Knight at HOME at the Movies
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20 Years ago...
...network television, not HBO or Showtime, was still the place for groundbreaking programs and movies that took on
controversial topics. Two classic examples in this week's DVD recommendations.
...network television, not HBO or Showtime, was still the place for groundbreaking programs and movies that took on
controversial topics. Two classic examples in this week's DVD recommendations.
As I watched An Early Frost, out at last on DVD thanks to Wolfe Video, the first TV
movie to deal with AIDS (it aired on NBC in November of 1985), all the sadness
horror and bittersweetness of the era came sweeping over me. It's a beautifully
crafted movie with topnotch performances from a strong cast headed by Aiden Quinn
as a closeted lawyer who finds himself in the dreadful situation that so many found
themselves in (and still do): the double whammy of having to come out to family
and reveal a diagnosis of AIDS.
Being the first, the movie could have easily turned mawkish but sensitive yet
no-nonsense writing and directing keep this family drama firmly on track. For many
Americans, this was the first time they saw a gay person -- albeit one with AIDS --
portrayed as normal and not a contagious freak. Quinn's mother played by Gena
Rowlands, a piano teacher (the beautiful theme she "plays" was composed by John
Kander), accepts what she doesn't want to while Quinn's father, Ben Gazzara, simply
can't. Sylvia Sidney is tough but compassionate at Quinn's grandmother, D.W.
Moffat plays the terrified lover and Sydney Walsh, Quinn's suddenly skittish sister.
Especially moving is gay actor John Glover as a fellow AIDS patient who offers Quinn
much needed friendship and understanding.
The film offers a vintage 20 minuted documentary on a real AIDS patient that is just
as moving and a new, insightful commentary from Quinn and the film's writers. A
wonderful, heartfelt experience. Get out the Kleenex!
Steven Spielberg, whose first directing job was directing Joan Crawford in a segment
from the pilot for Night Gallery, has always had a penchant for Rod Sterlingesque
stories. His mawkish segment of The Twilight Movie may have been a misstep but
his much heralded (and very expensive) anthology series, Amazing Stories, was not.
The show debuted to much fanfare the same year that An Early Frost was telecast
(and on the same network -- good going, NBC). Though the show had decent
enough ratings and garnered plenty of praise from critics, it was never the smash
that the network had hoped for. Unlike today, however, the network kept it going for
a second season before it disappeared from sight. Now, 20 years on, Universal
Studios has released Amazing Stories - the Complete First Season (nicely
packaged in a sturdy box crafted to look like a storybook). This 4-disc set includes
all 24 episodes and 20 minutes of deleted scenes (some as brief as 30 seconds).
Rod Serling certainly would have loved this series which, indeed, has its share of
amazing stories relayed in patented Twilight Zone fashion. Most of these are
morality tales (humorous, serious and scary) and feature a cavalcade of 80s stars
and up and comers. Beautifully shot on expensive sets, these are nifty half hour
episodes (many penned by Spielberg and a few directed by him) that are loaded to
the gills with cleverness and charm. And then there are those terrific music scores
(topped by a theme from John Williams) by Danny Elfman and others of his ilk.
Favorite shows of mine include the debut episode, the Spielberg lensed "Ghost
Train," "Mummy Daddy," "The Doll," "The Babysitter," and "Dorothy and Ben." I
eagerly await the second season.
movie to deal with AIDS (it aired on NBC in November of 1985), all the sadness
horror and bittersweetness of the era came sweeping over me. It's a beautifully
crafted movie with topnotch performances from a strong cast headed by Aiden Quinn
as a closeted lawyer who finds himself in the dreadful situation that so many found
themselves in (and still do): the double whammy of having to come out to family
and reveal a diagnosis of AIDS.
Being the first, the movie could have easily turned mawkish but sensitive yet
no-nonsense writing and directing keep this family drama firmly on track. For many
Americans, this was the first time they saw a gay person -- albeit one with AIDS --
portrayed as normal and not a contagious freak. Quinn's mother played by Gena
Rowlands, a piano teacher (the beautiful theme she "plays" was composed by John
Kander), accepts what she doesn't want to while Quinn's father, Ben Gazzara, simply
can't. Sylvia Sidney is tough but compassionate at Quinn's grandmother, D.W.
Moffat plays the terrified lover and Sydney Walsh, Quinn's suddenly skittish sister.
Especially moving is gay actor John Glover as a fellow AIDS patient who offers Quinn
much needed friendship and understanding.
The film offers a vintage 20 minuted documentary on a real AIDS patient that is just
as moving and a new, insightful commentary from Quinn and the film's writers. A
wonderful, heartfelt experience. Get out the Kleenex!
Steven Spielberg, whose first directing job was directing Joan Crawford in a segment
from the pilot for Night Gallery, has always had a penchant for Rod Sterlingesque
stories. His mawkish segment of The Twilight Movie may have been a misstep but
his much heralded (and very expensive) anthology series, Amazing Stories, was not.
The show debuted to much fanfare the same year that An Early Frost was telecast
(and on the same network -- good going, NBC). Though the show had decent
enough ratings and garnered plenty of praise from critics, it was never the smash
that the network had hoped for. Unlike today, however, the network kept it going for
a second season before it disappeared from sight. Now, 20 years on, Universal
Studios has released Amazing Stories - the Complete First Season (nicely
packaged in a sturdy box crafted to look like a storybook). This 4-disc set includes
all 24 episodes and 20 minutes of deleted scenes (some as brief as 30 seconds).
Rod Serling certainly would have loved this series which, indeed, has its share of
amazing stories relayed in patented Twilight Zone fashion. Most of these are
morality tales (humorous, serious and scary) and feature a cavalcade of 80s stars
and up and comers. Beautifully shot on expensive sets, these are nifty half hour
episodes (many penned by Spielberg and a few directed by him) that are loaded to
the gills with cleverness and charm. And then there are those terrific music scores
(topped by a theme from John Williams) by Danny Elfman and others of his ilk.
Favorite shows of mine include the debut episode, the Spielberg lensed "Ghost
Train," "Mummy Daddy," "The Doll," "The Babysitter," and "Dorothy and Ben." I
eagerly await the second season.
