Can Hollywood Do the Right Thing? : Violence Mars ‘Boyz N the Hood’ Opening, but Insiders Still See Future for Black-Themed Films

Before Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” opened, there was speculation about the potential for violence at movie theaters because of its racial theme. But nothing happened.

The theaters were relatively quiet when the comedies “House Party” and “The Hollywood Shuffle”--two other films about the African American experience--opened.

But put movies that have an appeal to gang members on the screen--films like “Colors” and, most recently, “Boyz N the Hood”--and a collision occurs. These films, despite anti-gang and anti-drug themes--had openings that were marred by violence.

After a weekend of violence when at least one man was killed and 33 others wounded at theaters around the nation, where “Boyz N the Hood” opened, Hollywood is wondering what happens now?

Some studio executives and filmmakers say that in the future, they expect some theaters to have second thoughts about booking a movie aimed at urban youth. But the level of resistance won’t be serious enough to restrict the flow of black-themed films.

The reason: The very movies that attract a potentially violent crowd--like “New Jack City” and “Boyz”--are the ones that make the most money. These movies draw teen-agers who will stand in long lines and go back to see a movie more than once. In its first weekend, “Boyz” did a very strong $10 million and, since its release, “New Jack City” has taken in about $47 million.

“I think there will be apprehension on the part of some to make movies that in any way depict violence rooted in black America,” said Topper Carew, director of the upcoming fall release about a Watts comedy club, “Talkin’ Dirty After Dark.” “At the same time it’s tantalizing (because of potential profits).”

“You can’t let the incidents over the weekend determine the future of black cinema . . . The theater community has to be a little more prepared to handle this kind of situation, and the audiences have to act more responsibly,” Carew said. Sandra Evers Manly, the president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood chapter of the NAACP, also tried to be optimistic. “I can only hope this doesn’t hurt black filmmakers’s chances,” she said on Monday. Her organization has been highly critical of opportunities for blacks in Hollywood, but she applauded distributor Columbia Pictures for releasing “Boyz.”

Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, which is releasing the inter-racial “Hangin’ With the Homeboys,” warned Hollywood against lumping all black movies together as potentially sparking violence. He also cited violence-laden marketing campaigns as one of the culprits behind the current outbreaks. “There are so many films now geared to the same audience that the sell has to be harder,” he said.

Some community workers who deal with gangs have suggested that the members are drawn to such movies by the advertising and because it is a “place to be.”

The ad campaign for “Boyz” came under question by members of the press during a news conference on Saturday with the film’s director John Singleton. One aspect of the campaign has shown clips of gang fighting in which a young man wearing a red baseball cap sticks a sawed-off shotgun out of a car window.

But if there was going to be any change in advertising strategy for “Boyz,” executives at Columbia were not saying. Requests for interviews were denied. On Saturday the studio had issued a statement that deplored the violence and defended the marketing of the movie. “ . . . in no way have we sought to exploit or pander to violence,” the statement said. The studio also offered to pay theaters for added security.

One distribution executive said theaters have to learn more about crowd control. “I would guess that over half of the incidents over the weekend resulted from bad operations, bad management and bad supervision,” he said.

At the nation’s only African-American-owned first-run movie theater, the Baldwin Theater on South La Brea Ave., no incidents of trouble of any kind were reported over the weekend. Like most theaters, the Baldwin added heavy security, but, in addition, it used metal detectors for patrons entering the “Boyz” showings.

Said Kenneth Lombard, the theater’s executive vice president: “We have a relationship with the community, including gang members, that we can talk with them. If there’s someone we perceive will be a problem, we try to catch that.”

The next major black oriented film to enter the market will be a youthful comedy without gang references, “Livin’ Large” on Aug. 16, from the Samuel Goldwyn Co.

Goldwyn vice president of distribution Steve Rothenberg, said on Monday “We expect no problems . . . all our advertising material has stressed the comedy aspect.”

But, like others in Hollywood, “Large” director Michael Schultz has said that theaters often don’t know how to handle youthful crowds. At the opening of his 1985 film “Krush Groove,” Schultz recalled in a recent interview, the managers of a White Plains, N.Y. mall--in a largely white neighborhood--panicked when they saw hundreds of black kids lining up for the movie and ordered the theater to shut it down. The youths reacted by rioting.

For the most part, though, violence has surrounded action films or those that depict gang life. Gang-related scuffles and a fatal shooting in Stockton were connected with the 1988 release of “Colors,” which took place in L.A.’s barrios. The opening of “The Warriors” in 1979, about white gangs in New York City, was marred by three murders and several theater brawls. There was similar violence at showings of “Boulevard Nights,” which examined Chicano teens in East L.A..

After the December, 1987 opening of Eddie Murphy’s “Raw,” there was a violent crowd fracas in Westwood, a gang-related stabbing in Monrovia, and a mortal shooting at a Paramount drive-in.

Last summer there was reported scattered violence when Murphy’s “Another 48 Hours” opened. Some theaters, like the SoCal Cinemas near USC, experienced crowd trouble when that film opened and have shied away from booking any similar films since.

In March, crowds rioted in Westwood during the opening weekend of the Harlem-set, anti-drug movie “New Jack City.” In that case, observers said the theater erred by letting the crowd stand in line for sold-out showings.