An Early Frost (1985 TV Movie) User Reviews

Ground breaking...

[lambiepie-2 · 9/10 · 29 June 2005]

I was very young when this film came on television. Let me be very, very honest here: I didn't WANT to watch this film when it came out because I was young....and very misinformed.

At that time, AIDS was a "gay" disease to me. And those who were stricken with it, I believed were not in the circles I was in -- so there wasn't any interest in me watching this film.

Not until I came to understand the hard way that AIDS was not a gay disease - it was a disease without color, sex or shape -- and when this film came on for the second time, I understood it. This film was an important step to me in realizing this -- and right after seeing this for the second time...that's when everyone around me began succumbing to the disease and I had to experience first hand how hospitals, friends, employers, neighbors..families began to act -- just like many scenes in this made for TV film. It is a "made for TV film" which meant in those days - not a whole lot of money to get a story told. But it was done well, the emotions of those effected by this was as close to everyday emotions could get. Questions? You betcha. The acting was just fine -- except for those typical 'movie of the week' moments -- but this subject matter overcame all of that for me. I cared. I learned. I got prepared.

Ground breaking to say the least, one of the most important made for TV films of the 20th century. No, it's not a 'perfect film' but for the mid-80's and now -- an important enough film, a compassionate enough film that shows the early days of one of the most horrible diseases to effect mankind...and how mankind reacts(ed)....

My comment about AN EARLY FORST

[sgallaro1 · 9/10 · 1 November 2006]

I think this is the most interesting film that I have ever seen about the topic of AIDS, and I must admit that all the actors are exceptional, especially the gay couple performed by Aidan Queen and D.W. Moffett and Sylvia Sidney! AN EARLY FROST is a very good film and I suggest to see it, if you have not still seen it: it is tender and beautiful and well done; besides, in my humble opinion, it make us reflect about this terrible disease and tolerance, love and acceptation too. In fact, for the first time a patient with AIDS is mostly cosidered only a human being and not like a number or a statistic. Finally I appreciate the tender way to treat the topics of AIDS and homosexuality. I also believe that it is an evergreen film and TV could propose it still today; in fact it is very actual!

the music still haunts me

[rickdumesnil · 9/10 · 19 April 2008]

first the acting....Aidan Quinn was apre heath ledger winner...both tackled the gay roles with finesse and ability. Gena rowlands her eyes gave some of the best emotions of the film. and the gay dude in the hospital so real even my straight brother felt for him. what a great movie full of love and pain. while it teaches us to be safe with our sex lives...it makes us realize how much life is fragile. i saw it 10 years in intervals and i remembered how the music score had touched me and how much...for its time this movie was important to all and ahead of its time. miss Sidney also was a cool grandma...and Ben gazzara....really got our hearts pounding. never to be forgotten.

An Early Crusade

[guil12 · 11 January 2003]

This 1985 TV Movie, was early for it's time in bringing out the truth of the "gay" disease of A.I.D.S. It showed great courage and sensitivity in it's telling the story of a young gay attorney, played with incredible honesty by Aidan Quinn, who comes down with the illness and must proceed to tell his parents, played with equal honesty by Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara of his lifestyle let alone that he is sick.

This is a must see film. It still holds up in it's approach to not only tell the story but educate us as to the disease and how it can affect those around us. It was written by Ron Cowen (QUEER AS FOLK writer and SUMMERTREE) and Daniel Lipman and well directed by John Erman. Also in this astounding cast are Sylvia Sidney, one of her last appearances, as the Grandmother who is not afraid to hold and love her grandson, D.W. Moffett, prior to his CROSSING JORDAN TV series, as the lover to Quinn who might have given him the disease through a disloyal tryst in the baths, Sydney Walsh as the pregnant sister afraid to touch her brother for fear he might infect her unborn child. Don't worry she eventually comes around to his side and John Glover, that underrated actor, LOVE VALOUR COMPASSION, as a man dying of the disease whom Quinn befriends in the hospital. Glover looks so much like the dying man he portrays, it's frightening.

This film seemed to be a labor of love for certainly all the actors were giving such dedicated performances. And some of the moments were so real you felt it in your heart. This is one of Quinn's early performances before he went on to do such films as LEGENDS OF THE FALL. He brings gentleness and sensitivity to the role. I'd like to see him do the story of Montgomery Clift one day as he reminds me of Clift's style of acting. The relationship between Quinn and Moffett was well played and not stereotyped. The scene when Quinn tells his parents his disease was brilliant. You could feel in their not saying a word what was going on in their hearts.

A beautiful film, ahead of it's time, brilliantly presented with such an accomplished roster of performers, director and writers.

Memory Lane

[sschimel · 10/10 · 23 December 2005]

I don't know why I do this to myself. I've been HIV+ since 1994, and every once in awhile, I feel the need to torture myself and watch something like this. I remember clearly when it was first on. It didn't mean much to me then, but I just watched it tonight on LOGO, and I cried my eyes out. The information on AIDS is soooo dated, but the emotions are so real. Aiden Quinn was terrific, as were Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara. John Glover seems to have made a mini-career out of playing the role he plays here, as he played it again in "Love, Valour, Compassion" (also excellent). Whatever happened to D.W. Moffat? I think, if I recall correctly, that this was the first movie or TV show to really deal with AIDS. The disease had only been named in 1981, so it was only 4 years later. It still holds up.

Still absorbing 23 years after it was released

[Dukesquay · 10/10 · 11 November 2008]

It's hard to believe that 'An Early Frost' was made for TV in 1985. I watched it for the first time on 11 November 2008 - 23 years after it was released - and I found it surprisingly fresh and enduring. Although it's an important historic record of the early response to AIDS (and for that reason alone is worth watching) it's more an exploration of family love and courage. The script is well-written, production values are high and the acting is uniformly excellent. Sylvia Sidney won a Golden Globe for her part as the grandmother, but the other main actors including Aidan Quinn (as the young man suffering from AIDS), Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands (playing his parents) are all excellent. A very rewarding experience.

Groundbreaking and heartbreaking

[jjnxn-1 · 10/10 · 30 April 2013]

Great film was groundbreaking at the time of its premiere, the information is obviously dated now but it doesn't diminish the pictures message.

Aidan Quinn is strong in the lead giving a firm center to the story and he's surrounded by top flight costars. Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, both excellent as his parents, add to the film substance with the small details in their interactions with each other presenting them as a long time married couple reacting differently to devastating news but always believably being who they are. Sylvia Sidney is equally good as the loving, wise grandmother and John Glover wry and touching as a fellow victim who has been deserted by his family.

A powerful experience and a reminder of how fragile life can be.

An Excellent Television Still Relevant for Today's Audiences!

[Sylviastel · 10/10 · 31 October 2006]

An Early Frost was by far superior. It was done gently without insulting or preaching to the audience. It was one of those movies that helped explain homosexuality and AIDS to the audience without being angry. Of course, Aidan Quinn does a beautiful job in his role as the young homosexual. It is heartbreaking movie. I love Gena Rowlands as the understanding mother. Movies like this made you think about the subject of homosexuality and AIDs in a time when we lost the legendary Rock Hudson who was openly gay in Hollywood but closeted to the rest of us who didn't know anything about. Movies like this were when television movies could have rivaled the cinema industry. They don't make many films with sensitivity. HOmosexuality has become a long running joke and AIDS has new victims like women and children. It's a shame that they don't make movies like this anymore. AIDS affects everybody not just family and friends.

Good for its time, but dated

[TheLurkingFox · 6/10 · 15 September 2012]

An Early Frost is, I feel, more at place as feature in a (Gay) Film History class than as a movie proper.

THE GOOD

The fact that it brought such great awareness about AIDS and was the first major TV movie talking about the disease so openly is great. It's positive, and although the disease is shown quite clearly (you see / hear about people dying, you see discrimination, you see the physical and mental toll it's taking on the victims), it's never too pessimistic either. The main character doesn't die at the end, which for a movie about AIDS is a nice relief.

THE BAD

The movie is often a bit melodramatic, and the music doesn't help. The acting is often wooden, and sometimes it feels more like a "special episode" out of a mid-afternoon soap opera than a real movie (even TV movie).

Also, although it is of course not the movie's fault, the information about AIDS is very dated, and the people's reaction to it seem often weird. (The boyfriend doesn't get immediately tested??)

THE UGLY

The ugly thing about the movie is its portrayal of gay people. To make it more palatable to the rest of the country, the gay couple is treated more like a pair of good college pals than a loving couple. You never see them kiss of share any physical intimacy other than a hand on the shoulder, and they lack any kind of real chemistry.

The boyfriend doesn't fight to have Micheal come back to him, doesn't really seem to care to be separated from Micheal, and when he learns Micheal is in the hospital, he doesn't come right away. The same, Micheal barely seems to want to come home, etc. Nothing about them says "couple" to me. Can you imagine a movie where a young married couple had the husband become sick, go home to his parents and have the wife visit him once in a while, "it's good to see you, I hope you come home soon"?? No. I didn't think so.

The movie is over melodramatic at some points (the father's reactions for example), and under-dramatic at others. Micheal's boyfriend doesn't seem to care that much, Micheal apparently doesn't have any other friends that might care about him, he shows almost no reaction when his hospital buddy dies, and the buddy's story (getting locked out by his boyfriend), although plausible (things like that did happen) isn't countered by more realistic portrayals of gay people's reactions to the disease and how the gay community organized itself to respond to the disease when nobody would do anything.

In the end, while on the surface pleading for gay acceptance, the movie is actually almost homophobic in its treatment, and relies on rather homophobic clichés to make its story (= gay men only care about themselves, they have no friends, nobody who cares about them, their only friendships are superficial, they're all promiscuous and in the end, only the heterosexual family isn't superficial).

One of the best films about the early days of AIDS

[mschugenah-88032 · 10/10 · 17 July 2018]

Eight years before "Philadelphia" Aidan Quinn starred in this groundbreaking film about AIDS. Even though this was "Made for TV", it is superbly done. Gena Rowlands is wonderful (as usual). Some might think that this film is dated, however, sometimes it is good to look back to see the way things were in the past to face the future.

I rated it a nine, nothing is perfect. =0)

[ToddyEnglish · 9/10 · 13 June 2007]

An Early Frost has to be one of the finest made for television films I've ever seen. And it is hard to believe that, in 1985, it was the FIRST movie that actually dealt with the topic. In the new millennium the mere mention of a antibiotic resistant tuberculosis was enough to cause a national panic. But, the emotions AIDS seemed to engender during that era were hostility and out and out apathy.

The story centers around a young attorney, Michael Pierson--played brilliantly by Aidan Quinn--who's just made partner at his prestigious law firm. On the outside Michael seems to have everything: a great job, a great family, a posh apartment, and all of the proverbial trimmings(including a handsome boyfriend,). However, during that time, to be gay was to be damned by the conservative right wing Reagan Era Administration(owned lock, stock, and smoking barrel by the "Moral Majority"). Now, add to that Michael has just discovered that he has AIDS(the acronym that ensured certain death for thousands of people). Suddenly, the life Michael has worked so hard to conceal has come to the forefront in a major way. Upon his diagnosis Michael knows that he can no longer keep his homosexuality a secret, which ultimately heads up the ensuing drama and heart break.

When I was a small child(I was four or five years old when this movie aired)I had no concept of what "AIDS" was or the epidemic, let alone this wonderful film. I was only interested in my toys and going out to play. Meanwhile, just outside of my blissful little la-la land an entire community was under seiged by an invisible terror.

Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowalands co-star as Michael's parents. Their performances were nothing short of heart wrenching. Mrs. Pierson reminded me so much of my own mother after I came out about being gay. When she held her son, and protected him from his father's misplaced rage, it jarred me. In her I saw my own mom's need to love and care for me no matter what. I initially hated Nick Pierson; however, as the film progressed I began to empathize with him. Ben Gazzara was absolutely brilliant.

While the film could be preachy in spots(sometimes I felt as though I was watching a PSA about AIDS. Each character took the time to do a monologue about HIV/AIDS)I realized that, at that time, there was a need for people to be educated. What I loved most about "An Early Frost" was that it gave AIDS a face and a name. The thousand of people who were treated like moral degenerates were people who worked hard, paid their taxes, had families, friends, lovers, and everything that everyone else with a pulse holds dear. Those people society spat upon were human beings too, worthy of the precious gift of life.

We've come such a long way since then, but it is horrifying to know that we still have such a ways to go in order to beat AIDS. This film gave me so much more respect for people living with AIDS and those that are living with people living with AIDS.

It was an excellent movie that I would like to own. It was depressing yet uplifting all at once.

P.S.

The extras has a documentary about a young man dying of AIDS. It will break your heart. This DVD is not for the emotionally faint. But I recommend it as you will learn a great deal.

When in doubt, oboe solo.

[idontneedyourjunk · 4/10 · 27 October 2017]

Michael, a big-shot lawyer, on a visit home to see the folks, is questioned about if he has a girlfriend yet. Back in New York, he has a cough he can't get rid of. He goes to the doctor who runs blood tests.

It's aids. He breaks up with his partner and returns home, to not only break the news of aids, but that he's gay.

This is 1985. His father, who runs a timber yard, is horrified (almost punching him out). His sister won't even touch him. His brother-in-law (Paxton), well, somehow after the news breaks, he's not in the movie any more.

This is 1985. You can get hiv/aids (it's the same thing) by a hug, by sharing utensils, possibly even by breathing the same air. Or not. It's only prostitutes, blacks and gays that get it.

This is 1985. The network were very scared about making this TV movie, the first of it's kind to deal with hiv. They had executives from standards and practices onset, to make sure that homosexuality didn't come across as acceptable. That the gay couple didn't kiss. Or hug too much. They wanted the boyfriend to have given hiv to Michael, to make him the bad guy. They were afraid that it wouldn't sell, even after 13 forced rewrites.

And it didn't. They lost $600,000 on it's 1st airing, ad executives didn't want to touch it, despite being number 1 in the Nielsen ratings. They tried again 6 months later and lost $1,000,000.

Paramedics refuse to pick him up to take to the hospital. Nurses refuse to enter his room to bring him food. This is what it was actually like. People thought only gays and blacks got this disease. Possibly druggies as well. He meets a very lively character in a group session, the most interesting person in the movie. Don't get too attached though. He dies.

Meanwhile, after attempting suicide and being saved by his father, daddy dearest realizes he wants his son alive, even if he is gay. Even the sister realizes her unborn child can't get aids from a hug, and he even gets back together with his cheating lover.

The end. (And hopefully you've forgotten that his doctor told his mother he's going to die horribly in a few years).

Won Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actress Won Peabody Award Won Director's Guild Award - Outstanding Director Nominated for 13 Emmy awards, won for Writing, Cinematography, Sound Mixing and Editing. Which I just have to ask, just how many people was the oboe player sleeping with?

Sad scene where your father hates you? Oboe solo.

Angry scene where you smash stuff? Oboe solo.

Break up with lover? Oboe solo.

Happy family reunion? Oboe solo.

New friend is dead? Oboe solo.

Emmy Nominee in Music Composition. Seriously?

Starring:

Tom Boyd - Oboe soloist and holy moley he 'gets around'. Over 1300 movies use his oboe work. Is there a shortage or does he just pucker up for cheap?

Terry O'Quinn - no-nonsense doctor, best known as John Locke (Man In Black) from Lost John Glover - most interesting person in the movie. Dies of AIDS. Was Riddler in several incarnations of Batman and Superman series, but ended up as Lionel Luther in Smallville.

Aidan Quinn - wasn't a big enough name to get starring role in a film that he stars in, he now stars in Elementary as Captain Thomas Gregson Ben Gazzara - homophobic dad, starred in his own series in the 60s, Run For Your Life, where he's told he only has 2 years to live, so he goes out and lives life to the fullest. Pretty much what he tells his son to do here.

Way Ahead of its Time - and Still Valid!

[tim.halkin · 8 February 2003]

We're now well into the new millennium, and I'm angry at myself that I'm only now getting around to seeing this 1985 milestone AIDS film! I work in the television industry, and I must say that I feel proud that a major US network like NBC had the guts to produce a film this sensitive and revolutionary for its time. It truly makes a valiant attempt (and succeeds for the most part) to make AIDS an every-day, living room topic without ever getting too sticky or maudlin about it. Even though this was really in the stone age of AIDS, it's amazing how right-on it was in so many areas. The only thing that feels dated now, is the lack of therapeutic possibilities, which we have today, but my God, we just all lived through over 20 years of Hell, and only now - recently - have a shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The writing team had great insight and foresight.

That said, I do wish that the script had gone one round with a good dialog doctor. There are moments, where - despite the AMAZING cast - that I did have to cringe. It was always a matter of sticky dialog, but - believe me - not the heart, soul, or deeper truth of the piece.

This film might be somewhat older, but it is still incredibly valid, and is heads-and-shoulders over most films of its genre. I'm sure that the executives at NBC who gave the green light for this production are long gone, but I raise my glass to you for your courage and for your vision. Bravo!

A very needed Movie for the times.

[drsmith1966 · 10/10 · 24 December 2013]

The first time i saw this i was very moved. Yes indeed people were dropping like fly's back then. but it seems today people don't care about such things and bare backing is the way to go. such fools people can be when they think the storm has passed. way too many have died from AIDS and way too many will still. For a TV movie this was way ahead of its time. the cast was very good and all did a fine job. Aidan Quinn was just perfect for the part. he and I are the same age so it was very easy to connect with this great actor. most Actors back then did not want to play such parts. Today things are so different and its very the norm for actors to play gay roles.

Groundbreaking

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 8 February 2005]

A young gay man (Adian Quinn) becomes stricken with AIDS. He now has to come out to his parents (Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara) AND tell them he has an incurable disease.

For its time this was extraordinary. Back in 1985 AIDS was still considered a gay mans disease and most TV shows wouldn't touch the subject. NBC should be congratulated on having the courage to greenlight this and present it (also it got HUGE ratings when it first played). The acting is exceptional--Quinn is just perfect and Rowlands is incredible as his mother. Gazzara is also good but not as good as the other two--he seems to be holding back. And it was a surprise to see John Glover playing a man dying on AIDS--he usually played villains. Also the ending didn't offer any false hope--there was no miracle cure to save this man. For a TV movie that was incredible.

The film isn't perfect. Some of the dialogue is bad (especially between Quinn and Gazzara) and Quinn's boyfriend leaves him at the beginning--only to show up again at the end. Sorry but that wouldn't have happened back then. Also today AIDS is not a death sentence. People are living and there are some treatment that are working. Still this is an exceptional movie and a definite milestone in TV history. Recommended.

Standout Performances and Script Bolster Landmark Film

[sobaok · 10/10 · 1 August 2014]

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.

Television Classic with Aidan QUINN

[ZeddaZogenau · 8/10 · 21 November 2023]

When this film aired on NBC on November 11, 1985, it was the first television film to deal exclusively with the consequences of the AIDS pandemic. The first cases of a new immune deficiency disease had become known since 1981, which in the 1980s meant a virtual death sentence for those affected. Incidentally, the now world-famous Dr. Anthony Fauci involved. This important film was first broadcast on April 6, 1987 on the then West German television station ZDF.

The film is about the young and successful Michael (Aidan Quinn) learning that he has AIDS. He tells this to his parents (terrific: Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara) and is confronted with different reactions as the story progresses. Sylvia Sidney and D. W. Moffett also appear in roles. This film is convincingly acted and is an important contemporary document from the early years of the AIDS pandemic.

Lead actor Aidan Quinn (*1959) was best known at the time from the film "Susan...desperately seeking!" (1985), which featured the up-and-coming US singer Madonna (*1958) in a significant supporting role. The year 1985 was the year in which MegaStar Madonna's meteoric rise also began in German-speaking countries. For example, her early hit "Into the Groove" could also be heard in the film.

A family has to work together to get through the tough times.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 30 December 2021]

It's a double whammy for a well-to-do family of so-called good breeding when they find out that their golden boy, Aidan Quinn, is not only gay, but has been diagnosed with HIV. This is back in 1985 when a diagnosis not only indicated certain death but could end jobs, destroy family ties and result in patients becoming homeless. Quinn has been suffering from pneumonia and is recuperating in his parents home, informed his parents (Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara) to different reactions. Rowlands is shocked but vows to remain supportive, and Gazzara is furious over the whole thing. But when Quinn has to be rushed to the hospital and the ambulance drivers refused when they realize he has AIDS, Gazzara changes his attitude, at least temporarily, but eventually comes closer to acceptance.

Then there's Quinn's loving grandmother, the feisty Sylvia Sidney who was angry over being lied to over her late husband's illness, and wants to share her grandson's dying just like she shared his life. She has several great moments that deservedly won her a Golden Globe. Not one to mince words, she suddenly lays into her son-in-law for his prejudices and then chose her grandson the depths of her love. Sydney Walsh, as Quinn's sister, seems loyal at first, but starts to back away out of fear for her baby.

Ex-lover D. W. Moffett comes back when Quinn becomes ill, creating a bond with the family, even Quinn' father. John Glover is excellent as a flamboyant gay man who has been ill for two years, and you get to see inside his soul past his campy bravado. This shows the fears of the medical industry during that time, with Quinn's doctor wise to the falseness of the fears of other staff, lunch in his question yet non-judgemental. The scene with the EMT's is particularly disturbing, but at least the film does show a few nurses who are not afraid of doing what they are being paid to do.

This was certainly a brave film for a time and deserved all the acclaim that it got, even though much would change in the next decade. There are a few minor weaknesses but all in all, this film goes down in history for taking on the then controversial subject and dealing with it honestly. Rowlands and Sidney win acting honors, although the ensemble is terrific. I don't think I would have ended this the way it concludes, and that is probably its main weakness.

Very First Film Either Movies or TV About AIDS

[shelbythuylinh · 9/10 · 16 May 2023]

Before this movie was shown, everybody did not treat AIDS as the makers over in the movie and the network that aired it NBC, lost so much money but thirty four million watched the film at a time before Youtube and other social media was invented.

Or having thousands of cable and network TV where there was only three networks at the time.

Aidan Quinn known for his tough guy roles at the time plays a sensitive portrayal of a gay closeted man lawyer and that he doesn't want to tell his parents about being homosexual as they are old fashioned old school played by the late Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands.

Now everybody hears he has AIDS and he is shunned and that he must cope with the disease as a pre-Smallville John Glover plays a patient that briefly tells him about his own struggle to prepare the Quinn character.

AIDS put a face over in humanity at a time when Rock Hudson was the very first case back in the 1980's and died from it.

Really if you may not agree with the lifestyle but it is really rather good. As wished TV movies would humanize stuff like this.

Now AIDS has been very quickly supplanted by cancer, COVID, etc.

An Early Frost

[Chris-229 · 4 October 1998]

This film was a very courageous undertaking by all who where involved, however the love between the two men was not believable. The emotions flowed, but the body language told me otherwise.