FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR VITO BRANCATO…
Using close friend Frank Sinatra as a go-between, the Kennedys elicit a favor from Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana to flip the union vote in favor of JFK – in return for future protection from government prosecution. But favors turn into betrayal when the newly appointed Attorney General (brother Bobby) declares war on the American Mafia. The story climaxes with the mysterious death of JFK’s mistress Marilyn Monroe in Los Angeles – and then an elaborate plan to assassinate President Kennedy in Chicago in the fall of ‘62…one year before Dallas.
First, he wrote the television screenplay, a series about how the lives of JFK, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Sam Giancana intertwined to sway the 1960 presidential election and changed the course of American history. Then Brancato adapted it into a novel – PRINCES & THIEVES – with all the dialogue intact – each of the ten chapters in the book version representing an episode. And now, a feature length docudrama BEFORE DALLAS (based on the novel) that brings those historic and iconic characters to life.
