And the Band Played On (1993) (TV)

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers (WGA):

Randy Shilts (book)
Arnold Schulman (teleplay)

Release Date:

11 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A threat no one dared face. A word no one wanted to speak. A fight for many, fought by few.

Plot:

The story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it.

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | Doctor | Virus | Discussion | Tragedy

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 9 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Dr. Don Francis
Alan Alda	...	Dr. Robert Gallo
Patrick Bauchau	...	Dr. Luc Montagnier
Nathalie Baye	...	Dr. Françoise Barre
Christian Clemenson	...	Dr. Dale Lawrence
David Clennon	...	Mr. Johnstone
Phil Collins	...	Eddie Papasano
Bud Cort	...	Antique shop owner
Alex Courtney	...	Dr. Mika Popovic
David Dukes	...	Dr. Mervyn Silverman
Richard Gere	...	The Choreographer
David Marshall Grant	...	Dennis Seeley
Ronald Guttman	...	Dr. Jean-Claude Chermann
Glenne Headly	...	Dr. Mary Guinan
Anjelica Huston	...	Dr. Betsy Reisz

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Danish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | France:U | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

Mary Guinan, the role played by Glenne Headly, was Nevada's State Health Officer in the early 2000s. She has since retired.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Francis's Volvo has a Georgia license plate on the front. Georgia only issues rear license plates.

Quotes:

Dr. Don Francis: How many people have to die before it'll be cost effective for you people to do something about it? A hundred? A thousand? Give us a number so we won't annoy you until the amount of money you start losing on LAWSUITS makes it PROFITABLE for you to save people than to kill them!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Chicago Hope: ...And the Hand Played On (#4.5)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Manhattan Man

Powerful...and Important!!

And The Band Played On is an extremely powerful movie. This movie should be required viewing in any high school. The fact that it took so incredibly long for the then higher powers to admit to the existence of AIDS is stunning and sad. The performances throughout the movie were moving and effective. I thought that Sir Ian McKellan and Richard Gere represented respectfully the signs of strength and fear.

I was also disheartened to learn that throughout this tragedy, there were individuals who might have been more concerned with helping and protecting their own reputation and agenda as well as accepting the credit for their work in breaking down point by point the disease known as AIDS. Alan Alda as Dr. Gallo was fascinating. In fact all of the performances from Matthew Modine and Richard Gere to Steve Martin and BD Wong were great. The most important thing here though is the history of this disease and the hope that we can learn from it.