SYNOPSIS:

An alcoholic father. A desperate mother. Shipped to an orphanage, stripped of his name, and sexually assaulted, the young boy escapes to the streets and a life of petty crime. Longing to be somebody, the Mafia fills the void and he’s left holding the bag for an aborted heist and sent to prison. The abuse of his past, a decade of confinement, and fear of the Mafia take their psychological toll. Upon release from prison, love unexpectedly comes his way until a mafioso soldier squeezes himself into the mix. Feeling betrayed, “Mr. Unknown” suffers a psychotic break, ushering in Dr. Sam—a visionary therapist who caringly puts his client on the road to recovery, telling him, “You can never get the ‘old’ life back. You don’t want the old life back. But you can get a new life.”

Reasserting its mental control, the Mafia kills an older brother, throwing Mr. Unknown into an emotional tailspin. Will he seek retribution or find forgiveness? With his brother’s killer lying comatose right before him, will he exact his revenge? Or will the real Mr. Unknown—Harold Johnson—step out of the dark shadows of his past into the brilliant, healing light of a new day?

Screenplay by:  David Goldblum, D. Paul Thomas, Wendell Wellman, Based on the book Harold’s Story by Dr. Sam Mayhugh

Loving a fantasy persona fueled by the Mafia, an abused orphan, “Mr. Unknown,” stumbles his way through loss and revenge, searching for love, healing, and true meaning.

Age 8
A small, shy, and abused boy. He runs away from the orphanage and joins his older brother, Teddy, on the streets in a life of petty crime.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
A juvenile look-alike to elder Harold.
……………………………………………………………….
Age 20s
Harold takes up with the Mafia. Sentenced to ten years for a robbery gone bad, he comes out of prison fearful, paranoid, feeling like a nobody. Eating becomes his antidote to pain, but nothing fills the void.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Paul Walter Hauser, Taylor Lautner, Daniel Redcliffe, Berry Keoghan.

Age late 20s / early 30s
Latinx. Majestic Club receptionist. She’s smart, attractive, and ambitious. She sweeps Harold off his feet, and so begins a dance of death before the wedding night is over.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Natalie Martinez, Melissa Barrera, Selena Gomez, Adria Arjona.

Age 60s
A bearded, former beatnik turned vocal advocate for society’s most vulnerable. He’ll not rest until Harold gets his “new” life.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
John Goodman, Brad Whitford, Gary Sinise.

Age 30s
A reckless, hot-headed Mafia soldier with eyes and hands for Maria.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Alessandro Borghi, Luca Marinella, Joseph Perrino.

Age 40s-50s
Matron of the orphanage, she enjoys playing the “queen bee” to the hilt. She sexually abuses Harold and later confesses.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Patricia Arquette, Sherilyn Fenn, Virginia Madsen, Anna Gun, Kristen Johnson.

Age 40s-60s
African American. Cooks at the orphanage and befriends Harold, then shows up twenty years later, revealing past secrets. He is, by nature, a healer.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Micheal Beach.

Age late 20s-late 40s
Harold’s mother. She gives up her children and move out of state, only to find her way home again.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Tara Reid, Jen Johansen.

Age 20s
Tough, street smart. Leader of the “Urchin.” Eventually gives up the life of crime and becomes a professional boxer. Ignores the Mafia and is killed.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Caleb Landry Jones, Thomas Mann.

Age late 20s
African American, gutsy, bright, former addict who encourages Harold to seek the light.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Ashleigh Murray, China Anne McClain.

Age 18-late 20s
Teddy and Harold’s sidekicks in the Urchins.Takes over after Teddy disappears.

POSSIBLE ACTORS
Noah Centineo, Colin Ford.

Except for the opening rural scenes at the
orphanage, Mr. Unknown is set in an obscure world—it feels like New York City but could be any crowded, urban area where the Mafia has a presence.

We cover twenty years, from 1940 to 1960, but the time is nebulous, even as an exact time and place were unclear.

Mr. Unknown is based on a book I wrote two years ago with D. Paul Thomas, entitled Harold’s Story. Among my other duties as a psychologist, I was founder of the Lamb’s Counseling Center in Manhattan. It was at “The Lamb’s,” in 1976, that I met Harold.

At the time, Harold was living in one of the small rooms located on the sixth floor that provided care for homeless men and others requiring special services. Somehow, Harold had survived a life of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse—a life of crime, prison, and psychiatric hospitals, along with a broken marriage.

How was it, I wondered, that Harold was now able to function at a relatively high level and be a positive influence in serving others? Perhaps Harold’s story held important influences to the healing process? Prompted by these questions, I suggested to Harold that his life story might benefit others in need of healing. He graciously offered to assist.

I provided Harold with a tape recorder and a box of cassettes, encouraging him to recall the distant events and details of his painful past. Those memories proved therapeutic for Harold and resulted in his dictating over five hundred pages of a tortuous life journey, but ultimately a journey of uncommon healing. That journey of forgiveness and healing is now the exciting and uplifting journey we take in—Mr. Unknown.

Some of the most powerful portrayals of the human condition are found in films which explore mental health with care, accuracy, and compassion.

Each of us know someone, a friend, family member, or co-worker who struggle with a range of issues, from mild depression to debilitating psychic breaks.

More than ever, there is an awareness that all of us need to be concerned with mental health—our own and with those whom we love. The Covid pandemic has brought us a heightened sense of isolation and a renewed search for meaning.

Mr. Unknown shows us that every person’s core identity is paramount, that life is precious, and that with great care there is healing to be found.

Leads and manages the development of TGA’s marketing roadmaps. Ms. Betancourt conducts research and does creative collaboration with artists, both inside TGA and with creative vendors. She is an Executive Producer on the soon to be completed feature film, Of Things Past.

An executive psychologist who recently retired from IBH, a behavioral healthcare company he founded thirty-one years ago. For seven years he served as Chief Clinical Services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California. “Dr. Sam” served as a special Contractor for U.S. Homeland Security. For seven years, he was a guiding light on the Board of Directors of Victory Films, a Hollywood based film company producing “movies that inspire.”

Dr. Sam has written seven books, most recently as co-author of The Odyssey of King David. Currently, he is Executive Producer on the feature film, Of Things Past. His PhD is from Indiana State University, with post-doctorate certificate programs from Harvard and Oxford Universities.

Actor, director, producer, and writer, having recently finished the screenplays for Of Things Past and Mr. Unknown, with co-writer, Dr. Sam Mayhugh. He was director of The 15th Time Around, starring Emmy-Award winner, Michael Moriarty, and has worked with such artists as Olympia Dukakis, Jason Robards, and Christopher Plummer. He directed “and,” starring Tony-Award winner, Ron Silver. Among Mr. Thomas’s plays, Bonhoeffer 1945 was “Best Pick” of the London Times. As President of Victory Films, he produced and directed commercials, documentaries, and feature films. He recently wrote The Odyssey of King David with Dr. “Sam,” and is an Executive Producer on Of Things Past.

Mr. Wellman’s movies include prominent roles in Sudden Impact, Sommersby, Street of Dreams, Curfew, and Lee Marvin’s son in The Klansman. As a screenwriter, he has worked at Paramount, Universal, Fox, Embassy Pictures, and Warner Brothers. In addition to co-writing Firefox for director Clint Eastwood, Mr. Wellman did on set revisions on Clint’s “Dirty Harry” hit, Sudden Impact, while also playing the role of Tyrone in the movie. Ultimately Mr. Eastwood hired Mr. Wellman once again to develop a final Dirty Harry project, which Mr. Eastwood has kept under lock and key to this day. Who knows?

Wendell is a sought-after lecturer, teacher, and producer. Currently, he teaches screenwriting at StoryBoard, Fox Studios, Los Angeles, and is co-writing Mister Unknown for TGA Productions.

Doc Duhame is one of the most respected stunt coordinators in Hollywood. He is known for his work on, Men in Black, Lethal Weapon 4, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Dexter, Lone Ranger, Better Call Saul, Westworld, Django Unchained, to name a few. For the past three seasons he has worked as stunt coordinator/2nd Unit Director on Ray Donovan, and in the new Ray Donovan movie currently showing on Showtime. He reunites with Dr. Sam Mayhugh and D. Paul Thomas after working with them on The 15th Time Around (aka Of Things Past). Both of his children, Zack and Rachel, continue the Duhame tradition as in-demand stunt coordinators.

Located in Kansas City, Paddock Productions is known nationwide for its top-flight quality, its inception dating back to Fred’s father, cinematographer Charles Paddock, whose earlier colleague was Robert Altman. A full-service video production company, Fred has filmed and produced hundreds of commercials (Walmart was a major client), along with documentaries and docudramas and numerous feature films, frequently shot on one of his favorite cameras, the Arri 35 mm BL4, once owned by Haskell Wexler. Fred was an Executive Producer and Director of Photography with director D. Paul Thomas on The 15th Time Around, Fanny Crosby—The Musical, along with films shot in Swaziland, Africa, and the Amazon jungle of Peru, etc. More, at fredpaddock.com & paddock.com.