10 of the best movies of Rock Hudson, the closeted gay star
The films that made Rock Hudson one of the biggest stars of the mid-century
Warner Bros. Pictures; paramount images; Universal Pictures
Rock Hudson was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1950s and early 1960s. He was tall, dark, handsome, a crowd favorite, and a reasonably good but not great actor. He was also secretly gay, a fact that came to light in 1985, when he announced that he had AIDS.
He died in October of that year. He is best remembered today for his sex comedies with Doris Day and The Saga giant, But he also appeared in westerns, war films, melodramas (many from the esteemed director Douglas Sirk), and more. After his film career waned in the late 1960s – he was too bland for more fashionable audiences – he was active on television, with series including McMillan and his wife And Dynasty As well as short series. Here are 10 Hudson movies worth watching.
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
Universal Pictures
Hudson has appeared in numerous middling films, including Westerns and other action films (he was portrayed as a Native American in Taza, son of Cochise), when you direct your circus Wonderful obsession It made him a complete star. He plays rich playboy Bob Merrick, whose actions inadvertently cause the death of his beloved neighbor and the blindness of the man’s widow, Helen Phillips (Jane Wyman). Merrick falls in love with her, so curing her blindness becomes his “wonderful obsession” – he becomes a doctor in order to do so. It’s a preposterous plot, yes, but moviegoers bought into it, and the film still managed to attract a large audience, as evidenced by its screening at the TCM Classic Film Festival recently. It is based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. The 1935 version starred Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne.
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
HBO
Whatever heaven allows It is one of Hudson and Sirk’s best films. Jane Wyman once again plays a widow, this time named Carrie Scott, who lives a quiet, traditional life and is largely ignored by her two adult children. However, she is invigorated by her growing affection for nature-loving nurseryman Ron Kirby (Hudson). Because he is younger than her and not interested in money, her children and friends at the country club disapprove of their relationship. Will you choose respect or happiness? Like many Sirk films, it is not just melodrama but social criticism. Todd Haynes praised the film with his great style Far from heaven.
Written on the Wind (1956)
Universal Pictures
Written on the wind It’s another circus melodrama. Robert Stack plays Kyle Hadley, an alcoholic scion of an oil dynasty who marries Lucy Moore (Lauren Bacall), a secretary at his family’s company. But his best friend, geologist Mitch Wayne (Hudson), also loves Lucy, while Kyle’s voluptuous sister, Marylee (Dorothy Malone), is in love with Mitch, who views her only as a friend. complicated! Malone won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, while Stack was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Giant (1956)
Warner Bros. Pictures
giant, In which Hudson starred opposite his girlfriend Elizabeth Taylor, it remains one of his best-loved films. The sprawling saga of Texas ranchers and oilmen is based on the novel by Edna Ferber and directed by George Stevens. Hudson is rancher Beck Benedict, who marries Leslie (Taylor), a strong-minded Oriental, after a whirlwind romance. James Dean is cowboy Jett Rink, who also loves Leslie and eventually becomes rich after discovering oil. The film deals with family drama, changes in society, and racism against Mexican American residents of Texas. There is a respectable supporting cast, including Mercedes McCambridge (as Peck’s sister, Luz), Sal Mineo, Dennis Hopper, Carol Baker, Jane Withers, Rod Taylor, and Earl Hollyman. The film, which is three hours and 21 minutes long, may be a bit daunting for some viewers, but it has many fans. Hudson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor – his only Academy Award nomination. Dean was nominated posthumously in the same category, but both lost to Yul Brynner The king and I. The film received several other nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Cambridge and Best Picture, while Stevens won Best Director.
Deformed Angels (1957)
Global international
Disfigured angels It was Hudson’s last film for Sirk. In this adaptation of William Faulkner’s novel tower/column, It’s journalist Burke Devlin, covering a story about stunt pilot Roger Schumann and Schumann’s abused wife, Laverne, played by Written on the wind Actors Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone. The film tones down the gravitas of Faulkner’s novel—some things, like a threesome, were still taboo in 1950s films—but it’s still somewhat steamy. It was dismissed as a trivial melodrama upon its release, but has risen in appreciation from critics and film buffs over the years. Directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Peter Bogdanovich praised it, and critic David Thompson called it “Sirk’s best film, partly because it resolves the novel’s tension between poetry and wisdom.” Sirk described it as a study “of people who can’t make it in life”, and admitted that it might be his best film as well.
Pillow Talk (1959)
Universal Pictures
pillow talk It is the first and most famous of Hudson’s three comedies with Doris Day. She’s interior designer Jeanne Moreau, and he’s playboy composer Brad Allen, and they have a party line — yes, people used to share a phone line. She despises him, only knows him on the phone, and when she meets him in person, he pretends to be a naive tourist from Texas, visiting New York City. He also pretends to be a bit effeminate, so she thinks about abandoning her morals to “save him.” If you can tolerate the mid-century morals and gender stereotypes – where men always seek casual sex, and “nice” women wait for marriage – this is very clever and funny. Thelma Ritter is a standout as Jan’s hard-drinking housekeeper.
A Lover Returns (1961)
Universal Pictures
Hudson and Day reunite for Return lover, satire of the advertising business. They’re two rival advertising executives, Jerry Webster and Carol Templeton, both trying to come up with a campaign for a product that doesn’t exist. Of course, they are attracted to each other, and with the help of a little trickery things take their course – but still no sex outside of marriage! Some critics at the time thought this was funnier than that pillow talk.
Send Me No Flowers (1964)
International Studios
The pairing of Hudson and Day remains iconic despite the small number of films they’ve made together. Send me no flowers This was the third and last, and on this one they were already married. But the problem for George and Judy Kimball, residents of suburban New York, is that George is suffering from hypochondria and is convinced that he is dying. He’s not, but he goes so far as to make funeral arrangements and try to find a second husband for Judy. Tony Randall, who appears in both pillow talk And lover returns, He’s back here in the comedy’s second lead role, and gay actor Paul Lynde is hilarious as the funeral director. Incidentally, Day was a loyal lifelong friend of Hudson.
Seconds (1966)
Paramount Pictures
Seconds It was a departure for Hudson, and one of his best-respected films. Directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), it is the story of people who gave new life through science. Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) is a middle-aged banker who is frustrated with his life, but gets a chance to become a young, Malibu swing artist Tony Wilson, played by Hudson. Eventually, Hamilton/Wilson regrets his choice, and it becomes clear that something sinister is afoot. Salome Janes, a beautiful actress of stage and screen who deserves to be better known, plays Nora Marcus, Hudson’s love interest.
Cracked Mirror (1980)
EMI Films/Columbia Warner Distributors
The mirror is cracked Worth watching for the many classic movie stars in the cast. Based on the Agatha Christie novel, it finds an American studio in a small English village making a film about Elizabeth I and Lady Jane Gray – starring two rival actresses played by Elizabeth Taylor and Kim Novak. Hudson is Taylor’s character’s husband. When a member of staff is poisoned, Taylor’s Marina Rudd appears to be the intended target – and Miss Jane Marple, played by cult classic star and future TV detective Angela Lansbury, comes to investigate. Tony Curtis and Geraldine Chaplin also attend, and it’s all in good fun.
(Tags for translation)Rock Hudson
