‘Mobsters’ Stunt Show Goes On--but Without the ‘Good Guys’

Fortunately for Daniel Hobbit, assistant manager at a Northridge video rental store, the rain stayed away Sunday afternoon from the stunt show that he had billed as a tribute to Los Angeles police.

Unfortunately for him, the police didn’t show up either, carrying out a promised boycott. Neither did Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) or members of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce, who were expected to attend. Even a barbershop quartet, which was supposed to furnish the musical entertainment, left without harmonizing a single chord.

Plans for the event, staged in a mini-mall parking lot, soured last week when police officials learned that the “benefit” sponsored by the Video Super Shop was tied to a promotion subsidized by Universal Studios for its 1991 gangster movie “Mobsters,” recently released on videocassette.

The stunt show went off as scheduled Sunday afternoon, with scores of children applauding a gangster-style shootout and a 100-foot free-fall amid a display of 1930s automobiles.

But Hobbit, who spent six weeks organizing the event, did not hide his disappointment at the no-shows, saying he honestly wanted to demonstrate appreciation for the Police Department’s Devonshire Division.

“I’m very upset,” he said. “A lot of fine people have donated their time and services.”

Police spokesman Sgt. Dennis Zine said the Police Department decided to boycott the event after seeing a flyer advertising the stunt show, which announced the release of the video but did not mention a tribute to police.

“We were not going to utilize the Police Department to promote . . . this ‘Mobsters’ video and his video store,” Zine said. “The focus was not us on that flyer in any way, shape or form.”

Michael Winer, owner of the Video Super Shop, acknowledged that the flyer “was our mistake,” but said it was drawn up before the decision was made to make the event a tribute to local police.

“The premise of the ‘Mobsters’ promotion is that we’d put on a show to show the bad guys getting it in the end and that crime doesn’t pay. I would think that they’d like to be a part of that,” he said.