Underplayed Gems

An Early Frost (1985)

An Early Frost poster
Directed by
John Erman
Genre
drama film, LGBTQ-related film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 35m
Rated
NR
Rating
5.8 of 10 from 36 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A Chicago attorney returns to his family home to tell his parents he is gay and has AIDS. The film focuses on the family's reactions and the personal struggle with the illness.

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What happens

An Early Frost is a 1985 American drama television film directed by John Erman and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, based on a story by Sherman Yellen. It was first broadcast on NBC on November 11, 1985. Aidan Quinn stars as Michael Pierson, a Chicago attorney who goes home to break the news to his parents, played by Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, that he is gay and has AIDS. Sylvia Sidney, D. W. Moffett, and John Glover also star. An Early Frost was the first major film with major motion picture stars broadcast on a major television network to deal with the topic of AIDS. It was viewed by 34 million households in its initial airing, the highest rated show of the night, even beating Monday Night Football. It received 14 Emmy nominations, winning 3 including Best Original Teleplay, a Peabody Award, as well as multiple Golden Globe nominations, including one for Sylvia Sidney, who won for Best Supporting Actress. It was a major breakthrough into mass culture, as it was the first time an American audience of that size saw a film about a gay man who had AIDS, which up until then was considered a gay disease. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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