The genesis of "The Second Coming" came with the verdict in the first Rodney King beating trial in Los Angeles last year, says actor Blair Underwood, who produced, co-wrote and stars in the short film that premiered at the Senator Theater Monday night.
"I was just blown away, flabbergasted, appalled," at the acquittal of four white police officers accused of beating the black motorist, said Mr. Underwood during an interview preceding the premiere.
The actor, who portrays attorney Jonathan Rollins on the NBC series "L.A. Law" and co-stars in the movie "Posse," said he has had racially tinged "encounters" with Los Angeles police and knows other black entertainers with similar experiences.
He said he remembers talking with friends after the verdict and saying, "even Christ, any man of color, could be treated the same way."
Intrigued, he approached acquaintances in show business for backing to make a film about the second coming of a Messiah of color. But he found "people were really reluctant to get involved."
So he made the movie himself, with a script he co-wrote with his brother, Frank Underwood Jr.
Initially, he said, distribution of the 30-minute film is planned "inevenings like this one." Two well-attended screenings and receptions at the Senator were organized by the Rev. Frank M. Reid III, pastor of the 9,000-member Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, after he saw Mr. Underwood discussing his film on "Donahue."
The film largely takes place "24 hours from now" in a mental institution, where Mr. Underwood portrays an abused inmate derisively called "Messiah man," who is accused of raping a 10-year-old white girl. Another inmate, however, falls to his knees before the man who calls himself Jesus, and the frankly reverential story proceeds down familiar prophetic paths.
Mr. Underwood appeared at the premiere with entertainer and long-time friend Lola Falana. Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Councilwoman Sheila Dixon, D-4th, greeted him and sought autographs for their children.
Mr. Underwood said similar events will take place across the country, and churches can acquire the movie for screenings. He said there are no plans now to air the movie on television.
However, Marilyn D. Harris-Davis, community affairs manager of United Artists Cable Television of Baltimore, which sponsored Monday's reception, said the local cable carrier would investigate staging another local screening for the general public.
