Dino (TV)

This is one of several teleplays from "Westinghouse Theater" that were released on DVD. These live-action one-hour plays were written for TV and featured, in many cases, big-name movie actors. The episodes that have survived were copied using the Kinescope process--resulting in grainy but very watchable programs. This particular program features Sal Mineo as the title character. Evidently, he'd been in a reform school for four and a half years due to his participation in a gang murder. The film takes place at his release--showing him meeting with his psychiatrist, rejoining his family and going about his routine to reintroduce him to society. This sort of plot is not at all surprising, as Mineo played a similar sort of character the year before in "Rebel Without a Cause". However, it is NOT so similar that it's just a rehash. Instead, it's an interesting and well-meaning bit of social commentary that is actually amazingly well acted--and it's not too surprising that Mineo earned an Emmy Award for this performance. While Ralph Meeker's psychiatrist is a bit too talkative (a common problem with therapists portrayed in films and TV), but he's also pretty good. While this is not among the best of the teleplays of the 1950s, it is darn close--and it makes for a very compelling piece.