Rock Hudson Movies

Scripted by Dalton Trumbo and directed by Robert Aldrich, this off-beat, almost eclectic film could be hailed as a thinking person's western. It is the dark cat-and-mouse tale of a sherrif's hunt for a philosophy-spouting criminal in the midst of a great cattle drive. The outlaw killed the sherrif's brother-in-law. During his flight, the outlaw pauses long enough to drop by the ranch where his former lover lives with her husband and 16-year-old daughter. While there, the rancher hires him to lead a cattle drive to Texas. The sheriff soon catches up, but he decides to help the killer with the drive before bringing him in. Along the way, the two men gain a grudging respect for one another. Also the sheriff begins to fall in love with the rancher's wife, while the crook finds himself drawn to her lovely daughter. The rancher ends up killed during the trip and this allows the romances to bloom until the widow tells the outlaw an awful secret about the young woman he loves. Grecian-style tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel The Cup and the Sword by Alice Tisdale Hobart, this drama examines the trials and tribulations of three generations of French-American California vineyard owners. It's set during the Prohibition era, when wine makers were financially challenged and had to decide whether or not they wanted to cooperate with bootleggers to survive. Claude Rains plays Philippe Rambeau, an older grower in the Napa Valley who approaches his work like a craftsman. His grandson John (Rock Hudson) wants to make money by getting the family a cut of the bootleg market for wine. John's cousin Elizabeth (Jean Simmons) arrives from England summoned by Philippe, who hopes that she will bring stability to the business. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Ernest Gann from his own novel, Twilight for the Gods bears traces of Gann's earlier The High and the Mighty. This "psychological adventure" stars Rock Hudson as Captain Bell, who crawls into a bottle after being court-martialed and discharged from the Navy. Reduced to skippering a rundown schooner in the South Seas, Bell comes into contact with a group of passengers and crew members who are almost as mixed up as he is: Charlotte (Cyd Charisse), a Honolulu prostitute on the lam from the authorities; Hutton (Leif Erickson), a third-rate show biz entrepreneur, Wiggins (Richard Haydn), an erudite beachcomber; Feodor and Ida Morris (Vladimir Sokoloff, Celia Lovsky) a refugee couple; ineffectual missionary Butterfield (Ernest Truex); washed-up opera star Ethel Peacock (Judith Evelyn); and second mate Ramsay (Arthur Kennedy), an all-around rotter. In other words, it's "Grand Hotel" at sea. During a treacherous, life-threatening storm at sea, the true characters of the passengers and crewmen are revealed -- for better or worse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The literalism of writer-director Richard Brooks serves him well in this meticulously faithful adaptation of the Robert Ruark novel Something of Value. Filmed on location in Africa, this is the story of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, as seen through the eyes of a handful of protagonists. Virtually alone in a sea of racist British colonialism, gentleman farmer Peter McKenzie (Rock Hudson) strives to understand the demands of freedom and equality made by Kenya's black population in particular and his childhood friend Kimani (Sidney Poitier) in particular. Ultimately, however, McKenzie and Kimani find themselves on opposite sides of the fence when the latter aligns himself with the Mau Mau. Without advocating the terrorism of this controversial movement, the screenplay is careful to deal the ongoing iniquities and frustrations that forced men like Kimani to take arms against their white brethren. There were a few theatres in the American south who, feeling that the racial tensions inherent in Something of Value hit too close to home, refused to book this fascinating, thought-provoking, often startlingly brutal film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Four Girls in Town is essentially an excuse by Universal-International to test out several of their newer contractees. The plot is motivated by a worldwide movie talent hunt, which naturally arouses the attentions of a bevy of pretty young aspiring actresses. The four girls of the title are Kathy Sonway (Julie Adams, who'd been appearing in films since 1950), Ina Schiller (Germany's Marianne Cook, nee Koch), Maria Antonelli (Italy's Elsa Martinelli) and Vicki Dauray (Gia Scala, also from Italy but herein portraying a Frenchwoman). Conducting the screen tests is budding director Mike Snowden (George Nader), who predictably falls in love with one of the hopefuls. Some laughs are had at the expense of Universal's rival 20th Century-Fox in the person of Helene Stanton, cast as a Marilyn Monroe clone named "Rita Holloway". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This emotional drama concerns a WWII medic who marries a German woman but leaves her in a jealous rage, taking their baby with him. They lose touch after she is arrested behind the Iron Curtain after the war. Eight years later, she sees him in a Chicago cafe, rushes across the street to see him, and is hit by a truck. He operates on her and saves her life, and they get back together. Eventually, the daughter accepts her mother, and the whole family is reunited. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

George Stevens' sprawling adaptation of Edna Ferber's best-selling novel successfully walks a fine line between potboiler and serious drama for its 210-minute running time, making it one of the few epics of its era that continues to hold up as engrossing entertainment across the decades. Giant opens circa 1922 in Maryland, where Texas rancher Jordan "Bick" Benedict (Rock Hudson) has arrived to buy a stallion called War Winds from its owner, Dr. Horace Lynnton (Paul Fix). But much as Bick loves and knows horses, he finds himself even more transfixed by the doctor's daughter, Leslie Lynnton (Elizabeth Taylor), and after some awkward moments, she has to admit that she's equally drawn to the shy, laconic Texan. They get married and Leslie spends her honeymoon traveling with Jordan to his ranch, Reata, which covers nearly a million acres of Texas. Once there, however, she finds that she has to push her way into her rightful role as mistress of the house, past Bick's sister, Luz (Mercedes McCambridge), who can't accept her brother's marriage or the changes it means in the home they share. Also working around Reata is the laconic ranch hand Jett Rink (James Dean) -- from a family as rooted in Texas as the Benedicts but not nearly as lucky (or "foxy"), Jett is dirt-poor and barely educated at all, and he fairly oozes resentment at Bick for his arrogance, although Luz likes him and for that reason alone Bick is obliged to keep him on. One thing Jett does have in common with his employer is that he is in awe of Leslie's beauty; another is his nearly total contempt for the Mexican-Americans who work for them -- Jett and Bick may have contempt for each other, but either one is just as likely to dismiss the Mexican-Americans around them as a bunch of shiftless "wetbacks." Luz feels so threatened with a loss of power and control that she decides to assert herself with War Winds, yet another "prize" that Bick brought back from Maryland that resists her authority -- then decides to ride the stallion despite being warned that no one but Leslie is wholly safe on him, and spurs him brutally in an effort to break him, which ends up destroying them both in the battle of wills she starts.

After Luz's death, Jett learns that she left him a tiny piece of land for his own, on Reata, which he refuses to sell back to Bick, preferring to keep it for his own and maybe prospect for oil on it. Meanwhile, Leslie and Bick have their own problems -- Leslie can't abide the wretched conditions in which the Mexican families who work on Reata are allowed to live, taking a special interest in Mr. and Mrs. Obregon and their baby, Angel; but Bick doesn't want his wife, or any member of his family, concerning themselves with "those people." Leslie's humanity and her independence push their marriage to the limit, but Bick comes to accept this in his wife, and in four years of marriage they have three handsome children, a boy and two girls, and a loving if occasionally awkward home life. Meanwhile, Jett strikes oil on his land -- which he's named Little Reata -- and in a couple of years he's on his way to becoming the richest man in Texas, getting drilling contracts on all of the land in the area (except Reata) and making more money than the Benedicts ever saw from raising cattle. Bick is almost oblivious to the way Jett grows in power and influence across the years and the state, mostly because he's got his own family to worry about, including a son, Jordan III (Dennis Hopper), who doesn't want to take over the ranch from him, but wants instead to be a doctor; an older daughter, Judy (Fran Bennett), who wants to study animal husbandry and marry a local rancher (Earl Holliman) and start a tiny spread of her own; and a younger daughter, Luz (Carroll Baker), who's just a bit man-crazy and star-struck by the movies.

The American entry into the Second World War and the resulting need for oil forces Bick to go into business with Jett and allow him to drill on Reata, and suddenly the Benedicts are wealthy enough to be part of Jett Rink's circle, which includes the governor of the state and at least one United States senator at his beck and call -- and Luz develops a serious crush on Jett, who likes his women young and is especially attracted to her, as Bick's and Leslie's daughter. Young Jordan marries Juana, a Mexican-American nursing student (Elsa Cardenas), and his father accepts it begrudgingly, with help from Leslie. The war kills Angel Obregon (Sal Mineo), a death that even affects Bick, but the Benedict family gets through it wealthier than ever and grows some more with the birth of Jordan IV to Jordie and Juana. When the family attends a gala opening of Jett Rink Airport, which concludes with a dinner honoring Jett's success, however, young Jordan's wife is humiliated by Jett's racist edicts, and he is beaten up by Jett's men after punching the oil baron. Seeing this, Bick challenges his old rival to the fight that's been brewing for a quarter of a century and wins by default, Jett being too drunk to defend himself or to hit; he's also too drunk to make the grand speech that was to climax the celebration, and he ends up alone in the ballroom. The Benedicts have it out with each other, young Jordan accusing his father of being as much a racist as Jett, and Leslie caught in the middle between her husband and her son. It looks like the Benedicts may lose each other, until an encounter with a racist diner owner forces Bick to stand up and get knocked down (more than once) defending his daughter-in-law and his grandson.

Seen today, Giant seems the least dated of any of James Dean's three starring films, in part because it addresses issues that remain relevant more than 50 years later, and also because it has the best all-around acting and the best script of any of the three. Taken in broader terms, it's even better, with two of the best performances that Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson ever gave, and perhaps the second best of Hudson's whole career (after Seconds) -- the only unfortunate element at modern theatrical screenings is the tendency of younger viewers, who only know him in terms of the revelations late in his life of his being gay, to laugh and snicker at elements of Hudson's characterization; but his work is so good that the titters usually fade after the first 30 minutes or so. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Rock Hudson stars as Michael Martin, a naive and impetuous young would-be rebel in 1815 Ireland, who turns to robbery in his desire to support the cause against England. Now wanted by the British and forced into hiding, he crosses paths with the renowned rebel leader Captain Thunderbolt aka John Doherty (Jeff Morrow), who takes him under his wing. Impressed with Michael's bravery, Thunderbolt makes him his second-in-command, a job that becomes twice as difficult when Thunderbolt is wounded and must drop out of sight. Michael must replace him, not only as a rebel leader, but also in running the business that Doherty fronts as a cover, and in his household -- and that puts Michaal on a collision course with Doherty's equally impetuous, headstrong daughter Aga (Barbara Rush). Sparks fly between them, as the English draw ever closer in their pursuit of the rebels. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The "one desire" of ex-gamblers Rock Hudson and Anne Baxter is to escape their shady former lives and settle down to respectability. Rock and Baxter move to a small town, with Hudson's younger brother (Barry Curtis) and an orphaned girl (Natalie Wood) in tow. Julie Adams, daughter of the town banker, set her sights on Hudson and tries to win him away from Baxter. Adams dies in a convenient-to-the-plotline fire, but everybody else lives happily ever after. Conrad Richter's novel Tracey Cromwell was the base for this 1890s soap opera, produced by Ross Hunter with a veneer of class that the material itself lacks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second film version of Lloyd C. Douglas' spiritual novel Magnificent Obsession is in its own way as successful as the first (filmed in 1935) in glossing over the plot holes and logic gaps in the original novel. Rock Hudson plays Bob Merrick, a reckless playboy who is indirectly responsible for the death of a kindly and much-beloved doctor. The dead man's wife, Helen Phillips (Jane Wyman), refuses to accept Bob's apologies. When Helen is accidentally blinded, Bob decides to "do right" by her anonymously, illustrating author Douglas' curious edict that the best sort of good deed is the one for which you're not rewarded. In record time, Bob becomes a brilliant physician, and it is he who performs the sight-restoring surgery on Helen. Rather than fade into the woodwork unheralded, Bob is at last forgiven by Helen, who has fallen in love with him during her sightless months without even knowing it. Luxuriously produced by Ross Hunter and directed con brio by Douglas Sirk, Magnificent Obsession was one of the most successful of Universal's big-budget "weepers" of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rock Hudson stars in Seminole as 19th-century army officer Lance Caldwell. Born and raised in Florida, Caldwell is assigned to Fort King in the Everglades. Immediately clashing with his commanding officer Major Dade (Richard Carlson), Caldwell opposes Dade's plans to wipe out the Seminole Indians. The fact that Caldwell was the boyhood chum of Seminole chief Osceola (Anthony Quinn) is all the more reason to resist Dade's genocidal policies. After a deadly confrontation which costs dozens of lives on both sides, Osceola rescues Caldwell, whereupon the latter is court-martialed. Later on, Osceola comes to Fort King to talk peace, and is promptly killed by persons unknown. An attempt is made to frame Caldwell for the killing, but the truth eventually prevails. In the tradition of Broken Arrow, Seminole is essentially sympathetic to the Indian's point of view. Co-starring in the film are Barbara Hale as the requisite heroine and Lee Marvin as a surly sergeant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Universal's Technicolor cameras this time tell the story of Harun El Raschid (Rock Hudson), who innocently comes into possession of the magical Sword of Damascus. Sword in hand, our hero gains entrance to the court, tames the haughty, but socially aware, Princess Khairuzan (Piper Laurie) and finds himself in the middle of a palace revolution. The evil Vizier Jafar (George Macready), may be able to trick the Caliph (Edgar Barrier) into letting the princess marry his boorish son Hadi (Gene Evans), but he cannot remove the magic sword from its resting place in the palace wall. Up steps Harun, who performs the task, King Arthur-style, a feat which brings him both the princess and half the Caliphate. The Golden Blade was filmed entirely on the Universal back lot. Watch for future stars Dennis Weaver and Guy Williams among the Baghdad populace. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide