An Early Frost

TV Movie
1985
15
1h 35m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

2.3K

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Ben Gazzara, Aidan Quinn, Gena Rowlands, and Sylvia Sidney in An Early Frost (1985)

On this IMDbrief, we'll download the history of the first movies to raise our collective awareness of HIV/AIDS.

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Young attorney Michael Pierson hasn't told his parents Nicholas and Katherine about his homosexuality. Now he must tell them that he has contracted AIDS - at a time when the diagnosis was st... Read allYoung attorney Michael Pierson hasn't told his parents Nicholas and Katherine about his homosexuality. Now he must tell them that he has contracted AIDS - at a time when the diagnosis was still a death sentence.Young attorney Michael Pierson hasn't told his parents Nicholas and Katherine about his homosexuality. Now he must tell them that he has contracted AIDS - at a time when the diagnosis was still a death sentence.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

2.3K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 4 Primetime Emmys
- 9 wins & 14 nominations total

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Clip 4:54

How Movies and TV Shaped Our Perception of HIV/AIDS

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Trivia
In the DVD commentary, Aidan Quinn ("Michael") remembers that NBC's Standards and Practices department (the network censors) were a constant (in Quinn's words, "hovering") presence on the set. They regulated matters such as Quinn appearing in bed with D.W. Moffett ("Peter")--they would not allow the two to be seen together in the characters' bed, only for Quinn to be in bed while Moffett sat, fully clothed, on its edge. Quinn says in the commentary that the censors were not only adamant that the two men were never allowed to kiss, but also that any physical contact between them had to be "balanced" by Michael's contact with his parents.

Quotes
Michael Pierson: It's not just pneumonia, mom. I have AIDS.
Katherine Pierson: AIDS?
Michael Pierson: It's a disease...
Nick Pierson: Yeah, I know what it is.
Katherine Pierson: Michael, that's impossible. Who told you such a thing?
Michael Pierson: The doctors did their tests.
Katherine Pierson: No, AIDS is that disease...
Michael Pierson: I'm gay, mom.

Connections
Featured in The 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1986)

User reviews21

Featured review

10/10

Standout Performances and Script Bolster Landmark Film

An Early Frost reflects the underlying principal that love and compassion are stronger than fear. In this respect, the broadcast fueled an operative for the gay community, and world at large, to learn from and build upon.

The acting is uniformly excellent. The script allows the actors excellent opportunities. Aiden Quinn (whose voice and approach is reminiscent of Montgomery Clift) goes through the emotional gamut with grace and believability. As his grandmother, veteran actress Sylvia Sidney's skill easily fuels two tear-inducing scenes that not only provide emotional release for the viewer, but drive the message home. While Michael is hospitalized from a seizure, we see Sidney and her daughter(Gene Rowlands)outside trimming roses. Sidney comments about "an early frost nipping them in the bud." She reflects on how people shunned her husband when he had died of cancer. At a loss for words the two embrace—capturing the heartache that envelops them.

The cast, in true ensemble spirit allow their characters to reach the power point of unconditional love. The film was instructive on the basic ramifications of the AIDS virus, and helped dispel the unnecessary fear and rumors surrounding it. An Early Frost made people think about the senseless vitriol that was being aimed at the gay community.