Why Cruising Was Al Pacino's Most Controversial Film

Early in the filming of "Cruising," gay activists got wind of the upcoming film and worried that its portrayal of liberal sexuality and extreme violence would feed into the negative stereotypes they were working so avidly to reverse.

According to the New York Times, July 26, 1979, was a day of action for gay activists seeking to halt the production of "Cruising." First, representatives of the National Gay Task Force requested that Mayor Ed Koch withdraw the film's shooting permit (a request he denied, citing censorship concerns). Then, there was a march of about 1,000 protestors from New York's Pier 40, where the production team was headquartered, to a filming location in Greenwich Village, where they blocked traffic in Sheridan Square for half an hour. A hundred police officers were dispatched to disperse the crowd, and two protestors were arrested.

Even with the demonstrators cleared from the area, local businesses and residents of Christopher Street temporarily stopped the production of "Cruising" by locking their doors and posting signs saying "Stop the Movie 'Cruising,'" forcing the team to move a short jaunt north, out of the Village (via The Village Voice). On August 20, a group of 700 activists celebrated this victory by marching from Sheridan Square to the new location. The march turned violent as police officers on horseback charged a crowd on West Street, brutally attacking one protestor before arresting him for "endangerment, resisting arrest, and harassment." The success of the protests certainly wasn't without its casualties.