Stigma (1972 film)
{{Short description|1972 film by David E. Durston}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Stigma
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| director = David E. Durston
| producer = Charles Moss
| writer = David E. Durston
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|Philip Michael Thomas|Harlan Cary Poe|Josie Johnson}}
| music = Jacques Urbont
| cinematography = Robert M. Baldwin
| editing = Murray Solomon
| studio =
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|1972||}}
| runtime = 93 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Stigma is a 1972 American drama film. It was produced by Charles Moss,{{Cite book|title=From Movie City to Music City, USA|author=Randall Rutledge|publisher=Randall Rutledge|year=2008|page=30|isbn=978-0-9821496-0-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpImKtff-TYC&q=Stigma+Durston}} while David E. Durston was both the writer and the director.{{Cite book|title=International Television Almanac, 1985|author=Richard Gertner|author2=William Pay |publisher=Quigley Pub. Co.|year=1985|page=76|isbn=0-900610-33-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_8yxF_pDGoC&q=Stigma+Durston}} Prominent themes in the film include racism and sexually transmitted disease.{{Cite book|title=Vietnam at the Movies|author=Michael Lee Lanning|publisher=Fawcett Columbine|page=318|year=1994|isbn=0-449-90891-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_wNAQAAMAAJ&q=Stigma+Durston}} It stars Philip Michael Thomas in an early screen appearance, twelve years before he starred in the popular 1980s TV show Miami Vice.
Plot
Set in a remote California community, the film follows a doctor (Philip Michael Thomas) who learns a super form of syphilis is appearing among the residents. He and a few others must race against time to find the carrier before others fall victim.
Reception
The New York Times called it "a crackling good suspense melodrama".{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Howard |title=VD Warning is Good Suspense Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/19/archives/vd-warning-is-good-suspense-film.html |work=The New York Times |date=19 August 1972 |page=28}} The Los Angeles Times called it a "lively little drama... sturdy and involving."{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Kevin |author1-link=Kevin Thomas (film critic) |title=Films deal with Heroin, VD |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/134653139/ |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=23 February 1973 |page=IV-22|via=Newspapers.com}} By contrast, Leonard Maltin rated the film a "bomb", dismissing it as an "absurd melodrama".{{cite book |editor1-last=Maltin |editor1-first=Leonard |editor1-link=Leonard Maltin |title=TV Movies |date=1983 |publisher=New American Library |location=New York |page=732 |url=https://archive.org/details/tvmovies00malt/page/732/mode/1up}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0069312}}
- {{AFI film|id=54688}}
Category:1970s English-language films
Category:Films about racism in the United States
Category:Films about sexuality