Steamy Photos From James Franco's Bio of Sal Mineo

Newly released photos from Sal, James Franco's passion project about late gay actor Sal Mineo, indicate that the actor isn't shying away from the homoerotic element of the tragic story.

By Jeremy Kinser

SAL MINEO STILL MAIN X390 (COURTESY) | ADVOCATE.COM

Newly released photos from Sal, James Franco's passion project about late gay actor Sal Mineo, indicate that the actor isn't shying away from the homoerotic element of the tragic story.
Franco optioned the rights to writer Michael Gregg Michaud's Sal Mineo, undoubtedly the definitive biography of the '50s icon. Little information about the project has been made public so far, but the film was shot in just nine days in Los Angeles, an impossibly short amount of time for any film and unheard of for a period piece. Based on the photos and with Franco costarring as Milton Katselas, director of the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, the play Mineo was rehearsing at the time of his murder in 1976, it's likely the film will focus solely on the last days of the actor. Further evidence is photogenic actor Val Lauren, who stars as Mineo, sports the shaggy, curly hair Mineo wore toward the end of his life. Sal marks yet another gay-focused project for Franco, who lists acclaimed turns in Milk, Howl, and The Broken Tower on his résumé. Franco played bisexual actor James Dean, Mineo's costar in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause, in the eponymous 2001 television film. The Mineo film is expected to be released in 2013.

See photos from the shoot on the following pages.

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Reader Comments

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Name: jaydehall
Date posted: 10/15/2011 4:32:01 PM
Hometown: South Central Nebraska

Comment:
I see that several of these photos were taken in a STEAM BATH. Thus, the 'taunt' to us readers with the word STEAMY. Don't get so upset, guys!!
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Name: Rick
Date posted: 9/23/2011 6:08:55 PM
Hometown: Palm Springs

Comment:
Should be an interesting movie. But you guys consdier these steamy pictures? NOT!!!
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Name: Douglas
Date posted: 7/19/2011 7:30:49 PM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:
"the film was shot in just nine days in Los Angeles, an impossibly short amount of time for any film and unheard of for a period piece." Excuse me. Roger Corman shot THE RAVEN in less than two weeks, and it's set in the 13th Century. Hardly "unheard of". Rare? Yes. Unheard of? No.
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Name: william
Date posted: 7/19/2011 6:33:21 PM
Hometown: Palm Springs

Comment:
I agree, steamy these are certainly not ... Let's hope the film is good though these photos don't suggest it ...
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Name: melvin
Date posted: 7/19/2011 1:44:31 PM
Hometown: sd

Comment:
Steamy, my foot. I have seen more in a health club.
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Name: James M. Martin
Date posted: 7/19/2011 1:17:14 PM
Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas

Comment:
The question is, how well has he made gay films? While I liked the way animation was used to "illustrate" Ginsberg poems like "Howl," I thought the casting in that biopic was awful: no way can Franco be as fat, bearded, and unattractive as Ginsberg was as a middle-aged mail and other times depicted in Franco's film about the poet, nor is Franco exactly a double for another poet he has played, the alcoholic Hart Crane! Let's face it, Franco is a pretty boy. He shouldn't be cast in roles that have him as ugly or dissipated poets. It destroys the suspension of disbelief. At this rate, I can't wait for him to play Oscar Wilde.
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Name: Richard John LeBoeuf
Date posted: 7/19/2011 1:06:06 PM
Hometown: Montegut, LA

Comment:
I was a fan of James Franco before all these gay films were made, but now, I'm just smitten. I'm writing to point out that in addition to all of the homosexual-themed films he's appearing in of late, he is also in the prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful, in which Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams play witches and James Franco, the title character is: “a man coming to terms with who he is.” : ) *sigh* Dare to dream...
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Name: David
Date posted: 7/19/2011 12:57:46 PM
Hometown: Montana

Comment:
I echo the comments of another poster here, why 9 days to shoot the film and 2 years till it comes out?Unless Franco has something up his...sleeve, that will come out around the same time and get additional coverage? What's with the word here 'steamy'? So who let the steam escape? It's like comparing the portrait of George Washinton crossing The Delaware - now THAT was steamy!
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Name: Chuck Mielke
Date posted: 7/19/2011 12:02:33 PM
Hometown: Madison, WI, USA

Comment:
Can we really blame Advocate, a media outlet, for doing what media do: hyping other media?
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Name: ken naponielllo
Date posted: 7/19/2011 11:40:19 AM
Hometown: columbus ohio

Comment:
Very liberal use of the word 'steamy', Advocate. Unless yer holding out on us.

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