Crime Family Movie Could Be A Real "Hit"
The man who made Mafia history by testifying against his own father wants another shot at glory -- John Franzese Jr. has written a treatment for a screenplay about life with his dad, John "Sonny" Franzese.
Franzese Jr., whose testimony in Brooklyn federal court helped send the doddering 93-year-old don to prison for, most likely, the rest of his life, recalls an idyllic suburban childhood filled with the "fun and excitement" of hanging out with some of the most famous figures in the sports world -- and the underworld.
"I was his favorite son, without a doubt, and he was my idol and hero," he recalls in the proposal, which boasts a title long enough to fill a couple of screens -- "The John Franzese Story: From a Loving, Devoted Son to a Mafia Man to Hopeless Drug Addict to a Life."
He happily remembers how he and his six siblings were welcomed in the Mets clubhouse.
And how his dad's pals treated him like royalty.
"People gave me things for free all the time," he says. "When I came around, all the known gangsters came by to say hello. My day was all fun and excitement. It was obvious to me I was being known, and known all over, and I loved it!"
When he played Little League, his dad would show up "with a crowd of people, many of them gangsters considered to be 'with him.' "
"I started to notice a change in the coaches, the parents, and the tone of the whole practice when my father showed up. He wasn't an actor or famous politician, but everyone noticed, was mesmerized by his presence," he says.
Eventually, he says, he started scoring heroin and coke from his family's mob buddies in Williamsburg.
"It seemed to me, as an 18-year-old boy/man, the neighborhood welcomed me with open arms and wallets," he recalls. But even though his dad took him into the family business, he never was fully trusted because of his addiction.
Hinting at why he turned against his father, he says that everything he did -- including choosing a life of crime -- was to earn his dad's love.
"So I would stand up to the task of making him proud because I needed to feel that way, whatever it took," he writes.
"And that meant depleting myself of myself, retiring anything and everything of who I was for who I needed to be.
"I had to sacrifice everything I loved, everything I was before this life of crime, all my past. My former childhood friends, girlfriends, sensitivity, feelings, everything!"
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