“Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” Director Stephen Kijak Tells DNA About Preserving An Icon
A new documentary on Hollywood legend Rock Hudson explores his hidden gay life through the actor’s friends, former lovers, and the hidden subtexts in his movies. Matt Myers spoke to director Stephen Kijak.
All That Heaven Allowed
Rock Hudson should be remembered as one of the most popular actors of all time. He starred in movies with Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Angie Dickinson, Julie Andrews and Mia Farrow. During the run of McMillan And Wife, he was the highest-paid star on television. Hudson was incredibly charismatic, drop-dead handsome, and gay. Sadly, for most, he is remembered as the famous actor who died of AIDS.
His death from AIDS in 1985 made world headlines, overshadowing his prestigious career. However, the one positive was that Hudson’s death shone a light on a disease that had been ignored by many.
Hudson’s story is indeed captivating but is sadly overshadowed by tragedy. In fact, at the end of director Stephen Kijak’s new documentary, Hudson himself quotes the English poet George Eliot: “Nobody really dies until they‘re forgotten.”
“A lot of people have completely forgotten him altogether,” says Kijak. “He’s not James Dean or Marilyn Monroe. I’ve always said, ‘Die young stay pretty!’ Rock withered away and we either remember the moment when he died or maybe a few campy films from the Sixties. There hasn’t been a great appreciation or re-evaluation of his story, body of work or contribution to cinema – which itself is massive. There’s a lot of depth there to explore.”
The meticulously researched documentary delves deep into Hudson’s life through interviews, including dialogue from the subject himself. Kijak pieces together classic film scenes where art imitates life, providing a clever narrative.
“We relied on Mark Rappaport’s early Nineties film Rock Hudson’s Home Movies,” says Kijak.
“That in itself is an essay film about the double entendre and hidden gay life buried within Rock’s movies. So, we had a blueprint, but we also started from scratch. With my editor, we watched almost seventy films and TV shows… Sometimes just for a glance, a door opening or a phone call. Little pieces that could be stitched together to tell stories and there’s a lot in there.”
In the film, Armistead Maupin points out that gay producer Ross Hunter gave Hudson’s characters and storylines a deceptive, even suggestively gay persona. There’s no doubt the actor’s films have many a nudge-and-a-wink moment. “Hiding In closets isn’t going to cure you”, says Leslie Caron’s character in 1965’s A Very Special Favor. The line may be referring to something else, but as film critic Tom Santopietro points out in the documentary, it was a ‘house of mirrors’.
“It’s shocking that they were that upfront about it,” says Kijak.
“The jaw drops! He had to have been in on the joke. I can only imagine what an audience ‘in the know’ must have thought. Maybe these were his not-so-hidden codes and messages right there for the taking. That the public didn’t pick up on it is a shocker. It’s like what we say in the film – ‘You’re just hiding in plain sight’. If you’re joking about it in a big-budget movie with Doris Day then you can’t possibly actually be gay, right? There’s no way! Not Rock Hudson! But now we get to go back, thinking were they trying to tell us something?”
For the project, Kijak interviewed many associated with Hudson, both professionally and privately as well as securing archive interviews gained by Mark Griffin – author of the book All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson.
“People just forget how intense it was. There was fear and confusion around those times, and no one knew what was happening. Rock was in an enormous amount of denial himself but was also traumatised by having to kiss Linda [Evans on Dynasty] because, at the time, no one knew what was going on. Linda’s been such a great ally and supporter. She was just trying to do her job and had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.”
“Because someone had been around someone else with AIDS, people would avoid them like the plague, thinking it would be in the air and you’d catch it. That’s how crazy it was and not dissimilar to our first freak-out over Covid. But AIDS cut a lot deeper because of its association with gay people. A heightened amount of fear and homophobia went with it.”
Stigma and discrimination towards people with HIV/AIDS (serophobia) during the early days of the virus were common, but the lack of awareness was the greatest hurdle. This was a time when US President Ronald Reagan refused to acknowledge the disease, even though Hudson was a personal friend.
“People have just forgotten that whole period,” says Kijak.
“Another reason I did this film was for a bit of historical corrective and a reminder of how extremely difficult things were at that time. People didn’t even know how you got AIDS. Could you get it from shaking hands or kissing? It was an unbelievable panic. Then a famous person is discovered to have HIV and it becomes a shock around the world, finally elevating the conversation. We don’t know how engaged Rock was in that dialogue, but we can’t deny the effect of it. We still had a decade or more of a horrible fight against HIV/AIDS, but it was a huge start that helped with fundraising and such. It can’t be understated.”
After all his fame, fortune and glory, Hudson’s death was nothing short of a tragedy, but when all is said and done, did he have a happy life?
“I think so,” says Kijak.
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed will be available to rent and own on digital from October 25. Search available streaming services and platforms to watch.
