My first time to see Montgomery Clift outside of watching all his movies. He comes across very similar to his acting style. He left us with beautiful movies. Thank you for posting.
Clift was sensitive, compassionate, kind and able to genuinely express these traits in his performances. "Suddenly Last Summer" or "The Young Lions" etc. Authentic, unique.
No one, but no one, comes close to the talent that Montgomery Clift had. His sensitivity showed through in all his work, as well as his intelligence. My favorite Clift film was the young lions. I just loved the scenes between Hope Lange and Monty. They were the best.
I started my own fanaticism after Red River, A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity. By the mid-80s, I had seen these movies so many times that it finally occurred to me that this incredible actor would be in his 60’s by now, so why didn’t I know anything about him. Life before the internet was tough, you really had to do some leg work! The best source I found was Patricia Bosworth's biography. He has since become my all-time favorite actor. I think the only one of his films I haven’t seen, was his last one “The Defector” .
God, I love him so much!!!!!! He is so intelligent and eloquent and beautiful....he is so thoughtful in his answers and you can tell that he is a true artist.
Montgomery Clift fue uno de los mejores actores de la historia del cine., fue una lástima que falleciera con solo 45 años, fué una pérdida irreparable para el cine y para la cultura en general, por las reseñas se ve lo que la gente lo queria y lo estimaba.
Articulate and extremely perceptive man. For an actor so troubled, he had reasons to be ellusive. Yet his candid and sincere side of the conversation about Hollywood is full of wisdom.
a note to those of you accusing Monty of pedophilia and the like: never believe anything you read in a "biography". and as long as we're comparing the three 'realism' pioneers, as much as i love brando and dean (and i do), to me, monty blows them away. he was really the progenitor of true onscreen naturalism, and his performances seemed to communicate an unrivaled vulnerability. when i watch him, i feel like i'm really getting a peek inside.
JoggingOnTheMoon: You said it, man. Keyword: vulnerability. Nobody showed it more - owned it more - than Monty. He actually loathed himself and his homosexuality, it was still taboo. He's my #1 4ever anyway. /Jörg Ausfelt (53), Sweden (hetero man)
Perstorp i think his capacity for that kind of acting became even stronger after his car accident/plastic surgery. more tortured, almost (which would make sense.) i can think of few scenes more powerfully understated than when he goes on the stand in Judgement at Nuremberg - "...it is NOT fair!..."
That's what you say when you're in denial. Which he was all his life, hence "Hollywood's longest suicide". I'm straight, and he wasn't. I love him, and his vulnerability drove John Wayne mad in a movie they made, 'Red River' (Howard Hawks, 1948).
Beautiful man and able to display true sensitivity and emotion on screen. Not held back by fear of not be My macho enough like most men. It's made him a true representation of male expression. None have done it better.
Thank you for posting this rare footage of such an amazing actor..........he is one of my very favorite actors of all times and I wish he would have been spared that terrible accident. Thank-you!
One of the most talented and beautiful men that have ever graced this planet. Even now, whatever hisaddictions and illnesses, I cannot see anything else but the Monty who has made me dream, who enchanted and thrilled many unforgettable times in my life. Such a Legend! Such incredible an actor!! So magnificent and shockingly, never got an academy award even for "From here to eternity". Truly wrong!!!! Still, all my awe and respect and love.
Life is difficult for many people but for those who are in the public eye it can be a nightmare. While there are many benefits to being a celebrity your life is not yours to lead. He's asked if he's elusive and I think that most people if put in his place would tend to be. He was a fine actor and his private life just like anyone else's should have been respected.
This was after his road accident which left one side of his face half-frozen. Lauren Bacall sat alone at his church funeral in New York and wept. There's a well-researched biography of Clift by Patricia Bosworth in paperback.
I have loved MC for 35 years. What I think comes through in all his performances is blazing intelligence. He read voraciously, on every subject. Despite the brooding, moody intensity he's known for, he had a good sense of humor (the W.C. Fields joke.) All 4 of his Oscar noms were well deserved, but his supporting turn in "Judgment at Nuremburg" is especially noteworthy. By that point his memory was shot, and he could not learn his lines. In exasperation, Stanley Kramer told Monty to ad lib the scene. That's what you see, and Kramer said it was better than he could have expected.
He aged so quickly. It's crazy that he was in his 40's here. He was truly exceptionally beautiful when he first was introduced to Hollywood. Truly sad that his time on earth was marred by confusion, hurt, pain and frustration.
I like Dean. Brando, although I can concede to his brilliance in certain roles, is not really an actor I have a fondness for . I don't know if Clift was the best actor, but he's the one, I would rather watch.
@Girly Girl well, Montgomery Clift was also gay, though some say he was bisexual. his life was mostly in pain and suffering, both emotionally and bodily he suffered a lot of pain, especially after a bad car accident. he was also drug addict and alcoholic, as most actors are. he went crazy before he died of a heart attack in sleep.
I'm not gay, but I think we all should be free to love and to hate. To ban hating is just as wrong as to ban loving. We humans need freedom to love and to hate, and to express them too. But the only difference between love and hate that should be banned is that we should be free to act upon our love, but we should be legally forbidden to cat on our hate. Because physically acting on your hate usually is violent and physical violence should be illegal. But we should be free to express our hate verbally or in writing, as you all expressed your hate on "Girl "Girl" here. We all should have equal rights to live and to hate.
Thanks Erin, I just think he could have been the greatest!! Soooooooooooo Stunning, before, and AFTER the car accident, what always remained true was his acting!!!!
Wish we had talk shows like t his today that brings out some intellect instead of goofiness all the time....don't get me wrong I enjoy the goofiness.--some times--- but other times my brain needs some intelligence :P :D thanks for sharing :D
I just watched him on TCM in his last movie "The Defector" from '66. He looked like the oldest 45-year-old you ever saw. He was really skinny, with some ridiculously out-of-control eyebrows. He looked like a Thunderbirds puppet!
All I can say is ,,, what a great actor !!!! He brought something out of the ordinary to the screen. Something that was of his own and trully unique. As someone mentioned... no matter what demons had plauged him throughtout his life ,,, he surely brought out the best of all the parts he played. Raintree,, Place,, Big River , From Here, Msfits, etc etc etc
Montgomery Clift is next to James Dean, the most beautiful, in todays terms you would have to say HOT, I can say sexy!! I wish todays actors respected and knew a bit more about the industry that brought them there
He's totally pilled out here. It is too bad because they kept saying that after his accident his face was ruined, and he was still and always a very attractive man!!!
The physical change that Montgomery Clift demonstrated from the time period that he made A Place In The Sun with Taylor and From Here To Eternity with Lancaster and Sinatra [1951 to 53 ] and the period following the catastrophic auto crash that altered his looks in 56 is staggering. When you watch Clift in The Young Lions or Suddenly Last Summer, it is as though you are watching a different individual. His acting talent remains outstanding, but he developed ticks and mannerisms in the final stages of his career; I believe that he became increasingly dependent upon alcohol and prescription drugs.
Well, he was in a lot of pain. You'd develop ticks too if your body and face were mangled in a car crash! And I don't think his face looks all that different - compared to the guy in Star Wars, who was nearly unrecognizable after his motorcycle crash.
+Girly Girl When one watches the post 1956 accident Clift films, there is a certain affect in his voice, and nervous twitches that were not apparent in the earlier films, like Red River, From Here To Eternity, A Place In The Sun,, etc.
I see the physical change pre accident. Looking at '46-'49 vs. '50-'53 I can see his physical appearance start to deteriorate from the drinking. His acting is even different from jubliant charismatic to brooding and melancholy though one could attribute that to the parts he chose in '50-'53 but he was def going through some kind of breakdown way before the accident.
Of course he's drunk here...that's not hard to see. This is at least six or seven after the accident. He's deep into the awful descent that ends, of course, in his death. He's desperately trying to hold it together here, to imitate some version of "ok." But, my god, this man was one of the most authentic, beautiful, delicate, sensitive actors ever.
What biographies are yall reading? He was a depressed drug addicted, alcoholic, unfortunately, no one back then cared. He was homosexual. I have never read anything about him hitting on boys. Info? Books?
great comment. seriously... and you are right about Joha Wayne- Rock Hudson said in an interview that John saved his career because he chose Rock as his costar in ´69 movie. And they went on to became buddies. And I love both of them. As for Monty Clift, he is my favourite actor and you are right about him, too. But people just dont use brain when they ˝think˝ and their lack of objectivity is the reason for stupid comments
me gusto mucho la pelicula de aqui a la eternidad,hacia buena pareja con donna reed que para mi era una gran belleza incluso mas que muchas de las divas del cine de esa epoca
I'm re-reading Patricia Bosworth's bio of Clift. Knowing what I've learned, I'm amazed his agent or publicist let him anywhere near a filmed interview or that Clift would agree to do it. I'm certain that Clift was "self medicated", per usual, but certainly before being probed by an interviewer on camera.
THanks for posting this! wow! just..WOW! im a little mad at the interviewer cause he basically put Clift in a death corner kinda sayin it was his last interview...but i can see where he was goin with it i guess...clift wasnt an attention hoard and full of himself...he was confident and backed his stuff up!!! You read his Bio? Great read...peace and love
There were several biographies. The one by Patricia Bosworth is the best-known and perhaps the best, though the Clift family had some problems with it. I suppose that’s inevitable. Another of his biographers, Walter LaGuardia, appears a number of times in a documentary about him that I have watched here on RU-vid.
well thought out man who despised the nonsense of being famous, he really worked as an actor and was picky with his roles.He also had a thyroid problem which made him seem drunk.But after the accident he was never the same and was addicted to pain killers.Just glad he made the movies he did because he was a unique actor.Nothing like the crap actors of today.
Thank you very much for posting this, zinquirilla76.. Which year was? I think one of his least (very sorry to see his features so upset, face too large and stoned..)
Montgomery's personal life contained one profoundly controlling event, a car accident about two blocks from Elizabeth Taylor's home, following a party at her house. On the way back home, he fell asleep which led to an accident. He smashed his car pretty badly after colliding into a telephone pole. In those days, the 50s, the wearing of a seat belt wasn't a legal matter, which I suspect he did not use. The accident yielded facial injuries that caused him great pain for which he was forced to undergo plastic surgery, During the remainder of his life he was on pain medication which caused great change in him and caused him to lose a good bit of work as he had become a difficult actor who was unable to memorize lines. During the filming of Nuremberg, he failed to recall his lines and was told to merely grab onto a word or two that he could use to perform his part. Ironically, he was nominated for an Oscar for his part in that movie, but never really performed that many roles after it.
This is a finding!!! There isnt many more things to say about Clift, that had not been already mentioned here... he was indeed a very intelligent man. But also very repressed, not only by the conditionalisms of the society of that time, but also by himself. I think he just kept fighting with himself till the day of his death. But i´m afraid that nowadays he would have to put out that cigarette. Nobody smokes in the movies anymore!!! :(
very sad, I detect subtle hints that even during this interview I suspect that he is drunk. the occasional slurred word and his search for the right word are a couple of clues. he is still coherent and can string thoughts together, but re-watch this interview with my comments in mind. it is sad because of his great talent and too early death. it's not strange that he and Elizabeth Taylor were close friends - they shared the same addiction.
el mejor actor para mi de la posguerra en hollywood, y uno de los mayores g enios del cine, fue un g enio, adelantado en muchos aspectos a su epoca, sensible, atormentado, neurotico, perfeccionista, con una atormentada vida privada condicionada por su homosexualidad