"Cruising" with Al Pacino Trivia Quiz

Answer: New York

The familiar Manhattan skyline of New York was seen in the opening sequence. Also there were many verbal references to the city in the dialogue.
New York City was a preferred location for Al Pacino who hails from New York, as does Paul Sorvino. Controversial from the outset, this movie depicted gay male sexuality, murder and the night life of many of these men. It was a bold move by the producer and studio (Lorimar) to make this film.
The locations chosen were plagued by demonstrations, many gay men protested. They felt this movie was a brutal and graphic depiction and was not typical of the way of life that they led.

Answer: Karen Allen

Karen Allen played Nancy, his girlfriend, a well adjusted woman who was the one steady female influence in his life. (She had co-starred in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, "The Perfect Storm" 2000, and "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" 2008.)
The unsteady relationship between the two leading characters was put in jeopardy when Steve Burns, AKA John Forbes (Al Pacino) decided to accept this undercover assignment. He could not tell her about the investigation he had undertaken, adding to the already difficult situation.
The investigation asked Steve Burns (his undercover name was John Forbes) to infiltrate the gay scene, and to become part of the night life. This hopefully would lead to the discovery and arrest of a serial killer who had been murdering young gay men in the New York City area.
Diane Keaton starred with Al Pacino in all three "Godfather" movies. She has had a very successful career in mostly comic movies, notably "Annie Hall" with Woody Allen, "First Wives Club" and "Something's Gotta Give".
Tuesday Weld starred with Al Pacino in "Author! Author!" another low rated movie. Marthe Keller was in "Bobby Deerfield" with Al Pacino, this movie was a love story. Pacino's manager (Martin Bregman) had recommended to Pacino that he not make this movie, but Al Pacino wanted to play in a love story. I liked his portrayal, it showed me that he could command an audience in any type of movie.

Answer: Paul Sorvino

Paul Sorvino, also a New York City native, is a well known actor with many, credits in his career. He has appeared with Al Pacino in three movies to date; "Dick Tracy", "Panic in Needle Park", and "Cruising". He also appeared in 31 episodes of "Law and Order" (IMDB), and in other great movies namely "Goodfellas" and many others, too numerous to mention.
John Cazale starred with Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" and the first two "Godfather" movies and was also in "The Deerhunter" with Robert De Niro. He (John Cazale) was known to be very ill with bone cancer at the time of filming ("The Deerhunter"), his untimely death came 1978. His "Deerhunter" scenes were fimed first but sadly John did not survive to see the finished picture.
Charles Durning played the frustrated Police Officer in "Dog Day Afternoon".

Answer: The Ramrod

This club was shown from the outside, several times during the movie, and it was presumed that the interior scenes were supposed to have taken place in this club. It was apparently one of the clubs in New York where these men often congregated.

Answer: William Friedkin

William Friedkin, one of Hollywood's most esteemed directors, was no stranger to controversial movies. He had directed a great many projects for movies and television. "The Exorcist" was, for its time, one of the most frightening movies ever made.

Answer: He entered through a window,

He entered the apartment through a window on a fire escape. He had to remove a large fan, propped in the open window to gain entry. He had watched the apartment from across the street and had waited for the suspect to leave the apartment before he attempted to enter it.

He looked through the closet and discovered a box of unopened letters, all addressed to the same man. This man was believed to be the father (of the suspect) who had been dead for ten years.

Answer: He had a similar appearance.

The explanation given to him by Captain Edelson his superior, was that he looked similar to the type of men he was about to investigate. Also if he (Burns) took this assignment it could be the fast-track to a coveted Gold Shield. Captain Edelson was also being pressured by his superiors to wind up this investigation.
(I thought was an odd statement (about his appearance) by Capt. Edelson, it implied that one had to be a specific type to be gay.)

Answer: Night

Most of this movie was filmed at night. It was made more difficult for the cast and crew because of the demonstrators protesting the making of this movie. Many of the demonstrators tried to sabotage the filming by being as disruptive as possible. Some went onto the roofs of buildings surrounding the shooting location and shone large lights down onto the scene below.

They also made a lot of noise, disrupting the dialogue so that most of the audio for the movie had to be re-edited. The many demonstrations during this movie caused concern for the crew and actors. One scene that took place in a restaurant had about 200 demonstrators outside shouting and being disruptive and rowdy.

This was one time Al Pacino later admitted he was concerned for his safety.

The restaurant didn't have a back entrance so the actors had to be escorted out in a wedge formation. It allowed them to get safely to waiting cars. Don Scardino (Ted Bailey) had said that he found it very 'exciting'.

Answer: Central

Central Park was mentioned several times during the movie; it was, and still is today, a very large park located on Manhattan Island. The park has been used for many TV and movie locations.

Answer: Stab wounds

The only type of wounds that were visible were the stab wounds. The killer was suspected to be a young man with a grudge against the flagrantly open gay lifestyle. This movie was based on actual incidents.
Although this movie was panned by the critics, it did show a side of life that very few people knew about. If this movie was remade today it would be more readily accepted, and would raise less anger than it did in the seventies.