For Industry, ‘City’ Premiere Marks a Joyful Finale

Every movie premiere has at least some euphoria. TriStar’s “City of Joy” might have had a little bit more than usual Tuesday considering all the problems the film had in the making.

During filming in Calcutta, the movie about a troubled American doctor and a rickshaw driver he befriends became a political pawn in a battle between factions of Calcutta’s ruling Communist party. Bombs were thrown at the set; massive crowds disrupted filming; the death of a local journalist was falsely blamed on the film crew, and a court order temporarily prevented filming on the streets.

After all that, facing the paparazzi at a premiere is almost benign.

Among the more euphoric guests at Century City’s Twenty/20 club for the post-screening party was the film’s star, Patrick Swayze. “I’ve been waiting 20 years for a part in a film like this,” said Swayze. “ ‘Ghost’ touches fringes of the heart, this tears the soul by the root. I’ll learn from the experience of making this film for the rest of my life.”

Standing near Swayze were waiters from caterer It’s Our Party who were, somewhat incongruously, wearing African dashiki-style shirts. Someone at the studio had bought them at a secondhand store to lend an “Indian” touch to the party. That exec noted, “Hey, it said ‘Made in India’ on the label.”

At least as happy as Swayze was producer Jake Eberts, who said it was important that “people in the industry feel good about films like this.”

“Our industry has such an influence on the world’s taste and morality,” said Eberts who was also involved in making “Gandhi.” “If a film like this is well received in the industry, then there’s the chance that we’ll be able to make a few more like it.”

Among the guests from the industry, in addition to “City of Joy” director Roland Joffe and Swayze’s co-star Art Malik, were Robert Downey Jr., Roger Moore, Donna Mills, James Woods, David Zucker, Peter Strauss, Julian Sands, Jeff Fahey, Linda Hunt and Martin Sheen, who said he saw in the film a message “that the only way we’re going to find ourselves is through service to the poor and in community with each other.”