Pocket Battleship: A LIFE Stolen2023

Patterson Cannamela, a.k.a "Pat", a.k.a. "Uncle Busty" — the filmmaker's great-great-uncle — was born the son of impoverished Italian immigrants in 1929 and raised in New London, Connecticut. Cannamela won a scholarship to play for the Trojans at the University of Southern California, and was soon thereafter selected by the Football Writers' Association, International News Service, and Newspaper Enterprise Association as a first-team player for their 1951 College Football All-America teams. He was subsequently drafted by the NFL for the 1952 season, as a linebacker for the Dallas Texans, and for a brief moment in time enjoyed national renown.

After LIFE magazine defamed Cannamela — erroneously accusing him of maiming an opponent during a USC vs. Cal State game — his career and reputation suffered irreparable damage. He was later murdered in a department store robbery in Los Angeles in 1973, where he lived and worked after settling into civilian life following the dissolution of his athletic career.

A half-century since his passing, Pocket Battleship: A LIFE Stolen examines Cannamela's story as it relates to themes of family, poverty, sports culture, mass media, and the mythos and fallacies of the so-called “American Dream."

Screenings:

Millennium Film Workshop (May 26, 2023)