For ten weeks during the summer of 1988, Spike Lee took his cast and crew to Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant to shoot DO THE RIGHT THING. Using interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of Lee at work with his stars Danny Aeillo, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Giancarlo Esposito, MAKING "DO THE RIGHT THING" records the creation of this important American film.

But beyond this, Bourne's film captures the fascinating transformation of a troubled inner-city neighborhood into a Hollywood movie set, and the impact of this disruption on the area's residents. The difficulties of on location shooting - security, control on the set, community cooperation - were made extreme by this story's setting. Tensions arose which just don't exist on the back lots at Universal. By recognizing these particular problems, MAKING "DO THE RIGHT THING" becomes a social documentary as well as a chronicle of Spike Lee's powerful feature.

"It says something about the effectiveness of Mr. Bourne's documentary that watching a murder scene as it is being shot is almost as harrowing as watching the scene in the finished film. MAKING 'DO THE RIGHT THING' does its subject justice."—Vincent Canby, New York Times

"**** [4 Stars - Highly Recommended] A gold mine of information not only about that feature film but also about the nature of the society the film depicts."—Dewey McGuire, Video Rating Guide for Libraries

"Excellent... informative but entertaining, never preachy or didactic. As in DO THE RIGHT THING, some quite stunning issues are raised regarding racial conflicts, economic justice, and personal responsibilities. A pleasure to watch, carefully crafted, and thoughtfully presented, this is an excellent companion piece to the feature film whose creation it faithfully documents."—R.E. Sutton, Choice

"Intriguing... a flavorful blend of film clips and news footage depicting New York's Howard Beach incident (director Lee based some of the film on this violent racial outbreak) round out this well-produced background to an acclaimed feature."—Sue-Ellen Beauregard, Booklist

"Excellent behind the scenes look at a great motion picture. Enthralling."—Sightlines