*By submitting your contribution, you agree to TCM's Terms of Use. TCM will use your personal information consistent with our Privacy Policy

• I Was There

  • Will's Grampy
  • 6/15/12

  In 1956 I was a senior at Tifton High School on a school trip to Savannah GA. I stayed with my aunt while there. She took me out to Bethesda Boys Orphanage to watch a movie being shot on site. We were allowed to go right up to the set where they were shooting between two dorms. Out ran Sal Mineo, whom I recognized instantly, along with several other character actors whom I recognized. They were all running out to see a former orphan who had made it big, and came back in a baby blue Cadillac convertible. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen, and played a pivotal role in the movie itself. Sal Mineo was very friendly with all of us watching the movie being shot. I saw the movie on TCM two nights ago, and it still holds up as an exciting story 56 years later. I remembered many of the scenes I saw actually being shot in 1956. The car was still beautiful, but the film was shot in B&W, so you could not see the actual color. Great memories of a very good movie.

• Teen-age Memories

  • Will's Grampy
  • 6/15/12

  In 1956 I was a senior at Tifton High School on a school trip to Savannah GA. I stayed with my aunt while there. She took me out to Bethesda Boys Orphanage to watch a movie being shot on site. We were allowed to go right up to the set where they were shooting between two dorms. Out ran Sal Mineo, whom I recognized instantly, along with several other character actors whom I recognized. They were all running out to see a former orphan who had made it big, and came back in a baby blue Cadillac convertible. It was the most beautiful car I had ever seen, and played a pivotal role in the movie itself. Sal Mineo was very friendly with all of us watching the movie being shot. I saw the movie on TCM two nights ago, and it still holds up as an exciting story 56 years later. I remembered many of the scenes I saw actually being shot in 1956. The car was still beautiful, but the film was shot in B&W, so you could not see the actual color. Great memories of a very good movie.

• The Young Don't Cry (1957)

  • Bruce Reber
  • 6/15/12

  I saw this fine drama on TCM 6/14/12 as part of their month-long Teen Idols festival. It's the third time I've seen it, and it features strong performances from both Sal Mineo and James Whitmore. Mineo plays a sensitive teen from a Southern orphanage who befriends a chain-gang convict imprisoned for manslaughter. I've seen Mineo in several other films, including "Rebel Without A Cause", "Exodus" (both of which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor) and "The Gene Krupa Story", in which he gave a knockout performance as the legendary drummer (and for which he should have received a Best Actor Oscar nomination). BTW, will "The Gene Krupa Story" be available on DVD soon? I have a VHS recording from when TCM aired it in January 2011, and it's in pan & scan (fullscreen). When it is released (hopefully very soon) on DVD I hope it's in letterbox (widescreen) format. I'd like to add it to my collection. Sal Mineo was one of Hollywood's tragic stories-he did quite well in the 50's (he also did some theater work), but by the early to mid 60's his career began to fade as he was being offered subpar roles in films ranging from mediocre to awful. He met a horrible death on February 12, 1976 when he was gunned down outside of his Hollywood apartment at age 37. Please have a Star of The Month tribute or a Summer Under The Stars day for Sal Mineo sometime TCM-he was an underrated talent who died way too soon.

• good movie

  • mark parker sr.
  • 12/21/09

  my dad was raised at bethesda home for boys in savannah ga. just wanted it available for him and me to see.

• More Reviews