Protest, Debate Greet Premiere of ‘Temptation’

“The Last Temptation of Christ” premiered in Los Angeles and eight other U.S. and Canadian cities today, and both protesters and supporters of the controversial film carried placards and some engaged in debate as they stood in line at theaters.

Meanwhile in Hollywood, nearly two dozen of the film industry’s most prominent directors publicly defended Martin Scorsese’s right to make the movie and called on the nation’s theater owners to stand up to pressure against showing the controversial film.

At the Century City Cineplex Odeon Theater, about 800 people--the capacity of the theater--waited for the first showing at noon. One young man waiting to enter the theater wore a T-shirt with the words: “Relax. It’s Only a Movie.”

Paint Splashed at Theater

The only disruptive element before the showings began was yellow paint that had been splashed in the early-morning hours on the glass casing of one of the movie’s posters and on a large plate-glass window of the theater box office.

The first person in line was a man who identified himself as Bobby Bible of Long Beach, who said he arrived at 7 a.m. The second person, who arrived at 8 a.m., was Dale Hoppert of Glendale, who carried a sign saying, “I Support Freedom of Artistic Expression.”

At the press conference at the Directors Guild of America’s headquarters in Hollywood, director Sydney Pollack, whose films include “Out of Africa,” said, “It makes me very sad, as well as frightened, to see something like this happen. What’s at stake is the very essence of what we mean when we talk about a free society.”

“For some of these groups to foist themselves upon us as some kind of thought police is reprehensible,” said “Miami Vice” creator Michael Mann.

Statement of Support

Other directors who signed a statement of support for Scorsese included John Carpenter, Clint Eastwood, Randa Haines, Walter Hill, Billy Wilder and Robert Zemeckis.

In New York City today, about two dozen demonstrators picketed in front of the Ziegfield Theater, some shouting at the hundreds of film-goers who formed a line that wrapped around the block for a matinee showing.

In Washington, about 100 people were in line by the time the box office opened 50 minutes before show time. About 20 sign-carrying protesters were present, as well as a handful of police and one counter-protester. “The Last Temptation” also opened in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto and Montreal.