That time Rock Hudson cruised Tony Curtis at this historic bathhouse in Los Angeles
While 20th century New York was full of gay-friendly bathhouses, these places of cruising and communion seem to have been less common in Los Angeles during the same time period. There’s a reason for this, according to Curbed. While places like the Arcadia bathhouse thrived at the turn of the century, they were also sites […]
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While 20th century New York was full of gay-friendly bathhouses, these places of cruising and communion seem to have been less common in Los Angeles during the same time period. There’s a reason for this, according to Curbed. While places like the Arcadia bathhouse thrived at the turn of the century, they were also sites of scandal after a series of drownings.
“The 1910s and 1920s would usher in the era of luxury hotels, vacation homes, and private beach clubs,” Curbed explains. “The public bath house, available to every Angeleno with a few quarters to spare, was a thing of the past.”
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But a few bathhouses still thrived in the city, including the Finnish male-only outpost Finlandia Baths, which was frequented by a young Rock Hudson after he first moved to the city.
According to a 1950 article from Modern Screen magazine, Sam Amundsen’s mens-only bathhouse was the perfect place to blow off steam for some of Hollywood’s rising male stars.
“Before long every Hollywood he-man worth his weight has made a habit of Finlandia, which is located in the basement of the Bing Crosby building,” the article explains.
The Bing Crosby building at 9028 Sunset Boulevard was named, obviously, for the prolific crooner whose company set up shop there in the ’30s and ’40s. In 1937, Finlandia opened there, and it soon became a star-studded man cave for some of the city’s rising talents.
When Modern Screen got the call to do a feature on star-studded bathhouse in 1950, they wasted no time. “We hustled over to Finlandia and there found Scott [Brady], John Bromfield, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis and Hugh O’Brian in various stages of undress.”
Once there, the writers sat back and watched the boys frolic. The piece itself is amazingly gay, something I’m pretty sure the writers of Modern Screen were not totally aware of at the time.
“Every once in a while he’d yank a cord which dropped water on some steaming rocks in the corner,” the article explains. “Every yank raised the heat 20 degrees.”
“Hey, cut that out!” said Tony Curtis, after the second yank.
“Can’t take it, uh?” said John.
“Me? I love it,” said Tony. “But the other guys—they’re evaporating.”
The fact that this story’s headline wasn’t “Tony Curtis Can Take It” is astounding. But again, it was a much more closeted time. Sort of?
We don’t know much about the Finlandia baths, but we do know that it was a solid hang for some of the hunkiest men in Hollywood’s arsenal during the ’40s and ’50s. And we also know it’s not the only time Rock Hudson enjoyed a rub down at a bathhouse, onscreen or off.
As one writer explains, Hudson returned to the bathhouse for steamy scene in the 1963 film A Gathering of Eagles, which looks… extremely heterosexual.
You can see that scene here in all its glory:
Throughout his career, Hudson was no stranger to cheeky photos—but the ones of him getting his rubdown at Finlandia really take the cake. In one of the photos, you can almost see some tush action. Almost.
We don’t know what happened to Finlandia, or when it shut down. All we know is that thanks to Rock Hudson’s gorgeousness, it will live in the collective gay memory forever.
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The following is an excerpt from “Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Koresky.
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