The controversy over this supposed anti-gay film has stirred debate for nearly 40 years. The slaying of gay men part of the leather and s&m scene is violent and ugly, a view of just one small portion of the community. I've seen it through various gay pride and marches, Folsom Street Fair, visits to Silver Lake near downtown Los Angeles, and various Halloween parades. It does exist, and this is part of its story in the gay naked city.

While cop Al Pacino comes off a little brusk, he's just out to do his job, even if disguising himself as a gay man is repulsive to him. He's not homophobic, just not interested in that sort of thing. But in spite of his reluctance and longterm relationship with Karen Allen, he's gotta do what he's assigned to do. So it's off to the gay leather bars of midtown Manhattan and the woods of Central Park.

The murders are brutal, showing the fear of the victim before they are killed. This lifestyle isn't just about the gays; perversion crosses over and this just uses a small portion of the gay community to tell its story. It's just not a very good movie. Don Scardino plays an effeminate gay man who befriends Pacino, and it's obvious that Pacino likes him in spite of their differing sexualities. As a gay man, I look back on it as a warning against promiscuity, and with the AIDS crisis just around the corner, it's a bit prophetic.

I do well remember all the outrage when word about Cruising being filmed on location in the streets of New York with all kinds of protesters from the GLBT community picketing the set. Word had gotten out that the film was going to be about the Leather/S&M scene and everyone that I knew was upset.

Viewed 26 years later Cruising is mild stuff compared to some of what is shown on television today. There isn't a prime time TV series that today doesn't have some gay themed episode on it during its season. Some are sensitive and some are far more crassly exploitive than Cruising could ever aspire to be.

The fuss back then was that in many places including the location of the film, New York City, gay civil rights was not on the statute books. A whole lot of people were trying to make that happen and a film like Cruising was feared in that it would give homophobes a lot of ammunition against the proposed civil rights law.

People needn't have worried. The cause and the community proved a lot stronger than the impact of one film at the box office.

Without all the politics involved, Cruising is a murder mystery. There's a troubled young man with a whole lot of issues murdering and dismembering men he picks up in various locales in New York. Chief of Detectives Paul Sorvino picks officer Al Pacino because in looks and build he fits the physical profile of the victims. Cruising is the story of Pacino's undercover investigation looking for that killer. It also is a story of Pacino reexamining a whole lot of preconceived notions about human sexuality in general.

As it turns out I happen to know one of the cast members of the film who had a small three line speaking role in the film and with Al Pacino himself. He related to me that when the casting call came out, he came in the required leather uniform and had three levels of audition. First with the casting director, then with Bill Friedkin and finally with Al Pacino himself.

What he also mentioned was that Pacino was a nice down to earth sort of fellow when he met him and easy to work with. And the reason he was easy to work with was that he was a man totally focused on the job at hand when on the set.

He also related to me that apparently Bill Friedkin had decided in advance to do some kind of a gay related story. The final script for Cruising beat out others including one that would have had a prostitution angle in it. Probably a worse image for a film than what Cruising was about. This writer whose script was rejected was a political activist as well and he was the one who got the ball rolling with all the protests.

My friend mentioned that among his own group of friends he lost only one permanently over his decision to work in the film. Everyone else in his circle saw the film and their reactions were a gamut of applause for the film to a total trashing. But only one individual broke with him over it.

Art sometimes predicts life. There is a shot during Al Pacino's travels through the bars and clubs of the West Village of 1980 of the Ramrod bar. After Cruising had come and gone from theaters, a man named Ronald Crumpley one November night in 1980 drove by with an Uzi and wounded six and killed two people. Things like that are still happening, even in some of the gay friendliest areas in the USA.

Besides Pacino and Sorvino, the performances to look for are those of Don Scardino as the young writer who lives next door to the apartment Pacino is located in during his undercover assignment and James Remar as Scardino's roommate who is a dancer. They have a volatile relationship and Scardino would be considered a battered spouse had they been able to marry. A story all to true, but hardly limited to same sex relationships.

Cruising will never rank in the top 10 of Al Pacino's films on anybody's list. But sufficient time has passed so that we can look at it with a bit more objectivity than was possible in 1980.

Another decent thriller from William Friedkin, not quite up there with THE FRENCH CONNECTION or SORCERER but certainly up there with TO LIVE AND DIE IN L. A. This one has a dark and dingy atmosphere brimming with sleaze and suspense, and the idea of a serial killer working his way through the New York gay community is, for me, one that means the film feels fresh and original throughout. It's just a shame that the strong subject matter means that this is a rare production which I've never seen televised or readily available to purchase in the shops. That's a pity, because Friedkin is on form here, his realistic style working wonders, and there's another really interesting performance from an uncomfortable Al Pacino. Shades of TAXI DRIVER, SERPICO, TIGHTROPE and many other fine thrillers of the era.