Larry Topping

The first cases of AIDS (although it was not yet called AIDS) occurred in California and New York between June 5-8, 1981. Zorro, The Gay Blade was released on July 17. In August, the first white, gay male entered the US Institutes of Health, where he died on October 28, when The New York Times entered the term "gay cancer" into the US lexicon. Fear regarding homosexuality and homosexuals was rampant from coast to coast during the first 6 months of this film's release. I wonder how much the AIDS epidemic (to become a pandemic) affected the sustained popularity and long-term profit of Zorro, The Gay Blade. It might explain why the film is, today, referred to as "underrated" and forgotten.