Do the Right Thing
It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can Do the Right Thing.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Timing:
2:0 (120 min)
7.763/10
1963
1963
7.248/10
6463
6463
8/10
109859
109859
Country
Production
Genre
Drama
Budget
$6 500 000
Revenue
$37 300 000
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Operator
Composer
Artist
Dennis Bradford
Audition
Robi Reed
Editing
Short description
Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming took place within a single block in Brooklyn. Several residents of that block were even invited for minor roles in the film.
- In the original script, Spike Lee and Danny Aiello's characters were supposed to reconcile. Spike Lee changed the ending at the very last moment without any explanation.
- It took 8 hours to film the first scene, featuring the song "Fight the Power" and Rosie Perez dancing. The scene is a reference to a similar scene in "Bye Birdie" (George Sidney, 1963).
- Danny Aiello later recounted that he almost refused to participate in the project when he saw he was to play a pizzeria owner. Although Italian-Americans do indeed own many pizzerias, the actor felt it was a stereotypical portrayal.
- The plot was based on a real-life incident where a group of young white people expelled a group of their African American peers from a pizzeria in one of New York City's neighborhoods.
- The film's title features words spoken by Malcolm X (1925-1965), an American Islamic spiritual leader and civil rights activist.
- Spike Lee wanted Robert De Niro to play Sal, but he stated that the role was too reminiscent of many of his previous roles and declined. Ultimately, Danny Aiello played the part.
- Spike Lee wrote the film's screenplay in just two weeks.
- Ossie Davis, who played the Mayor, and Ruby Dee, who played Mother Sister, were married to each other and frequently appeared together in films until Davis's death in 2005.
- Smiley wasn't originally in the script. Scenes with this character, played by Roger Guenveur Smith, were added after filming had already begun.
- The key scene of the conversation between Danny Aiello and John Turturro was half-improvised (everything that happened after the character played by Roger Guenveur Smith approached the window).
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