And the Band Played On

And the Band Played On is a drama about the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the United States and the efforts of scientists and public health workers to understand and contain it. The story follows Dr. Don Francis, a researcher who becomes convinced that a new and deadly illness is spreading and tries to mobilize a response, while competing ambitions and institutional resistance inside the scientific community slow the work down. The film moves between San Francisco, where doctors watch the virus take a growing toll, and the laboratories and agencies where the fight over credit and funding plays out.

The film was directed by Roger Spottiswoode, the seventh of the fourteen films he has directed, coming between Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Tomorrow Never Dies. It was produced by Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford for HBO Films and runs 140 minutes. Matthew Modine plays Dr. Don Francis, with Alan Alda as Dr. Robert Gallo, Patrick Bauchau as Dr. Luc Montagnier, Nathalie Baye as Dr. Françoise Barre, Christian Clemenson as Dr. Dale Lawrence and David Clennon as Mr. Johnstone. The production credits a large ensemble, with 90 credited cast members and 80 credited crew.

Released in September 1993, the film drew a substantial television audience and has held up well over time. On IMDb it holds a 7.8 rating from around 12,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.4 from 114 votes, a much smaller sample. A critics' rating of 7.3 from 12 reviews places it close to the IMDb audience score, indicating that reviewers and viewers have generally judged it in similar terms.