Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

Name: Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed
Genre: Documentary
Released: June 28, 2023
Duration: 104 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Allison Anders, Armistead Maupin, Carole Cook, Esther Shapiro, Howard McGillin

2023

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Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

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Movie Details & Credits

HBO Documentary Films | Release Date (Streaming): June 28, 2023 | Not Rated

Starring: Allison Anders, Armistead Maupin, Carole Cook, Esther Shapiro, Howard McGillin, Illeana Douglas, Kathleen Hughes, Peter Kevoian, Rock Hudson

Summary: Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is an intimate portrait of actor Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated leading men of the 1950’s and ‘60’s and an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose diagnosis and eventual death from AIDS in 1985 shocked the world, subsequently shifting the way the public perceived the AIDS pandemic. BornRock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is an intimate portrait of actor Rock Hudson, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated leading men of the 1950’s and ‘60’s and an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age, whose diagnosis and eventual death from AIDS in 1985 shocked the world, subsequently shifting the way the public perceived the AIDS pandemic. Born Roy Fitzgerald and renamed “Rock Hudson” by his agent, with his 6’5” frame, strong physique and chiseled good looks, Hudson was the embodiment of romantic masculinity and heterosexuality. The film explores the story of a man living a double life, one whose public persona was carefully manufactured by his handlers and orchestrated by the studio system, while fearing a potentially career-ending discovery that he was privately living as a gay man.… Expand

Director: Stephen Kijak

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 104 min

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Critic Reviews

The Playlist Jason Bailey

Jun 13, 2023

He led a fascinating, complicated, often contradictory life, and Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed does it justice. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Jun 29, 2023

While the documentary doesn’t break much new ground, Kijak generally finds the right balance between the salacious elements and Hollywood nostalgia that remain inextricably intertwined in Hudson’s story. Read full review

David Rooney

Jun 30, 2023

The impeccable selection of closing clips allows us to reimagine him as a man not just idolized as a star but accepted for the entirety of who he was. Read full review

The Daily Beast Nick Schager

Jun 26, 2023

Perhaps most surprising is that the portrait it presents is not of a tortured soul but of a man, and actor, who was comfortable in all the roles he inhabited. Read full review

John Anderson

Jun 29, 2023

It is in part biographical, with the young-hunk-makes-good tale of the film world and a parade of clips from the movies that he made. But the documentary’s main concern is Hudson as the ultimate closeted homosexual, the CinemaScope version of a tale gay men had been forced to live out for generations, or risk scandal, blackmail and even criminal prosecution. Read full review

Kristen Lopez

Jun 13, 2023

The blend of the salacious with the historical will get audiences to watch HBO’s Hudson doc, though it might not have enough meat to it to get TCM snobs to find anything new. But what’s there is a sensitive story of a man whose best self was known to only a few. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jun 13, 2023

Stephen Kijak’s documentary does him a disservice, reducing Hudson’s career — in exactly the way he went so far out of his way to avoid — to the dimension of his sexuality. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Jun 29, 2023

Clean-cut All-American Boy Roy Scherer Jr. probably never envisioned the life he would eventually lead when he was growing up in Winnetka, IL. But, once he transformed into rugged, handsome matinee idol Rock Hudson, it all came together, even if it was not how and what he imagined. As one ofClean-cut All-American Boy Roy Scherer Jr. probably never envisioned the life he would eventually lead when he was growing up in Winnetka, IL. But, once he transformed into rugged, handsome matinee idol Rock Hudson, it all came together, even if it was not how and what he imagined. As one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, Hudson emerged as one of Tinsel Town’s biggest stars in the movies and on television. He was also someone who throngs of women lusted after as a romantic interest, an image that his handlers carefully crafted. There was just one snag in this plan: Hudson was a closeted gay man whose private life had to be discreetly managed to preserve his reputation and the future viability of his career. It was as if he were leading two lives – a public life as an allegedly straight regular guy and a private, judiciously guarded one in which he could be himself as a gay man. And, even though almost everyone in Hollywood’s inner circle knew the truth about him, Hudson’s public persona was successfully preserved, despite occasional (and widely discredited) tabloid rumors. However, when the idol was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, the secret could no longer be contained, despite official denials to the contrary. Yet, with this revelation, Hudson became the face of this frightening new illness, a condition no one wanted to talk about. It was thus ironic how this once-heavily sequestered gay man would become an unwitting activist for patients suffering with this debilitating disease, helping to generate attention and funding at a time when the homophobic Reagan Administration refused to do anything meaningful about it. Director Stephen Kijak’s new HBO documentary presents a comprehensive look at Hudson’s professional and personal life, with ample contemporary and archive clips and interviews with those who worked with him, such as actresses Elizabeth Taylor, Linda Evans, Piper Laurie and Carole Cook, and with those who knew him privately, such as author Armistead Maupin, actor Peter Kevoian and biographer Mark Griffin. While much is known about Hudson’s entertainment career, little has been publicly circulated about his personal life, a development that marks a significant change with the release of this new film. Interestingly, there’s a fair degree of irony in the choice of movie and TV clips included here in that many of them are quietly telling about the actor’s personal life when viewed in this new light, almost as if they represented muted, inside revelations at the time these works were made. Some of the content (particularly in the interviews about Hudson’s private life) could be seen as sexually explicit, so sensitive viewers should take heed. In all though, this insightful, respectful look at the actor’s life as both a gifted entertainer and an unlikely hero delivers a well-rounded biography of a man who toiled to strike a balance in his two worlds, both for his fans and for those who shared his secret, an effort that yielded a lot of good in both areas.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

katezoe

Jul 1, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very good documentary on how Rock Hudson became a movie star, huge career, being Gay in Hollywood and eventual death from AIDS.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Jun 30, 2023

This doc about the famed leading man certainly covers his rise to fame and glorious career, but it spends even more time on his somewhat secret gay life. The film starts with lots of imagery from stills and movies, but the interviews with his long-time collaborators are only audioThis doc about the famed leading man certainly covers his rise to fame and glorious career, but it spends even more time on his somewhat secret gay life. The film starts with lots of imagery from stills and movies, but the interviews with his long-time collaborators are only audio recordings. Once we get into more recent years, several of his ex-boyfriends are interviewed on camera (including Armistead Maupin) and many of the details about that lifestyle are surprisingly out, despite his image as a leading man/ ladies man. Director Stephen Kijak chose to use dozens of clips from his movies taken out of context, to comment on his personal story, often with glaring references to his homosexuality. Rock Hudson is one of the great movie stars of his era and this extensive look into his private life provides fascinating glimpses into Hollywood's homophobia and the incredible ways he and his friends had to cope.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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