Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Written by | Deborah Joy LeVine |
Directed by | Tom McLoughlin |
Starring | Molly Ringwald Lee Grant Perry King Martin Landau |
Theme music composer | David Shire |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producers | Joan Barnett Jack Grossbart |
Cinematography | Shelly Johnson |
Editors | Charles Bornstein Sidney Wolinsky |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production companies | Grossbart Barnett Productions Spectacor Films |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | March 29, 1992 |
Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (also known in UK as Fatal Love) is a 1992 American television film based on the life of prominent AIDS activist Alison Gertz. It originally aired on ABC on March 29, 1992, approximately four months before Gertz's death.
Alison Gertz (played by Molly Ringwald) is an affluent and self-assured Manhattanite. At the age of sixteen, Gertz meets a bartender named Darren and has a one-night stand with him. This results in her contracting HIV. Gertz overcomes her fears and becomes an advocate educating high school and college students about AIDS and its possible threats to sexually active people of those ages.
A federal AIDS information number released after the film generated a record 189,251 calls within 24 hours of the film's showing, mostly from women. [1] [2]
In an early-1992 article published in various daily newspapers across America, author Jerry Buck noted that Ringwald had described the role as "nerve-wracking", however her portrayal of the real-life AIDS patient Alison Gertz fulfilled a personal need to combat the disease. Ringwald had stated "I'd been wanting to do something to help in the fight against AIDS, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't think I would be very good at raising funds, since Madonna and Elizabeth Taylor are doing a terrific job. I wanted to do something to increase public awareness. When the script came along I knew this was it. It shows that AIDS is not just a gay problem and is spreading rapidly among heterosexuals. Young people are very vulnerable because they're experimenting sexually, yet often feel it can't affect them."
In the same article, it was stated that Ringwald first became interested in the story when Gertz's diaries were submitted to a production company the actress had at Columbia Pictures. Ringwald did not pursue it at the time, but when a script for the film was sent to her, she accepted. Buck also noted that Ringwald sought to learn all she could about Alison Gertz during a brief meeting with her before filming began. Ringwald stated "I pretty much wanted to get a fix on what this girl was all about. I wanted to see how she talked, how she dressed, what her apartment was like. I'd never played a real person before. Then when I started to play her I let it all go. I'm not an impersonator. No matter how good an actress I am I couldn't be her completely. Ali understood and supported that. The way I looked at it she could be any girl. She could be me... But I did feel a special responsibility. It was nerve-wracking." It was also noted that the actress wanted the movie to show all of Gertz's moods and colors, from depressed and angry to very positive. Ringwald stated "We did one scene where we tried to emphasize safe sex yet be romantic. We used two condoms. I think it's important to show condoms in a romantic scene." [3]
Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars and wrote:
"Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was one of a myriad of early 1990s TV movies centering around the AIDS issue. Perhaps if it had been made five years earlier, and perhaps if it didn't have its characters speaking fluent pop profundities, Something to Live For might have been one of the truly important made-for-TV AIDS sagas." [4]
Picks and Pans ( People magazine) reviewed the movie upon release, giving an A grade and writing:
"As Gertz, Molly Ringwald gives a richly nuanced performance, fighting through denial, anger and the other stages of impending mortality until she finds courage in adversity. Ringwald is supported by one of the season's strongest casts. Director Tom McLoughlin frames the story in an engrossing fashion, jumping back and forth in time. Using tints, smoke and echoes, he also manages to evoke the fevered state of serious illness. Rarely is a cautionary tale told so artfully." [5]
New York Magazine gave a favorable review upon release and wrote:
Something to Live for is television in its Social Worker Mode, which is not a form I sneer at. TV's been downright heroic in the plague years and may be all the conscience we've got. And Ali's presentable in prime time for the same reason she's presentable in junior high schools: She is young, gifted, white, female, cute, equally innocent of leather bars and IV drugs, upper-middle class, and Upper East Side. Such unfairness ought never to have happened to such a sweetheart. Ringward is bratty and brave. As her parents, Lee Grant and Martin Landau are better than their money. Roxana Zal is a girlfriend who thinks she should've been afflicted. Peter Spears is a gay friend who explains the facts of death. There's a scary scene with Perry King, two condoms, and a scrub-down out of The Andromeda Strain . [6]
Film Review, Issue 1 (Orpheus Pub.) gave the film three out of five stars, calling the film a "harrowing true-life story." [7]
The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American indie teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film tells the story of five teenagers from different high school cliques who serve a Saturday detention overseen by their authoritarian vice principal.
Molly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life before being nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the drama film Tempest (1982). Ringwald became a teen idol following her appearances in filmmaker John Hughes' teen films Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). These films led to the media referring to her as a member of the "Brat Pack." Her final teen roles were in For Keeps and Fresh Horses.
The Brat Pack is a nickname given to a group of young actors who frequently appeared together in teen-oriented coming-of-age films in the 1980s. The term "Brat Pack", a play on the Rat Pack from the 1950s and 1960s, was first popularized in a 1985 New York magazine cover story, which described a group of highly successful film stars in their early twenties. David Blum wrote the article after witnessing several young actors being mobbed by groupies at Los Angeles' Hard Rock Cafe. The group has been characterized by the partying of members such as Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Judd Nelson.
Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. A cult classic, it is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film.
Gretchen Mol is an American actress. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films Rounders (1998), Celebrity (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)—in which she played the title character—3:10 to Yuma (2007) and Manchester by the Sea (2016).
Roxana Zal is an American former actress and fashion designer. In 1984, at the age of 14, she became the youngest Primetime Emmy Award winner for her title role in the television film Something About Amelia.
Sixteen Candles is a 1984 American coming-of-age teen comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes would direct, centering on teenage life. The film follows newly 16-year-old Samantha Baker (Ringwald), who deals with a seemingly unrequited crush on high school senior Jake Ryan (Schoeffling) while also being pursued by freshman Farmer Ted (Hall).
Some Kind of Wonderful is a 1987 American teen romantic drama film directed by Howard Deutch and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson. It is one of several successful teen dramas written by John Hughes in the 1980s. Blue-collar teen Keith goes out with the popular Amanda, a girl he's always dreamed of dating. Her ex-boyfriend plots revenge on him, while Keith's tomboy best friend Watts realizes she has feelings for Keith. The film had its premiere in Hollywood on February 23, 1987, and widely released theatrically in the United States on February 27.
Jami Beth Gertz is an American actress. Gertz is known for her early roles in the films Crossroads, Quicksilver, Less than Zero, The Lost Boys, and the 1980s TV series Square Pegs and 1996's Twister, as well as for her roles as Judy Miller in the CBS sitcom Still Standing and as Debbie Weaver in the ABC sitcom The Neighbors. Along with her husband, Tony Ressler, she is a part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association.
Long Duk Dong is a fictional character who appears in Sixteen Candles, a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes. Played by Japanese American actor Gedde Watanabe, the character is a Chinese foreign exchange student and a supporting character in the film set at a US suburban high school. Critics have described the character as an offensive stereotype of Asian people, but Roger Ebert argued Watanabe's performance rose above stereotypes. Watanabe later expressed some regret at the role, and turned down other performances when asked to use a heavy Asian accent.
Fresh Horses is a 1988 American coming-of-age drama film directed by David Anspaugh, and starring Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald.
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is a 1983 American-Canadian science fiction action film. The film stars Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson, Andrea Marcovicci and Michael Ironside. The film's executive producer was Ivan Reitman, and it was directed by Lamont Johnson. The film's music score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. When the film was originally released in theaters it was shown in a polarized, over/under 3-D format. The film became part of the 3-D film revival craze of the early 1980s, being widely released after Comin' at Ya! (1981). The film is about a bounty hunter who goes on a mission to rescue three women stranded on a brutal planet and meets a vagrant teenage girl along the way.
For Keeps is a 1988 American coming of age comedy drama film directed by John G. Avildsen. Starring Molly Ringwald and Randall Batinkoff as Darcy and Stan, two high school seniors in love, complications ensue when Darcy becomes pregnant just before graduation and decides to keep her baby. This movie is noted for being Ringwald's final "teen" film, and is cited as one of her most mature performances, particularly in a scene where Darcy is suffering from postpartum depression after the birth of her child.
Something About Amelia is a 1984 television film about psychological trauma caused in a family by a father's molestation of his daughter.
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure (1989) is a dramatic television film for ABC. It is based on the true story of the rescue of 18-month-old Jessica McClure who fell into an abandoned water well while playing in her aunt's backyard. It featured, as extras, many participants in the actual rescue and its coverage.
Something to Live For may refer to:
Alison L. Gertz was an American AIDS activist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gertz died of AIDS-related pneumonia.
Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front is a 2006 American made-for-television comedy-drama film. It is the third movie in the American Girl film series, and is based on the Molly: An American Girl book series written by American children's author Valerie Tripp. The first two movies in the series, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday and Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, were broadcast on The WB Television Network. However, following the WB/UPN merger, the series moved to the Disney Channel. The film premiered on the Disney Channel and on DVD from Warner Home Video on November 26, 2006. The film stars Maya Ritter in the titular role, with Molly Ringwald, David Aaron Baker, Tory Green and Genevieve Farrell in supporting roles.
Except Sometimes is the debut studio album of American singer-songwriter Molly Ringwald released on April 9, 2013, through Concord Records. It is a jazz record that follows a tradition of the Ringwald family set by her father. "I grew up in a home filled with music and had an early appreciation of jazz since my dad was a jazz musician. Beginning at around age three I started singing with his band and jazz music has continued to be one of my three passions along with acting and writing. I like to say jazz music is my musical equivalent of comfort food. It's always where I go back to when I want to feel grounded," Ringwald said in a statement. The album received generally mixed to positive reviews, with many critics praising Ringwald's vocals. The closing track of the album is a cover version of Simple Minds' "Don't You " which was part of the soundtrack of the movie The Breakfast Club that starred Ringwald. Ringwald dedicated this track "to the memory of J.H." This refers to John Hughes, Ringwald's director in The Breakfast Club and many of her other films.
Oil and Vinegar is a screenplay that was written but never filmed. It is a screenplay that John Hughes wrote and that Howard Deutch planned to direct. It would have starred Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick.
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