was about his beloved wife Olivia."When I married Livy she believed in God and life eternal, but in thirty-four years I succeeded in joking her out of it, bit by bit, until by the time she died she no longer believed in anything. By then I couldn't help her and I'd already robbed her of the one thing that might have helped." Elvis was offered the part of Tony in the movie of West Side Story. This was 1960, before he went into the army, before his mother died, before his acting career had turned to Technicolor jello. He would have been amazing as Tony. The only thing he asked was could they get Natalie Wood to play Maria. He'd had a thing for her since seeing her with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. They got Natalie, then "Colonel" Parker made his demands. Elvis's name had to be above the title and they had to pay him $1 million. These were deal breakers, the deal broke and so did Elvis's movie career. Years later Barbra Streisand had lengthy talks with Elvis about playing opposite her in the remake of A Star is Born. Elvis was willing but the "Colonel" was still calling the shots and so it didn't happen and Kris Kristofferson went on to play the role. When you research a person's life with an eye toward writing a movie biography you begin by looking for the theme. The story at the heart of the life. Elvis's life was a Faust story, and in reading dozens of books, I found the exact moment that the deal with the devil was made. It will come as no surprise to you that I see "Colonel" Tom Parker as the devil's advocate. The exact words that passed between them shortly after they met sealed the devil's bargain. Parker said, "Son, if you sign with me, you'll make a million dollars a year." And Elvis said, "Sir, if you can do that, I'll do anything you say."They shook hands and that was the beginning of the end. Why couldn't Elvis ever escape from the "Colonel's" clutches? (I use quotation marks because Parker was no Colonel. He wasn't even Southern. In fact he wasn't even American. ) With all his fame and fortune in twenty years why couldn't he ever break free? Well, the Devil doesn't play fair. Parker had home movies of Elvis with some underage girls, and having seen what that kind of thing did to Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis tried a couple of times, but in the end he never did break free. And now for Mr. Sinatra's Secret. Who killed JFK? I'm not saying this is The Truth. I'm just saying this is the truth from Frank Sinatra's point of view. You can decide for yourself. Sinatra was close to JFK. And to mob boss Sam Giancana. In 1960, when it looked like Jack Kennedy might lose to Nixon in the Presidential race, Joe Kennedy (JFK's father) met with Sinatra and said, "We can't win without the Teamsters. Can you get us the Teamster vote?" Frank went to Sam Giancana and asked him to get the Teamsters to back Kennedy. Giancana agreed. The Teamsters went with JFK. Jack Kennedy won with the smallest margin in history up to that time. After the election, Sam Giancana told Sinatra, "This is what we want in return from the Kennedys. . ." But when Frank went to Jack and Bobby, they wouldn't do anything, or even acknowledge the debt to the mob. In fact when Jack appointed RFK Attorney General, Bobby's first order of business was to go after organized crime. Needless to say this pissed some people off. Sinatra had to go to Sam Giancana with hat in hand and say, "I'm sorry. It was a misunderstanding. That was a personal favor to me. The Kennedy's won't play ball." And from then on the mob owned Sinatra. He had to play their casinos for free, and bring his Rat Pack along for the ride. If you look at the footage of those drunken Rat Pack casino performances, this is what those are about. According to Sinatra, Sam Giancana got even with the Kennedys by having Jack killed. Jack Ruby was one of their guys. Oswald was, obviously, a dupe. I asked if they had Bobby killed as well, but the answer was no."They never leave the shooters alive."Sirhan Sirhan is still alive. By the way, the theme for Sinatra's life story was that the little guy can keep coming up a winner if he never gives up and doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks. Francis Albert kept re-inventing himself. From crooner to actor to saloon singer to Chairman of the Board. When he came out of retirement, the fifty-foot-high billboard in Vegas needed only two words and everyone got it."HE'S BACK!" The only argument I ever won with Tina Sinatra (producer of the 5 hour miniseries Sinatra that I worked on) was over what the closing song should be. She wanted "My Way." I told her if she ended with that it would reduce her Dad's life to an ego trip. The song that best represented what his life was really about was "That's Life.""Each time I find myself lying flat on my face, I just pick myself up and get back in the race. That's life. . ." That was Mr. Sinatra's life. And this is my life. Filled with interesting items that I have finally found a use for. Thanks. Cynthia Whitcomb is president of Willamette Writers, and has had 29 of her screenplays produced. She is author of The Writers' Guide to Writing Your Screenplay and The Writers' Guide to Selling Your Screenplay. She teaches screenwriting classes at Portland State University.and through Willamette Writers. |