The Ryan White Story
| The Ryan White Story | |
|---|---|
UK VHS cover of "The Ryan White Story"
|
|
| Genre | Drama Biography |
| Written by |
Phil Penningroth (story, teleplay) John Herzfeld (teleplay) |
| Directed by | John Herzfeld |
| Starring |
Lukas Haas Judith Light |
| Theme music composer | Mike Post |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Alan Landsburg Howard Lipstone |
| Producer(s) | Linda Otto |
| Cinematography | Steven Shaw |
| Editor(s) | Robert Florio |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Landsburg Company Saban International |
| Distributor | ABC |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | January 16, 1989 |
The Ryan White Story is a 1989 television film starring Lukas Haas, and Judith Light, directed by John Herzfeld. The film first aired on the ABC network on January 16, 1989.
The film was based on the true story of the American teenager Ryan White, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States, after being expelled from middle school because of his infection.
Nielsen ratings estimated that the movie was seen by 15 million viewers on the original airing.
The film stars Lukas Haas as Ryan White, Judith Light as his mother Jeanne and Nikki Cox as his sister Andrea. Others in the film included Sarah Jessica Parker as a sympathetic nurse, George Dzundza as his doctor, and George C. Scott as White's attorney, who legally argued against school board authorities.
Some residents of Kokomo felt that the movie portrayed their entire town in an unfairly negative light. After the film aired, the office of Kokomo mayor Robert F. Sargent was flooded with complaints from across the country, although Sargent had not been elected to the office during the time of the controversy.
In the film, the real life Ryan White made a cameo appearance as another hemophiliac AIDS sufferer named Chad.
Today, the film remains available on out-of-print VHS (released in the UK only) as well as online services Hulu Plus and Netflix.
The film's final scene was filmed at South Iredell High School in Statesville, North Carolina.
The film's tagline reads "At 13, Ryan White has AIDS. This is his true story."
Ryan White is a teenage hemophiliac who discovers he has contracted AIDS through contaminated blood products, and is then barred from attending school by Western School Corporation in Russiaville, Indiana, just outside Kokomo. Unfairly judged and emotionally abused by the community, Ryan and his mother engage the services of a high-powered attorney to win back his basic rights to attend school.
The film received positive reviews from critics upon the original airing. Hal Erickson of Allmovie gave the film four out of five stars and wrote "Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner."
...
Wikipedia