Pic partners seeking 'Aztec' gold

Duo paired for 'Eagles' liftoff

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Bonanno

Bill Bonanno, son of late mob boss Joseph Bonanno, has partnered with Anthony Tarantola to produce TV and film projects through Halfway to Tucson Prods.

Their first project is a fact-based film about Mexican pilots who fought in the Pacific in WWII. They've optioned "The Aztec Eagles," which details the aerial exploits of the 201st Mexican Fighter Squadron, the only Mexican Air Force unit to serve in the Pacific during WWII.

Betty Kaplan will write and direct. Kaplan's credits include the Miramax pic "Love and Shadows" and the Universal pic "Dona Barbara."

Bonanno and Tarantola, who'll be based in Arizona, have set up two additional projects: the Michael Gottlieb-scripted "Pipe Dreams," about pals who run afoul of the mob; and "Ashtabula Moon," a script by Alison Faubert, Barney Cohen and Katherine Wallack, about an aging rocker who tries to make a comeback.

Bonanno said he has obtained financing from private sources. Bonanno became a "made man," ran his father's crime syndicate for a time and is rumored to have been the basis for the Michael Corleone character in "The Godfather." He said he makes it a point not to hide his past.

"I grew up in Arizona working on the cotton farms we owned and fortunately or unfortunately, my duty station changed and I ended up in New York, doing what I had to do, not what I wanted to do," Bonanno said. "When that tour of duty ended, I came back and got on with my life. The memory has been a cottage industry for me, and I've tried to move on to other things."

Bonanno became involved in film after Hollywood came calling for rights to books he wrote about his family.

He cooperated with Gay Talese for "Honor Thy Father," a book about Bonanno and his wife, Rosalie, which was turned into a CBS telepic. Bonanno then wrote "A Man of Honor," a bestseller about his father, and served as technical adviser on "Mafia Marriage: Love, Honor, Obey," a CBS miniseries based on the story of Rosalie Bonanno. Bonanno also wrote "Bound by Honor," the basis for a six-hour Showtime mini.

Bonanno just published "The Good Guys," a novel on which he collaborated with Joe Pistone, the undercover cop whose adventures informed "Donnie Brasco." Bonanno is now working on "An Insider's History of the American Mafia" for St. Martin's Press.

While a historical film about Mexican pilots seems a stretch, Bonanno said it was simple good luck. He read a blurb about Defense Dept. commendations for Mexican WWII pilots, and research convinced him he'd found a gem of an untold story.