Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Lee, Spike
2. Aiello, Danny, 1933-2019
3. Davis, Ossie
4. Dee, Ruby
5. Esposito, Giancarlo
6. Nunn, Bill, 1952-2016
7. Turturro, John, 1957-

Description

1. 4 film reels (120 min.) : sd., col.; 16 mm.

Summary

1. Spike Lee's fictional examination of racism was undertaken in the wake of a series racial incidents in New York, most notably the Howard Beach assault in which one black man was killed and another seriously injured by a white mob. The narrative takes place in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year and unfolds around the web of race relations among blacks, Latinos, Italian-Americans, West Indians and Koreans that intersects in Sal's Pizzeria. Rueing the absence of black heroes on Sal's wall of notable Americans, Buggin' Out, a black nationalist, embarks on a crusade to have Sal remove Italian American luminaries and replace them with African American ones. Eventually, Buggin' Out organizes a boycott of the pizzeria that culminates in a violent confrontation between Sal and Radio Raheem, a local bully. Sal smashes Raheem's boom box and a ruckus ensues. The police are summoned to apprehend Radio and in the process, choke him to death. Mookie, Sal's deliveryman, evaluates the situation and in a moment of rage, hurls a garbage can through Sal's window. "The carnival of fury that Lee unfurl's at the film's finale combines a sixties' militancy with a nineties' vision." Throughout the film, racial strife is underlined by Public Enemy's rap "Fight the power." (Circulates)

Subject

1. Prejudices > Fiction
2. Feature films
3. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) > Fiction
4. New York (N.Y.) > Fiction
5. African Americans > Fiction

Credits (note)

1. Producer, director, writer, Spike Lee; photography, Ernest Dickerson; editor, Barry Alexander Brown; music, Bill Lee.

Performer (note)

1. Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Spike Lee, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro.

Title

1. Do the right thing [motion picture] / Universal ; produced by Spike Lee with Monty Ross.

Imprint

1. St. Louis, MO : Swank, 1989.

Credits

1. Producer, director, writer, Spike Lee; photography, Ernest Dickerson; editor, Barry Alexander Brown; music, Bill Lee.

Cast

1. Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Spike Lee, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Reserve Film and Video Collection Special Collections material

Added author

1. Lee, Spike, film producer.
2. Lee, Spike, film director.
3. Lee, Spike, screenwriter.
4. Aiello, Danny, 1933-2019, actor.
5. Davis, Ossie, actor.
6. Dee, Ruby, actor.
7. Esposito, Giancarlo, actor.
8. Nunn, Bill, 1952-2016, actor.
9. Turturro, John, 1957- actor.

Branch call number

1. M16 4278 D