An Early Frost
An Early Frost is a 1985 American made-for-television drama film and the first major film, made for television or feature films, to deal with the topic of AIDS. It was first broadcast on the NBC television network on November 11, 1985. It was directed by John Erman, from the Emmy Award-winning teleplay written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman (story by Sherman Yellen). Aidan Quinn stars as Michael Pierson, a Chicago attorney who goes home to break the news that he is gay and has AIDS to his parents, played by Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands.
| An Early Frost | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Ron Cowen Daniel Lipman |
| Story by | Sherman Yellen |
| Directed by | John Erman |
| Starring | Aidan Quinn Gena Rowlands Ben Gazzara Sylvia Sidney |
| Music by | John Kander |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Perry Lafferty Art Seidel (co-producer) Daniel Lipman (associate producer) Ron Cowen (associate producer) |
| Cinematography | Woody Omens |
| Editor(s) | Jerrold L. Ludwig |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production company(s) | NBC Productions |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | November 11, 1985 |
Storyline
Michael Pierson, a successful lawyer, suffers a bad coughing jag at work and is rushed to the hospital. There he learns from a doctor that he has been exposed to HIV. At home, he receives another piece of disturbing news: his lover, Peter (D. W. Moffett), confesses that he had sex outside the relationship because Michael is a workaholic and is living in the closet. Michael, in a rage, throws Peter out of the house. He then travels to his parents' home to inform them that he is gay and has AIDS.
Michael's father, Nick (Ben Gazzara), is a lumber company owner, and his wife, Kate (Gena Rowlands), is a former concert pianist, housewife, and grandmother. The couple's daughter, Susan (Sydney Walsh) is married and has a child. Nick reacts angrily to the news, while Kate attempts to adapt to the situation. Nick initially refuses to speak to Michael for a day before breaking silence by saying, "I never thought the day would come when you'd be in front of me and I wouldn't know who you are." Susan, who is pregnant, refuses to see Michael, saying that she "can't take that chance," and Nick explodes when Michael tries to kiss Kate. Kate remembers reading in a magazine article that HIV is not transmitted through casual contact and tries to get the rest of the family to accept Michael (Gena Rowlands also taped a public service announcement about HIV transmission). Michael eventually winds up in the hospital (after paramedics who are called to his parents' house refuse to transport him to the hospital) and meets a fellow patient named Victor (John Glover), a flamboyant homosexual with AIDS. The film depicts Victor's death and shows a nurse throwing Victor's few possessions into a garbage bag because she fears that the items could be contaminated.
Afterwards, Michael returns home and discovers Peter came to visit, and the two quickly reconcile. Peter asks Michael to go back home with him, but Michael insists that he cannot. As he continues to struggle coping with his diagnosis, Michael attempts suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, but is stopped by Nick. The two argue and Nick insists that Michael keep fighting. The film ends with Michael taking a taxi cab back to Chicago, telling his parents he loves them before he goes.
Cast
- Aidan Quinn as Michael Pierson
- Sylvia Sidney as Beatrice McKenna
- Ben Gazzara as Nick Pierson
- Gena Rowlands as Katherine Pierson
- Sydney Walsh as Susan Maracek
- Terry O'Quinn as Dr. Redding
- John Glover as Victor Mitado
- Bill Paxton as Bob Maracek
- D. W. Moffett as Peter Hilton
- Cheryl Anderson as Christine
- Christopher Bradley as Todd
- Sue Ann Gilfillan as Nurse Lincoln
- Don Hood as Dr. Gilbert
- Barbara Hey as Meredith
- Scott Jaeck as Phil
Development
The teleplay for the film by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman spent two years in development and underwent at least thirteen rewrites before the Standards and Practices division at the network accepted it for airing.
Reviews, awards, and aftermath
Tom Shales of The Washington Post called An Early Frost "the most important TV movie of the year."
The film was number one in the Nielsen ratings during the night it aired, garnering a 23.3 share and watched by 34 million people (the film outperformed a San Francisco 49ers-Denver Broncos game broadcast on ABC and a Cagney & Lacey episode on CBS). The film was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards and won three, including Outstanding Writing For a Movie or Miniseries for Cowen and Lipman for their teleplay. Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, Aidan Quinn, Sylvia Sidney and John Glover were all nominated for their performances, as was John Erman for his direction. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television movie and won Sylvia Sidney the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or a TV Movie. It also won the Peabody Award. The network, however, lost $500,000 in revenue because advertisers were leery about sponsoring the film. The film conveyed the prejudices surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time and the then common limited understanding by the general public of the methods of transmission and likelihood of infection.