And the Band Played On (film)

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In a prologue set in 1976, American epidemiologist Don Francis arrives in a village on the banks of the Ebola River in Zaire as part of an international team investigating a mysterious illness that has killed many of the residents and the doctor treating them, later identified as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. It is his first exposure to such an epidemic, and the images of the dead he helps cremate will haunt him when he later becomes involved with HIV/AIDS research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1981, Francis becomes aware of a growing number of deaths among gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco caused by a rare lung condition, pneumocystis pneumonia, which typically affects only people with weakened immune systems. He moves to Atlanta, where Dr. James Curran of the CDC asks him to lead an in-depth investigation into this new immune disorder. Because of the Reagan administration's clampdown on public spending, Francis is forced to work with little money, limited space, and outdated equipment. He also clashes with numerous members of the medical community, many of whom resent his involvement due to their own personal agendas.

Francis comes into contact with the gay community after he and his colleagues find strong evidence that the disease is spread through sex. Some gay men, such as San Francisco activist Bill Kraus, support him, while others express anger at what they see as unwanted interference in their lives, particularly Francis's attempts to close the local gay bathhouses. Kraus, meanwhile, works to protect the gay community from the virus, a commitment that strains his relationship with his boyfriend, Kico Govantes.

Francis and other CDC staff are further astonished to find that representatives of the blood industry are unwilling to act against the epidemic for fear of financial losses. Francis pursues his theory that AIDS is caused by a sexually transmitted virus, but his efforts are complicated by rivalry between French scientists from the Pasteur Institute and American scientists, particularly Robert Gallo of the National Institutes of Health, who is enraged to learn that Francis has been collaborating with the French team. The researchers squabble over credit for discovering the virus and developing a blood test, while the death toll continues to climb.

In 1984, while exercising at a local gym, Kraus notices a spot on his ankle and worries that it might be Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness. His fears are confirmed when his doctor diagnoses him with AIDS, and Govantes returns to him after learning he is sick. After the discovery of the AIDS virus is announced, Francis submits a plan for prevention and an eventual cure, despite Curran warning him it will never be approved; the CDC rejects the proposal as too costly and transfers Francis to San Francisco. Privately, Curran tells Francis that while the Reagan administration wants to appear focused on the AIDS epidemic, the CDC has in fact been ordered to "look busy and do nothing."

In November 1985, Kraus and Govantes are walking in a San Francisco candlelight vigil march when Kraus suddenly starts coughing and becomes too weak to stand. He is taken to a local hospital, where he has trouble with his vision and is largely unable to speak coherently. Francis arrives, and within a few minutes the symptoms pass. Francis laments that they could have stopped the virus from spreading, but fears it may now be too late. Kraus tells him that he used to be afraid of dying, but is now afraid for those who live. He dies in January 1986.

Francis remains at the CDC until 1992, when he leaves to work on developing an AIDS vaccine. The film closes with Elton John's "The Last Song" playing over a photo and video montage of prominent figures affected by HIV/AIDS.

The film closes with footage of a candlelight vigil and march in San Francisco, followed by a montage of images of numerous celebrities who have died of AIDS or were involved with HIV/AIDS education and research, accompanied by Elton John singing his "The Last Song". The montage includes:

Arnold Schulman, who wrote the script, recalled "What I thought would take two months of time has taken almost two years of my life, so far. One director came and went... then another director. I worked with the new director day and night, rewriting. Then another director came along and another director. One director wouldn't even talk to me. The irony is, this is one thing I have done for altruistic reasons, as an indictment against greed, ego, and bureaucracy, and I have gone through a nightmare of greed, ego, and bureaucracy while doing the picture."^[2]

Most reviewers agreed that the filmmakers had a daunting task in adapting Shilts's massive, fact-filled text into a dramatically coherent film. Many critics praised the results. Film review website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 100% "fresh" rating based on eight reviews.^[3]

Tony Scott of Variety stated that "if there are lapses, director Spottiswoode's engrossing, powerful work still accomplishes its mission: Shilts's book, with all its shock, sorrow and anger, has been transferred decisively to the screen."^[4]

John O'Connor of The New York Times agreed that the adaptation "adds up to tough and uncommonly courageous television. Excessive tinkering has left the pacing of the film sluggish in spots, but the story is never less than compelling."^[5]

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly graded the film B+ and called it an "intriguing, sometimes awkward, always earnest combination of docudrama, medical melodrama, and mystery story. The stars lend warmth to a movie necessarily preoccupied with cold research and politics, and they lend prestige: The movie must be important, since actors of this stature agreed to appear. The result of the stars' generosity, however, works against the movie by halting the flow of the drama every time a familiar face pops up on screen. The emotions and agony involved in this subject give Band an irresistible power, yet the movie's rhythm is choppy and the dialogue frequently stiff and clichéd. The best compliment one can pay this TV movie is to say that unlike so many fact-based films, it does not exploit or diminish the tragedy of its subject."^[6]

Time Out New York wrote, "So keen were the makers of this adaptation of Randy Shilts's best-seller to bombard us with the facts and figures of the history of AIDS that they forgot to offer a properly dramatic human framework to make us care fully about the characters." The review also says that the multiple issues the film attempts to cover "make for a disjointed, clichéd narrative."^[7]

Richard Zoglin of Time magazine wrote: "Shilts's prodigiously researched 600-page book has been boiled down to a fact-filled, dramatically coherent, occasionally moving 2 hours and 20 minutes. At a time when most made-for-TV movies have gone tabloid crazy, here is a rare one that tackles a big subject, raises the right issues, fights the good fight."^[8]

• 1993 in television
• The Normal Heart (2014) – An HBO film also regarding the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States