WRITER’S NOTE: As the opening paragraph indicates, this screening took place back in 2011.

On September 28, 2011, New Beverly Cinema played host to the 25th anniversary screening of the 1986 buddy cop action comedy film “Running Scared.” It stars Billy Crystal and the late Gregory Hines as Chicago police detectives Danny Costanzo and Ray Hughes who, after almost getting killed, decide to retire in Key West, Florida. But before they can retire, they first need to bring down a vicious drug dealer (is there any other kind?) played by Jimmy Smits. Attending the screening were the film’s director, Peter Hyams, and actress Darlanne Fluegel who played Costanzo’s ex-wife, Anna.

Hyams had just finished making “2010” for MGM, and the studio wanted to keep him there. He got offered the script for “Running Scared” which he said was originally about two “elderly” cops who want to retire. However, he instead suggested that the cops be younger guys, and he made it clear how he wanted Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines for it.

At the mention of Crystal, Hyams said “you could hear the thump in the office.” Keep in mind, this was long before Crystal became the actor and Oscar host we know him as today. Back then, he was primarily known for being a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” and he had only done one movie previously which he would rather people forget ever existed (“Rabbit Test”).

As for Hines, an unnamed studio executive told Hyams:

“But the part’s not written for a black guy.”

To this, Hyams replied:

“Hines isn’t playing a black guy, he’s playing a guy.”

One of “Running Scared’s” biggest action scenes involves Hines’ character climbing to the top of a Chicago building on a window washer’s rig. Many of Hyams’ films feature scenes shot from great heights, and he said this is because he is highly acrophobic. The director is so terrified of heights that he keeps shooting scenes from a high elevation in order to get people as scared as he is of them. It turns out the film crew was unable to get a stuntman for this sequence, so they got the actual window washer of the building to do it.

In talking about Fluegel, Hyams said he had such a crush on her after watching “To Live and Die in L.A.” and wanted her to play Crystal’s ex-wife. Her character was the “least eccentric” in “Running Scared,” Hyams noting if the character was not made interesting, the film was going to die. Fluegel said she felt very free when working with Hyams because she could see the kind of environment he had her working in. She found herself creating things for Anna as the production went on, and you could feel the relationship between her and Crystal without words. Fluegel replied much of it came from the fact that the two of them “were just buds.”

“Running Scared” did well at the box office, and MGM of course became interested in doing a sequel. The studio wanted the cops to go to England and fight crime there, but Crystal and Hines were not particularly interested in doing a follow-up. As for Hyams, he said he didn’t want to make the same movie again as he felt it would not be interesting.

Crystal, while at a screening for “City Slickers,” remarked at how “Running Scared” was “the first interracial cop buddy movie.” After 25 years, it’s important to note this as it was released before “Lethal Weapon.” It still holds up well today, and while the studio didn’t think it would work, Hyams stayed true to his instincts on how to make it. Not bad for a man who openly admitted he is “terrified of shooting movies” and never had a confident day in his life.