This Rock Hudson documentary examines actor’s life and AIDS-related death
Of all the many tales of Old Hollywood, Rock Hudson’s is one of the most tragic. A prominent figure in action and romantic comedy movies in the 1950s, his life ended in isolation and scandal when he became the first major celebrity to die from AIDS in 1985.
Rocis a comprehensive documentary charting his rise to stardom and the many measures he took to hide his sexuality from the public eye. Meticulously compiled, Hudson’s story is told in great detail through archive interviews and clips from his films, and incorporating quotes from the man himself.
Home movies and personal accounts reveal a much softer, playful character than the Alpha Male that the studio presented in his many films. Just as female starlets were forced into manufactured fantasies, Hudson and his fellow leading men had to have every ounce of femininity drained from them in order to project an idealised image. Hudson’s death was a turning point for the LGBTQ+ community.
It was the moment fellow stars realised how he had been abandoned by the industry, with friends such as legendary screen star Elizabeth Taylor devoting the rest of their lives to AIDS-related charities. Perhaps the only frustration in this important film is that his impact, and the toll Hudson’s secrecy took on him, isn’t explored enough.
Most of the interviewees are Hollywood veterans who only speak in innuendo, and Hudson’s sexuality is too often treated as an elicit secret rather than a tragic suppression. Nevertheless, as an introduction to a pivotal part of Queer History, Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is required viewing and a necessary education for anyone who wants to know how progress often comes alongside tragedy.
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