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HBO's Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed, is set to bring the documentary on the life of veteran actor Rock Hudson, a heartthrob in the Golden Age of Hollywood. The documentary premieres on HBO and HBO Max on June 28, 2023, and has a duration of one hour and forty-four minutes.
The documentary sheds light on the late actor's journey, from being a celebrated ladies' man on-screen to being a closeted queer man for years until his death from AIDS in 1985. It was his death that uncovered his secret to the public eye. Back then his journey had been a source of inspiration for those suffering from the epidemic, a relatively new outbreak that had plagued the American society.
His death considerably changed the public perception of the disease, eventually leading to Elizabeth Taylor's founding amFAR. It is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research and HIV prevention.
"The biography of renowned actor Rock Hudson is examined in this relevant investigation of Hollywood and LGBTQ+ identity, from his public "ladies' man" character to his private life as a gay man," the documentary's synopsis reads.
Here's the official trailer for the documentary:
The documentary will be directed by Stephen Kijak known for projects like We Are X and Shoplifters of the World. It is produced by George Chignell, Will Clarke, Carolyne Jurriaans, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter.
The documentary chronicles Rock Hudson's "double life" with interviews, personal photographs, and home videos
In his director's statement, Stephen Kijak spoke about the nature and outset of the documentary.
"Looking back at his body of work, knowing what we now know, is like gazing into a hall of mirrors: Roy Fitzgerald, gay man, performing the role of Rock Hudson, manly movie star, who would eventually take on roles that interrogate and exploit his double life,” he said.
This can be felt in the trailer too as it begins with snippets of Rock Hudson portraying romantic scenes with actresses, entitled an embodiment of masculinity and straightness. The popular sentiment around him at the time was being the man that "all women wanted to marry and other men wanted to be like".
However, it further unearths the history behind how he managed to balance the two distinct worlds in his life. The first was the film studio world, where he worked, and the gay world, with which he identified. Hudson kept his queer identity hidden as the general public disdained homos*xuality at the time and his career would have shattered had he revealed his secret.
It will be interesting to watch the life and death of Rock Hudson unfold on screen. The HBO documentary features interviews with Hudson’s ex-partners, colleagues, and close friends along with personal photographs and home videos. The team also got access to some of his personal belongings.
Talking about the same, the director, Stephen Kijak, said that they found a box of 1963 color slides that had pictures of Rock and his boyfriend Lee Garlington. The slides were from their road trip to a beach which were unpublished.
"I don’t even think [his estate] knew that they had them, or they had been forgotten,” he said.
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed is now streaming on HBO Max.
