Above is a short, pleasant and slightly haunting clip of Rock Hudson discussing ‘Giant’, Elizabeth Taylor and director George Stevens. Hudson was in his mid fifties when this was shot and would shortly be dead of AIDS. He’s awfully genial and his smile and demeanor really do make you want to join him for a cup of java and a calming heart-to-heart about whatever issue you might have on your mind. In other words, he’s precisely the opposite of the granite-jawed emotionless stiff that he came across as an actor (Doris Day movies excepted). His description of the ‘liquid gathering’ that he had with Liz Taylor prior to a memorably emotional scene filmed only a couple of hungover hours later is quite amusing and his description of Stevens as a director is moving and admirably…er…admiring.

Speaking of directing, by the way, I just finished shooting my eighth movie as director. The less said the better. Oye.