IRON MAN (1951)

Jeff Chandler

IRON MAN (1951). Director: Joseph Pevney.

Coke Mason (Jeff Chandler) is a coal miner with a girlfriend named Rose (Evelyn Keyes of Dangerous Blondes) and a brother named George (Stephen McNally of The Black Castle). Coke is generally a nice guy, but when he gets riled up he can really go after a guy with his fists, and George thinks his "killer instincts" may turn him into an excellent boxer and get him out of the mines. Initially disenchanted with this notion, Rose eventually thinks of all the money he can make and what it might mean for their future happiness. But as Coke embarks on his career and becomes successful, he is seen not as an athlete but a dirty fighter who will do anything, hit any low blow, to win a match. He may become the heavyweight champion of the world but will he lose everything else, including Rose?

Hudson, Keyes, McNally

Iron Man is an absorbing well-acted drama that may not get points for originality but is nevertheless very well-done and well-directed by Joseph Pevney, who includes several exciting fight scenes. Chandler is on top of things throughout the movie and gives a very good performance, as does Evelyn Keyes. McNally, who is usually solid, strangely plays his role in one note throughout. A young Rock Hudson makes a better impression as "Speed," a fellow miner and friend of Coke's who assists him and then becomes his rival in the ring. Jim Backus is merely okay as a sports writer who doesn't think much of Coke's tactics but eventually becomes his manager. At one point a woman looks at Rock Hudson and says, "You are divine," to which he replies "I know -- but I'm in training." James Arness has a small role as a nasty co-worker of Coke's who nearly gets his head handed to him; he's fine. Pevney also directed Chandler in Foxfire.

Verdict: Memorable boxing film with some good acting. ***. 

AIR CADET

Upper classman Rock Hudson gives those cadets their orders

AIR CADET (1951). Director: Joseph Pevney.

Three men room together in the Air Force academy with the hopes of becoming top-notch pilots: Russ (Richard Long), Walter (Robert Arthur), and Joe (Alex Nicol), who was a sergeant in the Army but now finds he has to start proving himself all over again. An unnamed upper classman (Rock Hudson) seems to delight in making life miserable for them, especially Walter. But the real trouble begins when Russ becomes sweet on Janet (Gail Russell), who is separated from her husband Major Jack Page (Stephen McNally). And Page is one of the men who decides if Russ and the others make the grade or will be given the heave-ho.

Alex Nicol and Robert Arthur

There is an attempt to present some interesting drama in this story of the three cadets -- James Best plays a fourth cadet who is ousted from the program early on -- but it never really amounts to much. More interesting than the mild triangle business with Page, Janet, and Russ, is the sub-plot with Russ coming to partially blame Page for his brother's suicide (due to what today we would call post-traumatic stress disorder). Frankly, both men behave like assholes. There is, however, some terrific aerial shots, especially when the boys fly in formation with their planes only 18 feet apart throughout and one begins hurtling towards the ground. 

Gail Russell and Stephen McNally

Rock Hudson actually has little to do in the movie, but he does it very adeptly. McNally and Russell [The Uninvited] are top-billed and are more than satisfactory in their roles, while Richard Long gives one of his best performances as the troubled Russ. Alex Nicol [Heatwave] is professional, even if his character is somehow unlikable, but Robert Arthur [September Affair] is charming and appealing as the plucky "little guy" that most of the audience will be rooting for. Charles Drake is fine as another flying instructor, and Peggie Castle adds some "femme appeal" as a lady who can't seem to make up her mind between Nicol and Arthur.


Verdict: Acceptable aviation film with decent players and some good aerial shots. **1/4. 

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS: A Biography of ROCK HUDSON

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS: A Biography of ROCK HUDSON. Mark Griffin. HarperCollins/2018.

This welcome if imperfect new biography of Rock Hudson looks back at the man's life and career and sexuality with some reflection, generally without employing too breathless a tone. Mercifully, it dispenses with the notion that there was anything real about Hudson's marriage to essentially lesbian Phyllis Gates, who was hoping for a cushy lifestyle as Mrs. Rock Hudson. It looks at Hudson's early days, his ambitious and ultimately successful attempts to get into the movies, the early influences and patrons who helped him achieve his goal, and his many friends and romantic partners -- such as actor Craig Hill [The Flight that Disappeared]--  some of whom are quoted extensively in the book. Understandably anxious to put all of his research and sources into the book, the author sometimes quotes people who I would consider suspect (do we need to know that Hudson supposedly "took" Mamie Van Doren on her kitchen floor?) and there are, perhaps, too many quotes from Phyllis Gates' unreliable, phony and totally discredited memoir, as well as long-time companion Tom Clark, who "in'd" both himself and Hudson in his own autobio. The business that Hudson may have fathered a child during his early years is never satisfactorily resolved. Griffin includes quotes from Hudson's two best friends, Mark Miller and his partner actor George Nader (via Nader's diary), and mentions the assertion from some that they may have manipulated Hudson into leaving them most of his money. Mark Christian's lawsuit against Hudson's estate, claiming Hudson never told Christian he had AIDS, is also scrutinized, and found wanting. Some women claim affairs or "interest" from Hudson as if they want people to think they are simply so sexy that they can temporarily turn a gay man straight, but this book pretty much portrays Hudson as essentially gay and not bisexual in any meaningful way. Griffin does not ignore Hudson's work in films (All That Heaven Allows; Pillow Talk; Seconds), on television (Macmillan and Wife) and in the theater (Camelot, etc.)  and analyzes his subject's thoughtful approach to his performances in different media. There are continuous testaments throughout the book as to Hudson's kindly and helpful nature -- he didn't just give career boosts to his boyfriends -- which makes it odd that he stayed away from his dying mother for six months, despite her wanting to see him, simply because he couldn't deal with her condition -- what sort of son is that? But when all is said and done, Hudson may have been a decent guy for the most part, but a movie star is a movie star is a movie star, more of a creature, an invention, than a real human being, although All That Heaven Allows does its best to humanize him.

Verdict: Readable, informative and entertaining. ***. 

THE FAT MAN

Julie London and Rock Hudson

THE FAT MAN  (1951). Director: William Castle.

A dentist named Bromley (Ken Niles of Out of the Past) is knocked unconscious and thrown out of an 18th story window. His secretary, Jane (Jayne Meadows), comes to the corpulent private investigator, Brad Runyan (J. Scott Smart), for help in proving that the dentist's death was murder and not an accident. Suspects include mob boss Gordon (John Russell of Hell Bound); his shady chauffeur, Anthony (Anthony George of Checkmate); a patient named Roy (Rock Hudson) who disappeared after being fitted for a dental plate; Roy's worried wife, Pat (Julie London); and Roy's ex-cell mate, Ed Deets (Emmett Kelly). The large and interesting cast also includes Jerome Cowan as a police lieutenant and Tristram Coffin as a Missing Persons Officer.  The Fat Man is an entertaining, if cold-blooded movie -- hardly anyone registers dismay over the death of the poor dentist, and the Fat Man doesn't seem much bothered by the murder of his client -- but director William Castle keeps things moving at a snappy pace. In this early role for Rock Hudson, it's clear that he had the ability and presence to emerge a major movie star, as he did. Based on a long-running radio series, the character of The Fat Man was created by Dashiell Hammett. This was Brad Runyan's one and only screen appearance. Although J. Scott Smart gives a competent performance as Runyan, it's easy to see why the character never caught on with the public, as he's just not that likable. Julie London makes a positive impression as Pat, although Clinton Sundberg, playing Runyan's major domo, has been seen to better advantage elsewhere. The Fat Man is a bit similar to another fictional detective, Nero Wolfe. Playing a most unusual role considering his usual profession as a clown, Emmett Kelly proves a splendid actor and walks off with the movie. Even the bit parts in this are well-cast.

Verdict:  Absorbing enough mystery. ***. 

THE MIRROR CRACK'D

Novak, Hudson and Taylor

THE MIRROR CRACK'D (1980).  Director: Guy Hamilton.  Based on "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" by Agatha Christie.

"Chin up, darling -- both of them!"

Move star Marina Gregg (Elizabeth Taylor) and her director husband Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson) have taken over a British country estate while in England to film Marina's comeback film when during a party a young fan (Maureen Bennett) talking to Marina is given a poisoned drink and dies. It isn't long before it is determined that Marina was the true target of the poison -- or was she?  Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) asks questions while her nephew, an Inspector (Edward Fox), investigates, but it's sure bet who'll solve the case first. Agatha Christie got the germ of her idea from an actual tragic incident that happened to actress Gene Tierney, although Marina does not seem otherwise based on that particular movie star. Taylor is perfect casting as the difficult, whiny, needy fading actress going to fat, but that is not to say her performance is any more than passable. Kim Novak is better and much more fun as a movie rival of Marina's who trades bitchy remarks with her. Hudson is okay, if a bit dour and superficial, and Tony Curtis is fun enough as a vulgar producer.  Geraldine Chaplin is Rudd's suspicious secretary, and Charles Gray is his butler. This is better than another adaptation done on Masterpiece Mystery in 2010. Lansbury looks more like Miss Marple than Margaret Rutherford did, but she's not as funny nor meant to be.

Verdict: At least it has an interesting cast and Novak looks sensational. ***.

UNDER THE RAINBOW: AN INTIMATE MEMOIR OF JUDY GARLAND, ROCK HUDSON AND MY LIFE IN OLD HOLLYWOOD John Carlyle

UNDER THE RAINBOW: AN INTIMATE MEMOIR OF JUDY GARLAND, ROCK HUDSON AND MY LIFE IN OLD HOLLYWOOD. John Carlyle. Carroll and Graf; 2006. Foreword by Robert Osborne.

Watching an episode of the old TV show Mike Hammer, I was struck by the performance of a young actor I'd never heard of: John Carlyle. He was good-looking, but better than that, he was talented. I looked him up and discovered that he had written a posthumously-published -- Carlyle died in 2003 at age 72 -- book about his life and his relationship with Judy Garland. Actors who don't quite make it big in Hollywood, rarely write memoirs [or at least have them published] unless they are somehow linked to a famous name, so we have to take all the Judy Garland business with a grain of salt. That Carlyle was a fan of the singer and that he became one of her late-in-life friends (or hangers-on) is not in doubt, but his "affair" with Garland is a little more problematic as Carlyle is openly gay. The "romance" comes off more like Garland and a gay fan fooling around and playing house, talking of marriage the way two little kids would. (Although Carlyle never applies the term to himself, his attempts to come off as bisexual are unconvincing, almost a throwback to the skittishness of the homophobic period he grew up in.) There is much, much less in the book about Rock Hudson, but some interesting observations about agent Henry Willson. Carlyle writes quite well, even if he can't quite shed that air of affectedness that he did not betray in his performance on Mike Hammer. Carlyle's failure to become a big name or even well-known could be attributed to many factors -- his sexual orientation, his distractions with drugs and alcohol, the vagaries of fate and Hollywood, the lack of big breaks or the ability to seize upon them when they arrived -- but, if nothing else, he did have talent. Like many actors, Carlyle often comes off as superficial and self-absorbed, and frankly it's kind of pathetic that he never found his soul mate in another man but in  -- Judy Garland!? -- making the poor guy an incredibly dated gay stereotype! (He refers to the man he lived with in his later years more as a companion than partner or lover.) His passages on foreign travel are facile if glib.

Verdict: A fairly interesting and well-written look at a Hollywood insider and also-ran, but not essential reading. **1/2.

ROCK HUDSON, FRIEND OF MINE

ROCK HUDSON, FRIEND OF MINE. Tom Clark, with Dick Kleiner. Pharos books; 1989.

Tom Clark was professionally involved with actor Rock Hudson, eventually becoming vice president of Hudson's production company, Mammoth films, among other duties, but he also clearly had a personal relationship with Hudson. The two men traveled together, lived together, shopped together, picked out homes and apartments together -- in other words, they were essentially a couple. Bios of Hudson state that Clark was Hudson's lover. In this schizoid, oddly coy book Clark never "outs" himself, addresses the truth of his relationship with Hudson, or even admits being gay [that word, like in Phyllis Gates' book, is never used] -- which is quite sad.Clark denies that there was a "split" because Marc Christian [who eventually sued Hudson's estate] entered Hudson's life, but it's easy to read between the lines. There is some small insight into Hudson's character, career, and life, but the main function of the book is to unsuccessfully portray the two as mere buddies, with Hudson's homosexual encounters downplayed or ignored. Clark follows Gates in trying to make her marriage to Hudson a serious one, but this is also unconvincing. Like Gates' book, Rock Hudson, Friend of Mine has the dated quality of a cover-up book published in more regressive times when homosexuality was a dirty secret. Kleiner gives the book a professional polish, but there isn't much here.

Verdict: More of a cover up than anything else. **.

PILLOW TALK

Hudson and Day

PILLOW TALK (1959). Director: Michael Gordon.

"It's like being around a pot belly stove on a frosty morning."

Interior decorator Jan Morrow (Doris Day) shares a party line with playboy and composer Brad Allen (Rock Hudson) and has conniptions trying to get him off the line -- he's usually giving the same old palaver to one woman or another -- when she needs to use the phone. Brad finally meets Jan and likes what he sees, but pretends to be a shy Texan so she won't know who he really is, leading to amusing complications. The two leads are very good and have fine support from the likes of Tony Randall (a friend of Brad's who loves Jan) and Thelma Ritter (Pam's tippling maid). Hayden Rourke, Nick Adams, Lee Patrick and Allen Jenkins also have smaller roles. At one point Brad, in his own identity, suggests that the out-of-town Texan Jan is dating [himself, of course] is a "mama's boy" [read gay], which must have made Hudson a little uncomfortable [besides being decidedly dated]. Generally, however, this is a good-natured, funny movie and the first of several films made by the odd but effective pairing of Day and Hudson. Produced by Ross Hunter, who first brought Hudson to the big time in Magnificent Obsession, this is full of suggestive scenes and lines that must have made it seem daring in its day.

Verdict: You wouldn't think this would work, but it does. ***.

SECONDS

SECONDS (1966). Director: John Frankenheimer.

"We lived our lives in a polite, celibate truce."

Middle-aged Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) seems to be living the American dream: he has a good job and is in line to be the next president of the bank, lives in a beautiful home in the suburbs, has a kind and presentable wife. But Arthur suffers from a mid-life crisis, he and his wife feel no passion for one another and are going through the motions, and he is tired of the commute and rat race. So when an old friend who is supposedly deceased calls him from out of the blue and suggests he go to a certain address and can start his life afresh, get a second chance, he decides to go -- although not without trepidation. Hamilton is practically blackmailed into accepting the services of the people he connects with, and before he knows it he has said good-bye to his old life, made financial arrangements to look after his wife, and undergoes physical therapy and cosmetic surgery -- and wakes up looking just like Rock Hudson! With the new name of Tony Wilson, Hamilton (now played by Hudson), a "reborn," is ensconced in a seaside community in California as a minor artist. The problem is that Hamilton is a nice but essentially dull man and he finds that he can't get away from himself. It all leads up to a grim but inevitable finale. Randolph and Hudson are both excellent as the two sides of Hamilton -- Hudson probably gives his best performance, in fact -- and they get fine support from Frances Reid as Arthur's wife, Salome Jens as a woman who befriends "Tony," Jeff Corey as the head of the Reborn organization, Wesley Addy as Tony's valet, Murray Hamilton as Arthur's old friend, and others. [This is based on an excellent novel by David Ely that probably filled in some of the loose ends you might find in the movie if you examine it too closely.]

Verdict: Creepy and absorbing, with some excellent performances. ***1/2.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS (1965). Director: Melvin Frank.

"No more gay, married bachelor!"

Inter-Allied Petroleum executive Carter Harrison (Rock Hudson) literally bumps into artist Antonia "Toni" Vincente (Gina Lollobrigida) in London, and the two get married practically the same day, only to discover that Toni is a free spirit and Carter much more conservative. After seven years of separation Toni finally files for divorce so she can marry old boyfriend and boss, Harry (Edward Judd of First Men in the Moon), only a willing Carter discovers that he's up for a huge promotion, and his boss prefers happily-married employees. Can Carter win Toni over once again; can he put up with her "antics" and she with his stuffiness; and is he really in love or just play-acting for his job? In the climax, Toni (un)dresses up as Lady Godiva to protest the moral outrage over a piece of artwork. Strange Bedfellows is not a classic comedy, but it does have some solid laughs and an enthusiastic cast. The two leads are effective, and they get fine support from, Judd, Terry-Thomas (in a small, funny role of an undertaker), Gig Young (as Carter's co-worker, a thankless part he makes the most of), and Nancy Kulp as a friend of Toni's who winds up in bed with Carter (who also winds up in bed with Harry!) A highlight is a cab ride with some funny exchanges between the principles and the driver, and the low light is this business of dragging in civil unrest and massacre in Africa as part of Carter's plot to foil Toni's Godiva plans. The film has less to do with Toni's cause of Freedom of Artistic Expression as it does with titillating double entendres.

Verdict: Fair-to-middling mid-sixties sex comedy. **1/2.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954)

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954). Director: Douglas Sirk. Produced by Ross Hunter.

This Technicolor remake of the 1935 Magnificent Obsession  casts Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman in the roles originally played by Robert Taylor and Irene Dunne, and they give equally good performances. This picture turned Hudson into a major star and he was later re-teamed with Wyman in the more interesting All That Heaven Allows the following year. This has the exact same story as the 1935 film -- wealthy irresponsible playboy Bob Merrick (Hudson) turns over a new leaf after he is, in part, responsible for a beloved doctor's death, and then the accidental blinding [not Merrick's fault] of the doctor's widow (Wyman). The trouble is that this version, while very nice to look at and with fine supporting performances from Barbara Rush, Agnes Moorehead and others, is just as contrived. Although the age difference between the two leads was addressed in All That Heaven Allows, it is ignored in this picture. In smaller roles you'll find Mae Clarke, Paul Cavanaugh, and Richard Cutting of Attack of the Crab Monsters.

Verdict: Glossy and well-intentioned, but there's nothing really there. **1/2.

THE TARNISHED ANGELS

THE TARNISHED ANGELS (1957). Director: Douglas Sirk. Produced by Albert Zugsmith.

Burke Devlin (Rock Hudson), a reporter, becomes involved with an air show troupe consisting of Roger Shumann (Robert Stack), his wife LaVerne (Dorothy Malone), and their buddy and associate Jiggs (Jack Carson). A WW1 flying hero, Roger can't recapture his glory days and takes it out on his wife and young son, Jack (Chris Olsen) while Jiggs, who loves LaVerne, fumes, and Burke and LaVerne bond out of sympathy. This has the same producer, director and stars of Written on the Wind, but a more prestigious literary source, William Faulkner's "Pylon," but it isn't as entertaining. This is supposed to take place during the 1930's but it has absolutely no period atmosphere [despite the black and white photography]. The four leads are all good, but none are outstanding. Robert Middleton scores as promoter Matt Ord, who has his own plans for pretty LaVerne. The movie is well-intentioned, and tries hard to be a thoughtful piece, but the characters lack dimension and the story never quite comes to a boil, with the climax coming twenty minutes too soon. One of the better sequences has the little boy stuck on a fun ride as disaster strikes at the air show nearby. Troy Donahue has a small role as a doomed young pilot.

Verdict: So so and ho hum, unfortunately. **1/2.

GIANT

Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean

GIANT (1956). Director: George Stevens.

Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson) marries the feisty, independent-minded Leslie (Elizabeth Taylor) and comes to realize that meek compliance is not in her nature. Meanwhile, the arrogant, slouching ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) discovers oil on the property left to him by Benedict's sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge) and is soon even wealthier than Jordan, leading to various complications and a couple of fight scenes. This long, sprawling saga is entertaining for the most part, and features one of Taylor's best performances. Hudson isn't the best casting, but he isn't bad, and the odd Dean makes a minor impression as well. Giant is not really a masterpiece, but it does have some good scenes: the Benedict children discovering that their Thanksgiving dinner is their pet turkey; Leslie telling off the men who think women have no place in politics; Angel (Sal Mineo) "coming home" from WW2. The other cast members include Carolyn Craig (House on Haunted Hill) as Leslie's younger sister; Rod[ney] Taylor as her cast-off suitor, who later on marries said sister; Carroll Baker as Leslie's daughter [in her second film and first big role]; Chill Wills as Uncle Bawley; Dennis Hopper as the Benedict son, Jordy, who, like his mother, has a mind of his own; Elsa Cardenas as Jordy's Mexican wife; and Earl Holliman as Bob, the husband of the youngest Benedict daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett). Of the supporting players, Hopper and McCambridge provide the most vivid performances. Giant has an admirable sub-text on the evils of racism -- both Benedict and Rink are prejudiced against the "wetbacks" -- but this might have had more impact if the Mexican characters, such as Angel, were developed a lot more.

Verdict: Long, but generally sustains interest, and -- surprisingly -- Taylor is the glue holding it all together. ***.

MY HUSBAND, ROCK HUDSON Phyllis Gates

MY HUSBAND, ROCK HUDSON. Phyllis Gates and Bob Thomas. Doubleday; 1987.

Phyllis Gates tries not too successfully to convince us that her marriage to Rock Hudson was not to head off rumors about the actor but a real love match -- at first. Gates and Hudson may have had at one time a compatible friendship and the self-hating Hudson probably went to bed with her, but it is clear from Gates' story that he only made occasional stabs at being a serious husband. What Gates writes is completely at odds with her notion that they had strong romantic feelings for one another. My Husband, Rock Hudson has a dated sensibility even for the 80's -- the word "gay" is never used, for instance. Hudson never returned from Italy, where he was filming A Farewell to Arms, when Gates had to spend weeks in the hospital due to a hepatitis infection. It seems not only impossible that Gates didn't pick up on all the clues about his real interests -- she was assistant to notorious agent Henry Willson, who had Rock in his stable of clients -- but didn't know the score in the beginning. Since Gates' death, it has come out [pun intended] that she was actually a lesbian and that her "marriage" to Rock was more about money and power than anything else. Veteran writer Thomas insures that the book is smoothly written and readable, and there is some insight into what it's like being married to a self-absorbed movie star, but this self-serving memoir does little to illuminate Hudson or even Gates herself. As far as this book is concerned, being gay is still a dirty little secret. This book is an embarrassment for Doubleday.

Verdict: The cover up continues. Sadly, this sort of thing is still going on today despite all the advances in Gay Rights. **.

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

Rock Hudson and Dorothy Malone

WRITTEN ON THE WIND (1956). Director: Douglas Sirk. Producer: Albert Zugsmith.

"Lousy white trash!"

Kyle Hadley (Robert Stack), a spoiled rich son of an oil tycoon (Robert Keith), woos and weds Lucy (Lauren Bacall), oblivious to the fact that his best friend Mitch (Rock Hudson), also has feelings for her. Basically raised in the same household, Mitch, unfortunately, only has brotherly feelings for Kyle's "sluttish" sister, Marylee (Dorothy Malone), who's in love with him, and sleeps around out of self-hatred and frustration. Complications ensue when Kyle learns he might not be able to have children [one senses he wants kids more to "prove his manhood" than out of any great desire for children], yet Lucy gets pregnant. This movie may have seemed daring back in its day, but now it's dated and full of dime-store psychology. Although produced by Albert Zugsmith, it has the same glossy sheen of a Ross Hunter movie, and it looks great, with superior cinematography by Russell Metty, and first-class art direction and set decoration [from, among others, Robert Clatworthy]. The acting is okay -- Stack, with crazy eyes, gives one of his best performances and garnered an Oscar nomination -- although Malone's performance seems to consist of making painfully obvious faces and doing some sexy dancing; she does have some good moments, however. Bacall and Hudson do fine, if neither is outstanding; Robert Keith is better. Ironically, reportedly in the novel by Robert Wilder that was the source material, Stack's character was an old-fashioned "tormented homosexual," which is somewhat suggested in Stack's tortured portrayal, if never stated outright. This blatant, superficial soap opera is like a forerunner of TV's Dallas.

Verdict: Entertaining, handsomely produced junk movie that is great to look at, but there's less here than meets the eye. **1/2.

ICE STATION ZEBRA

ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). Director: John Sturges.

Commander James Ferreday (Rock Hudson) is called in when there is an accident at a research station in the North Pole. He is to take a nuclear sub with a full crew on a rescue mission, only he is told by Admiral Garvey (Lloyd Nolan) that the men at the station aren't the real reason for the trip -- he is to take aboard an enigmatic gentleman named Jones (Patrick McGoohan) who knows what's really going on but won't say. It all winds up with a confrontation with Americans and Russians over a major prize hidden at the station. One has to wonder if Alistair MacLean, who wrote the novel upon which this was based, was a fan of the old TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, as this plays like an extended episode of that show with one of their typical plot lines. The film looks good and has some exciting scenes -- an escape from a rapidly closing fissure, for instance, as well as a bit when a sabotaged torpedo tube lets in ice-cold sea water -- but it runs much too long and doesn't sustain suspense or tension. Rock Hudson gives what can charitably be described as a low-energy performance, but other cast members, such as McGoohan and Ernest Borgnine [as a Russian!] are better. The movie resists all attempts at pathos even when heroic or sympathetic characters are killed. Alf Kjellin is vivid as Colonel Ostrovsky. [Although Kjellin had a lot of acting credits, he is perhaps better known as a frequent director of such shows as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.] Released in Cinerama and Super Panavision.

Verdict: Has possibilities but tries too hard to be a "big" movie when it isn't. **1/2.

DARLING LILI [DIRECTOR'S CUT]

Hudson and Andrews

DARLING LILI (1970). Director: Blake Edwards.

NOTE: This review is of the shortened, more "serious" director's cut put together by Edwards twenty years or so after the film's original release. The DVD also contains nearly an hour of the missing footage.

Lili Smith (Julie Andrews) is a beloved music hall singer who visits injured allied troops during WW1, but she's also a German agent who passes along information that she gets from high-ranking officers. Her latest conquest is Major William Larabee (Rock Hudson), who is up to his neck in something called Operation Crepe Suzette. When Lili, who is falling for the major, discovers that there's a sexy French singer named "Crepe Suzette" (Gloria Paul), she assumes that she is the "operation" and decides to get revenge. Once you accept that Darling Lili is another one of those movies that operates in its own dimension -- there is little sense of time and place, location, or even that there's much of a war on -- and that it is not to be taken seriously, it's decidedly enjoyable on its own terms. Andrews is hardly the best choice for a Mata Hari-type, but she gives a good performance, as does the supporting cast. Hudson is okay, but although he's supposed to be Andrews' co-star, in this version of the film he hasn't much to do. Gloria Paul nearly steals the movie in her turn as Suzette, who has a memorably erotic dance number. The completely unrealistic ending has Hudson and soldiers seemingly ignoring the fact that Lili's spying might have cost the lives of hundreds of their comrades.  Of course, the casting of "Von Trapp" Andrews [combined with the light tone of the film] makes some of her other reprehensible actions -- such as framing an innocent woman out of jealousy  -- more "palatable." "Whistling in the Dark" is a nice number, well-warbled by Andrews.

Verdict: This should have been much darker, but provides modest entertainment as it is. ***.

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS

Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman

ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (1955). Director: Douglas Sirk.

"As Freud says, when we reach a certain age sex becomes incongruous."

""You were ready for a love affair, but not for love."

Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), a small-town widow approaching middle age, finds a second chance for happiness with a somewhat younger gardener named Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson). Even though Ron has his own successful business, he is seen as a poor choice for Cary, whose first husband was an affluent businessman. While the town busybodies gossip, even wrongly suggesting that something was going on between Cary and Ron even before Mr. Scott's death, Cary's son, Ned (William Reynolds), and daughter, Kay (Gloria Talbott), have strenuous objections to their mother's relationship with Ron. Concerned about her children's feelings, Cary makes a fateful decision, only to discover her children haven't time to give much thought to their mother's feelings. [A great scene has the children giving Cary a television set for Christmas, and the camera pulls in toward her sad reflection in the screen as she realizes this TV is meant to be her "companionship" for the future.] Jane Wyman gives an excellent and sensitive performance that holds up through all of the plot contrivances, and Hudson, if not on his co-star's level, is good and romantic and at the height of his male beauty. This is a typically handsome Ross Hunter production with picture postcard Technicolor cinematography. The screenplay tries [and fails] for added depth by making Kirby a Thoreau addict who tries, along with his friends Mick and Alida (Charles Drake and Virginia Grey), to turn aside from mindless ambition and enjoy life's simpler pleasures. [Only in a Hollywood movie can people who eschew the rat race and Keeping Up With The Jones' live in such utterly sumptuous surroundings. Anyone who lives in a reconverted, refurbished mill house has to have bucks.] That being said, there is some good dialogue and supporting performances from such as Gloria Talbott [as the constantly psychoanalyzing daughter], William Reynolds, Donald Curtis as a lecherous suitor, and Agnes Moorehead as Cary's good friend, Sarah. Jacqueline DeWit is the bitchy Mona, who dishes dirt on everyone, Nestor Paiva is one of Ron's circle of friends, and David Janssen is Kay's boyfriend. Although the film makes some attempt at dealing with ageism, it's also guilty of it in its treatment of Harvey (Conrad Nagel), who is Cary's steady date. Harvey may be twenty years older than Cary, but it's still a bit ludicrous to suggest that a man in his late fifties [as Nagel was] would settle for a sexless marriage with a younger woman, as Harvey more or less suggests. Setting aside these and other quibbles, All That Heaven Allows is not without appeal, although it is nowhere near as good as a similar vehicle with Barbara Stanwyck, My Reputation. Nice Frank Skinner score with classical themes.

Verdict:  Attractive soap opera with compelling leads [if for different reasons]. ***.

IDOL: ROCK HUDSON -- THE TRUE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FILM HERO

IDOL: ROCK HUDSON -- THE TRUE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FILM HERO. Jerry Oppenheimer and Jack Vitek. Villard; 1986.

This is a solid look at the life of Rock Hudson from his early years, to being discovered by Hollywood agent Henry Willson to his early film roles, his breakthrough in Magnificent Obsession, his performances in such films as Giant and Seconds, his successful TV series MacMillan and Wife, his stint on Dynasty, and his secret gay life and death from AIDS. The book examines many of his friendships, relationships, and bed partners, as well as his sham marriage to Phyllis Gates. The book also looks into the lawsuit filed by lover Marc Christian, who claimed neither Hudson nor anyone in his camp warned him of Hudson's illness. The book indicates that Hudson may not have wanted to tell the world of his struggles with AIDS, his homosexuality, or to become a poster boy for the disease; others may have made these decisions for him. In any case his plight engendered a new and needed interest in the terrible epidemic. Idol takes a grotesque turn when it relates how idiot Pat Boone and other members of the religious right  tried to get Hudson to "find God" as he lay helplessly dying. The book is a bit dated when it goes into the alleged "promiscuity and irresponsibility" of gay men -- what, there are no promiscuous and irresponsible straight guys? Otherwise, the book is fairly sympathetic to Hudson.

Verdict: Good, informative read. ***.

PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW

Rock Hudson with co-eds

PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW (1971). Director: Roger Vadim.

In a California high school, a horny 17-year-old named Ponce (John David Carson), student manager for the football team, finds the body of a pretty female student in a bathroom. The football coach, and assistant principal "Tiger" McDrew (Rock Hudson), although married, is sleeping with many of the high school girls, and even encourages the new teacher Betty Smith (Angie Dickinson) to make nice with the virginal, always excited Ponce -- the two begin an affair. Soon there are more murders, with Capt Surcher (Telly Savalas) leading the investigation. Roddy McDowall is the principal, weird Susan Tolsky is his secretary, Keenan Wynn is the police chief, and William Campbell (Dementia 13) is another cop. Not being a far-out black comedy or farce, Pretty Maids is just one of those strange, bad movies that seems to exist only in its own unreal universe. There is absolutely no suspense, and the identity of the killer certainly comes as no surprise. Hudson, Dickinson and Carson all give good enough performances, but the movie is superficial and uninspired and not even especially entertaining. Director Vadim could have directed this in his sleep. Carson also appeared in Empire of the Ants.

Verdict: Even a "mad slasher" movie is more fun than this! *1/2.