Frank Rizzo to hit the big screen?
Former Mayor Frank Rizzo is having an artistic resurgence in Philly.
FORMER MAYOR Frank Rizzo is having an artistic resurgence in Philly.
Man about town Harry Jay Katz has discussed making a film version of Sal Paolantonio's book, Rizzo: the Last Big Man in Big City America.
Katz pitched the treatment to Frank Stallone, who approved of the potential film and is taking it to his bro, Sylvester Stallone, about starring as Mayor Frank. In the current treatment, Frank would play Rizzo's brother, ex-Fire Commissioner Joe Rizzo.
The movie will be written and directed by Katz's son, David Bar Katz ("The Pest").
Rizzo's life was ripe for a movie when he was mayor. According to a 1986 clip from the St. Petersburg Evening Independent, Stallone once turned down a chance to play Rizzo, saying that he had a policy of not playing living people. Al Pacino, reportedly, was also interested in making a movie about Rizzo in the late '80s, but nothing got off the ground.
Last month, local company Theatre Exile announced that it would bring Paolantonio's book to its stage, in a play written by Bruce Graham.
Rock bits
* Tickets for the Rolling Stones' June 18 show at the Wells Fargo Center go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. at comcasttix.com or by calling 1-800-298-4200.
* The second annual XPN Music Film Festival starts Thursday and celebs abound. Former CBS anchor Larry Kane will talk about his Beatles love before fest opener "Good Ol' Freda," on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Annenberg Center.
Actor-musician hyphenates John Doe (of punk band X) and Loudon Wainwright III (who was in the Judd Apatow sitcom "Undeclared") will talk to XPN host David Dye about their new flick, "Pleased To Meet Me," at 9:30 p.m. Friday at World Cafe Live.
Darlene Love and Lisa Fischer, who gained prominence as backup singers, will stick around for a Q&A after the screening of "Twenty Feet From Stardom," the doc about backup singers that scored at the Sundance Film Festival. They'll be at the Mandell Theater at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
Here's to Mr. Robinson
The Anderson Monarchs, the baseball team from the Marian Anderson Rec Center, attended a screening of Jackie Robinson biopic "42," which hits theaters Friday. Last summer, the Monarchs hopped on a vintage bus and embarked on a 22-day, 4,000-mile tour to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier.
The Daily News' own Stan Hochman will be joining film critic Gary Thompson at a special screening of "42" on Thursday, open only to the best readers in the world: you guys.
To enter to see the flick with a guest a day early (and free), text DAILYNEWS and your ZIP code to 43549 by 11 a.m. Wednesday. Winners will be notified at noon.
Art thieves
Poster artists are crying foul over website Art.com selling their work without authorization, including a piece by Tim Gough, who serves as art director at Philadelphia magazine. He found that his poster for a 2005 Philly gig by punk band Strike Anywhere was being sold for $60 on the site without his knowledge. The posters were reportedly taken from the books Gigposters Vol. 1 & 2, published by Philadelphia-based Quirk Books. One copy of Gigposters sells for only $40 on the Quirk Books site (quirkbooks.com).
"We strongly oppose this usage of our book and we will work with the founder of Gigposters.com on behalf of the artists," Brett Cohen, vice president of Quirk Books, wrote in a statement.
Sean Pate, director of publicity at Art.com, said the site bought the Gigposters book on the open market, framed the prints and resold them, which is completely legal under copyright law, like reselling a book on Amazon. He added that the site would prefer to work directly with the artists to get their work on Art.com. But because of conversations with artists, the site will be removing the posters.
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