The John Wayne movie that saw him star alongside an underground icon of gay Hollywood
Throughout his career, John Wayne made it vociferously clear that he was a man who had staunch conservative views. The Duke was frequently the target of liberal criticism, mostly owing to the way he unflinchingly spouted his right-wing, sometimes sexist, sometimes racist opinions.
Of course, it’s somewhat difficult to talk about Wayne’s cultural standing, considering the wild impact he made on the cinematic medium. A true icon of the western cinema world with some timeless appearances in the likes of True Grit, The Searchers and Red River, one sometimes has to remove the artist from the man, the personal views from the brilliant filmography.
However, it was clear that Wayne frequently stepped on the toes of those who surrounded him in Hollywood, most notably figures like Marlon Brando, Clark Cable and Katharine Hepburn. While the right-wing, conservative Wayne was well known, there seemed to be a completely surprising other side to him, a sensitive version that seemed more tolerant of others than one might have suspected.
For instance, he famously starred with the gay cinema icon Rock Hudson, a prominent name in the age of Golden Hollywood who starred in acclaimed movies such as All That Heaven Allows, Giant, Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back. At the time of his stardom, Hudson had been discreet about his sexuality, although those who worked closely with him knew that he was gay.
Sadly, in 1984, Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS, and a year later, he became one of the first celebrities to disclose his medical condition. In October 1985, he also became the first major American celebrity to die of an AIDS-related illness, although he left behind him a stunning collection of movie performances and a legacy as a gay icon.
In 1969, Wayne performed alongside Hudson in the western Civil War-era movie The Undefeated, which tells of the events surrounding the French Imperial intervention in Mexico in the 1860s. Wayne and Hudson’s appearance in the same movie was a stark clash of worlds and socio-political views that might have raised concerns.
However, the truth was that the co-stars got on with one another like a house on fire, so much so that Wayne was not perturbed by Hudson’s sexuality in the slightest, as one might have thought he would have been. “It never bothered me,” The Duke has once stated. “Life’s too short. Who the hell cares if he’s queer?”
Sure enough, Wayne and Hudson became good friends, and although Hudson’s sexuality was not entirely public at the time, Wayne certainly knew about it. Considering his conservative views, perhaps Hudson had been fearful of what Wayne might have thought of him, but The Duke showed a completely different side to him and struck up a close bond with his The Undefeated co-star.
In fact, the biggest problem that Wayne had on the set of Andrew V. McLaglen’s film was the moment in which he injured himself while filming a stunt. The Duke ending up fracturing three ribs and tearing a ligament in his shoulder following a fall from a horse, although he was adamant about finishing the movie and not disappointing his fans.
The Undefeated served a striking moment when Wayne struck up a friendship with one of the underground gay icons of the Golden Age of Hollywood, a surprising tale for sure, but one that reveals a different side to The Duke that we might never have thought was possible.
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