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Published November 7, 2004 Chicago's Kennedy Connection What if an attempt on JOHN F. KENNEDY's life was made long before he was assassinated in Dallas? What if that attempt happened in Chicago? These questions are the crux of local filmmaker VITO BRANCATO's interesting short film "Blackstone," a fictional account of a 1962 plan by Chicago mobster SAM GIANCANA to off Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser at the Blackstone Hotel. It airs Nov. 21 on PBS (Channel 11 here) the day before the anniversary of Kennedy's 1963 assassination. "It's fiction -- it's very important that I point this out," Brancato told Armour & Co. a few days ago over cocktails at PHIL STEFANI's 437 Rush. "But it's fiction based on elements that were real. Sam Giancana was real. We all know how he felt about Kennedy. And Kennedy did come to the Blackstone." In fact, Brancato nicely intersperses footage of an actual visit Kennedy made to the Blackstone into his 30-minute film, which he pitched to PBS after missing a deadline for this year's Chicago International Film Festival. Brancato hopes to expand "Blackstone," which features all local talent, into a longer version. "It's satisfying, to a point," said Brancato, best known for his 1990s cult cable access show "On Edge With the Razor." "It's like having an appetizer. You're looking forward to having a steak dinner, but you have the appetizer first." |
