On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Philadelphia is a 1993 American legal drama film written by Ron Nyswaner, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Philadelphia no bake cheesecake Hanks and Denzel Washington. Philadelphia premiered in Los Angeles on December 14, 1993 and opened in limited release on December 22, before expanding into wide release on January 14, 1994.

7 million worldwide, becoming the 9th highest-grossing film of 1993. Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia. He conceals his homosexuality and his status as an AIDS patient from the other members of the firm. A partner in the firm notices a lesion on Beckett’s forehead.

Beckett stays home from work for several days to try to find a way to hide his lesions. He finishes the paperwork for a case he has been assigned and brings it to his office, leaving instructions for his assistants to file the paperwork the following day, which marks the end of the statute of limitations for the case. Beckett believes someone deliberately hid the paperwork to give the firm an excuse to fire him and that the termination is a result of his diagnosis with AIDS as well as his sexuality. He asks ten attorneys to take his case, the last of whom is African-American personal injury lawyer Joe Miller, whom Beckett previously opposed in a different case. Unable to find a lawyer willing to represent him, Beckett is compelled to act as his own attorney. While researching another case at a law library, Miller sees Beckett at a nearby table. A librarian approaches Beckett and says that he has found a case of AIDS discrimination for him.

As the case goes to trial, the partners of the firm take the stand, each claiming that Beckett was incompetent and that he had deliberately tried to hide his condition. The defense repeatedly suggests that Beckett brought AIDS upon himself via gay sex and is therefore not a victim. Beckett collapses and is hospitalized after Charles Wheeler, the partner he most admired, testifies against him. Another partner, Bob Seidman, confesses that he suspected Beckett had AIDS but never told anyone and didn’t allow him to explain himself, which he deeply regrets.

Daniel Day-Lewis was offered the role of Andrew Beckett, but turned it down. Bill Murray and Robin Williams were considered for the role of Joe Miller. The events in the film are similar to the events in the lives of attorneys Geoffrey Bowers and Clarence Cain. In 1994, shortly after the film’s release, Scott Burr, a former attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Kohn, Nast and Graf, sued his previous employer for illegally terminating him upon finding out that he was HIV positive. Like the defendants in the film, the firm claimed that it fired him for incompetence without knowing about his health. The parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount after three weeks of trial.