Drive-In Did Right Thing

The management of a drive-in theater in Westminster made a wise decision last week when it let one of its theaters go dark for three nights rather than risk providing an occasion for more incidents of gang violence.

On Feb. 23, a brawl between gangs broke out at the Hi-Way 39 Drive-In Theater during a showing of “Angel Town,” the story of a former kick boxer who moves in with a Latino family living in the midst of gang warfare. While the movie was showing on one of the theater’s screens, rival gang members smashed car windows with baseball bats, and one 18-year-old suspected gang member was wounded in the chest by a small-caliber handgun. It was an unfortunate instance of life imitating the movies.

It should be noted there was no evidence to link the content of the movie directly with that outbreak of violence. However, the showing of the film at the outdoor gathering place seemed to provide an occasion for tensions to be vented. Of course, it doesn’t make sense to blame theater management for problems people bring to the theater with them, nor to cite the film maker. But whatever the source of the disturbance, police and city officials were prudent in urging that another screening of the movie the night after the violence be canceled.

The theater’s management deserves special recognition for its decision not to show the movie at all during its scheduled run. The drive-in simply lost the revenue that it might have made if it had shown the film. It does have other screens, but to its credit theater management put public safety before profits in its decision to pull the film.