(Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 y...)
Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
(An American housewife (Jennifer Jones), vacationing in It...)
An American housewife (Jennifer Jones), vacationing in Italy, reluctantly decides to put an end to her brief affair with an Italian academic (Montgomery Clift). She flees to Rome's Stazione Termini, where she bids him farewell, but he begs her to stay.
(In Hawaii in 1941, a private is cruelly punished for not ...)
In Hawaii in 1941, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second-in-command are falling in love.
(Eager for a job, journalist Adam White accepts the lowly ...)
Eager for a job, journalist Adam White accepts the lowly position of columnist for the advice-giving section of the Chronicle, but he often clashes with his cynical editor, Shrike.
(The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while o...)
The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible, that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.
(A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of hi...)
A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of his predecessors have been able to do - evict a stubborn octogenarian from her island before the rising waters engulf her.
(An American scientist is sent by the CIA to East Germany ...)
An American scientist is sent by the CIA to East Germany to retrieve a secret microfilm from a Soviet scientist, interested in defecting to the West, but the Stasi secret police's surveillance complicates matters.
Montgomery Clift was a well-known American actor, noted for the emotional depth and sense of vulnerability he brought to his roles. Along with Marlon Brando and James Dean, he helped delineate a new paradigm for American cinematic heroes. Montgomery is best remembered for his roles in "Red River" (1948), "The Heiress" (1949), "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "I Confess" (1953), "From Here to Eternity" (1953) and others.
Background
Ethnicity:
Montgomery was of English descent and had more distant Scottish, Dutch, German and French roots.
Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. He was a son of William Brooks "Bill" Clift, a banker, broker and the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company, and Ethel (Anderson) Clift.
Montgomery's mother was an adopted child, who, at the age of 18, had been told, that her birth parents were members of prominent American families, who were forced to part by the tyrannical will of the girl's mother. She spent the rest of her life, trying to gain the recognition of her alleged relations.
Montgomery's father was a violent, abusive, ultra-conservative bigot and did not get along with his son.
Clift had a twin sister, Roberta Ethel Clift McGinnis, and older brother, William Brooks Clift, Jr.
Education
In 1925, William Clift, Montgomery's father, joined a Chicago investment firm and moved his family to Highland Park. Clift's parents chose to live apart from each other most of the time, and Montgomery and his siblings were brought up by their willful, socially ambitious mother. Determined, that her children should absorb Old World culture, Ethel Clift took Montgomery, his twin sister and his older brother for extended stays in Europe in 1928 and 1929. There, the children studied under private tutors, and Clift became fluent in German, French and Italian. Between these European forays, Clift briefly attended a public school in Highland Park. In later years, he criticized his unsettled upbringing for failing to provide him with roots.
Although the stock market crash of 1929 left the Clifts in financial difficulty, Ethel Clift was able to return to Europe with her children between June and November 1930. In 1931, William Clift moved the family to Greenwich Village in New York City, but in the fall of 1932, his wife and children went to live in Sarasota. At the suggestion of a tutor, twelve-year-old Monty, as he was known, auditioned for a local theater group and, in March 1933, made his first stage appearance in "As Husbands Go". The next year, Ethel Clift and the children took a house in Sharon, Connecticut. By then, Monty was eager for a theatrical career. Clift's youthful success launched him on a busy stage career, but deprived him of formal education.
It was in March 1933, that Clift made his first stage appearance in "As Husbands Go". From 1934 to 1945, he performed regularly on and off Broadway, appearing in such notable plays, as Robert Sherwood's "There Shall Be No Night" (1940), Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" (1942) and others. He worked with, among others, actor Alfred Lunt and director Robert Lewis (both of whom served as mentors) and became known for the intelligence and dedication he brought to his work. His other colleagues during this period included Dame May Whitty, Alla Nazimova, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Fredric March, Tallulah Bankhead and Lynn Fontanne.
Before going to Hollywood, Clift did thirteen plays on the New York stage, but it was not until "Mexican Mural", that critics noticed his development. Clift made a breakthrough with his portrayal of a wounded soldier in Lillian Hellman's antifascist tract "The Searching Wind". He was a soldier again in "Foxhole in the Parlor" (1945), a minor melodrama, that Clift turned into a personal triumph. Clift continued his string of young soldiers with "You Touched Me!", adapted by Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham from a story by D. H. Lawrence.
Critics generally agreed, that Clift's stage work displayed intelligence, sensitivity and personal charm. Yet, he was an actor, who insisted on naturalistic speech, sometimes at the expense of a play's verbal richness. His speech mannerisms sometimes made him inaudible. Robert Lewis, who coached Clift for his role in "You Touched Me!" and later had Clift in his classes at the Actors Studio, recalled his attempts to keep the actor "from cutting every speech of his, that was longer, than a grunt". According to Lewis, Clift's refusal to develop his verbal range kept him from becoming "the great American Hamlet we all hoped he would be".
Though Clift never fulfilled his promise as a stage actor, he had a powerful effect on film acting. After declining several offers to work in Hollywood, he agreed to appear opposite John Wayne in "Red River" (1948), directed by Howard Hawks. The contrasting temperaments and acting styles of Wayne and Clift heightened the film's drama, making it one of Hollywood's most memorable westerns. After just two pictures, Clift become a major star, but he had not yet clearly defined his screen persona. It was not until "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and "From Here to Eternity" (1953), both of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, that the public saw the intense, troubled, vulnerable hero, that was to become Clift's specialty. After these great successes, the actor was much in demand for film roles, but he chose to work sparingly. In 1954, he returned to the New York stage with a production of Chekhov's "The Sea Gull".
Clift's next film, "Raintree County" (1957), a lifeless Civil War epic, was an expensive failure. The thirty-seven-year-old Clift was miscast as a twenty-year-old Indiana youth. Before the picture was completed, the actor had a serious automobile accident, that left his face disfigured and partially paralyzed. Thereafter, he did interesting work in "Wild River" (1960), "The Misfits" (1960), "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961), for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, and "Freud: The Secret Passion" (1962), but otherwise lacked the intensity he had displayed in his early films.
By the time Clift was making John Huston's "Freud: The Secret Passion" (1962), his self-destructive lifestyle and behaviour were affecting his health. Universal Studios sued him for his frequent absences, that caused the film to go over budget. The case was later settled out of court, but the damage to Clift's reputation as unreliable and troublesome endured. As a consequence, he was unable to find film work for four years. The film's success at the box office brought numerous awards for screenwriting and directing, but none for Clift himself.
On January 13, 1963, a few weeks after the initial release of "Freud: The Secret Passion", Clift appeared on the live TV discussion programme "The Hy Gardner Show", where he spoke at length about the release of his current film, his film career and treatment by the press. He also talked publicly for the first time about his car accident, that happened in 1956, the injuries he received and its after-effects on his appearance. During the interview, Gardner jokingly mentioned, that it was "the first and last appearance on a television interview programme for Montgomery Clift".
Barred from feature films, Clift turned to voice work. Early in his career, Clift had participated in radio broadcasts, though, according to one critic, he hated the medium. In 1951, Clift was for the first time cast as Tom in the radio world premiere of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie", with Helen Hayes (Amanda) and Karl Malden (the Gentleman Caller), for "The Theatre Guild on the Air". In 1964, he recorded for Caedmon Records "The Glass Menagerie", with Jessica Tandy, Julie Harris and David Wayne. In 1965, Clift gave voice to William Faulkner's writings in the TV documentary "William Faulkner's Mississippi", which aired in April 1965.
After four years of unsuccessful attempts to get a film part, finally, in 1966, thanks to Elizabeth Taylor's efforts on his behalf, Montgomery was signed on to star in "Reflections in a Golden Eye". In preparation for the shooting of this film, he assumed the role of James Bower in the French Cold War thriller "The Defector", which was filmed in West Germany from February to April 1966. Montgomery passed away on July 23, 1966, before production on "Reflections in a Golden Eye" began. He was replaced by Marlon Brando.
Montgomery Clift was known as one of the original method actors in Hollywood, along with Marlon Brando and James Dean. He is best remembered for his roles in such movies, as "Red River" (1948), "The Heiress" (1949), "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "I Confess" (1953), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), "The Young Lions" (1958), "Judgment at Nuremberg"(1961) and "The Misfits" (1961).
During his career, Clift was nominated for such prestigious awards, as the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Film Award and the Laurel Award. Though, he received none of them. However, he was the recipient of the Faroe Island Film Festival Audience Award in 1948.
It's worth noting, that Clift was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with one star in 1960. In 1995, he was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#29). In 2017, he was posthumously inducted into the Online Film & Television Association Film Hall of Fame.
(Experiences of two Air Force sergeants during the 1948 Be...)
1950
Views
Quotations:
"Failure and its accompanying misery is for the artist his most vital source of creative energy."
"I don't want to be labeled as either a pansy or a heterosexual. Labeling is so self-limiting. We are what we do - not what we say we are."
"I have the same problem as Marilyn. We attract people the way honey does bees, but they're generally the wrong kind of people. People, who want something from us - if only our energy. We need a period of being alone to become ourselves."
"The closer we come to the negative, to death, the more we blossom."
"If a man don't go his own way, he is nothing."
"Look, I'm not odd. I'm just trying to be an actor; not a movie star, an actor."
"The sadness of our existence should not leave us blunted, on the contrary - how to remain thin-skinned, vulnerable and stay alive?"
"Look, if you're playing Romeo and your Juliet is a pig, you find something you can love about pigs!"
"Nobody ever lies about being lonely."
"The thing, that bugs me, is the average woman's complete ignorance of the functional purpose of cosmetics, which is to supplement, not conceal."
"A man should be what he can do."
"Look! Look! If you look really hard at things you'll forget you're going to die."
Personality
Clift was the subject of the song "The Right Profile" by the punk rock band "The Clash" on their album "London Calling" (1979) and was the subject of the song "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by the rock band R.E.M. on their album "Automatic for the People" (1992).
Hollywood claims, that Clift's ghost haunts the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The actor stayed there, while filming "From Here to Eternity" (1953), even though all filming locations for movie were in Hawaii.
Montgomery spoke French, German and Italian fluently.
Physical Characteristics:
In 1942, Clift suffered from dysentery.
On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming "Raintree County", Clift was involved in a serious car crash, when he apparently fell asleep, while driving, and smashed his car into a telephone pole, minutes after leaving a dinner party at the Beverly Hills home of his close friend and co-star, Elizabeth Taylor, and her husband, Michael Wilding. He had his jaw and nose broken, suffered a fractured sinus and several facial lacerations, which required plastic surgery. Later, Montgomery described his injuries in detail, including how his broken nose could be snapped back into place. It took the actor two months to recover from the accident.
Despite the fact, that the results of Clift's plastic surgeries were remarkable for the time, there were noticeable differences in his facial appearance, particularly the left side of his face, which was nearly immobile. Suffering severe pain, Clift relied on alcohol and pills for relief, as he had done after an earlier bout with dysentery. Alcoholism and drug addiction left him with chronic intestinal problems. As a result, the actor's health and physical appearance would deteriorate until his death.
Clift never recovered physically and emotionally from his car accident. His post-accident career has been referred to as the "longest suicide in Hollywood history" because of Clift's abuse of painkillers and alcohol.
Following his car accident and plastic surgery, Monty Clift could only be filmed from one side of his face as the other side was rendered immobile.
Quotes from others about the person
Monty could've been the biggest star in the world if he did more movies." - Elizabeth Taylor
"Clift is the only person I know, who is in even worse shape, than I am." - Marilyn Monroe
Connections
According to Clift's brother, it was likely, that Clift was either bisexual or gay. During his lifetime, Clift had countless affairs with men and women. One of the women he dated was Elizabeth Taylor, whom he met, when she was supposed to be his date at the premiere for "The Heiress". The two appeared together in other films, including "A Place in the Sun", "Raintree County" and "Suddenly, Last Summer". Taylor and Clift remained good friends until his death.
It's worth saying, that, according to Patricia Bosworth's book on Clift, he was unflinchingly loyal to men, like William LeMassena, and women, like Libby Holman and Ann Lincoln, besides Elizabeth Taylor.
Father:
William Brooks "Bill" Clift
William Brooks "Bill" Clift was an American banker, broker and the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company.
Mother:
Ethel (Anderson) Clift
Ethel (Anderson) Clift (September 29, 1888 - June 27, 1988) was Montgomery's mother.
twin sister:
Roberta Ethel Clift McGinnis
Roberta Ethel Clift McGinnis was an American volunteer, organizer and social activist of Austin. She passed away in 2014, having survived her brother by 48 years.
Brother:
William Brooks Clift, Jr.
William Brooks Clift, Jr. was an American actor, motion picture and television director and producer.
Elizabeth Taylor was a British-American actress, businesswoman and humanitarian. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940's, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950's.
colleague:
May Whitty
May Whitty was a British actress and philanthropist.
colleague:
Alla Nazimova
Alla Nazimova was an American actress, who was born in the Russian Empire (present-day Russian Federation).
colleague:
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner was an American author and actress.
colleague:
Fredric March
Fredric March was an American actor, regarded as "one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930's and 1940's".
colleague:
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead was an American actress of the stage and screen.
colleague:
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, who had a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne. Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was named for them.
colleague:
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne was a British actress for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband, Alfred Lunt.
Friend:
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, model and singer. She was a close friend of Clift.
Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift was one of the biggest film stars of his day, co-starring with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, and influencing Marlon Brando and James Dean. This book explores his life and career, looking at how he was forced to conceal his homosexuality to live up to his image of a sex symbol.
1997
The Passion of Montgomery Clift
In "The Passion of Montgomery Clift", Amy Lawrence challenges the myth of Clift as tragic victim by examining Clift's participation in the manipulation of his image, his collaborations with directors, his relationships with costars and his interactions with writers.
2010
Montgomery Clift
This new addition to the Outlines series takes an incisive look at the rise and tragic fall of one of Hollywood's greatest actors, whose work influenced such later screen idols, as Brando and Dean.
2005
Montgomery Clift, Queer Star
Strikingly beautiful and exceptionally talented, Montgomery Clift was at the peak of his fame in 1956, when a devastating car crash nearly destroyed his face. While this traumatic event robbed him of his heartthrob status and turned him into a somewhat disturbing, socially alienated character, author Elisabetta Girelli argues, that Clift had always combined on-screen erotic ambiguity with real-life sexual nonconformity. In "Montgomery Clift, Queer Star", she maps the development of Clift's subversive image over the span of his entire career, approaching Clift as a queer signifier, who defied normative cultural structures.
