Happy birthday, Montgomery Clift
One of the first "method actors" to hit Hollywood (his film career predated those of James Dean and Marlon Brando), he was billed as a "new kind of leading man." Sensitive, with brooding good looks, he was the type of guy that "women would want to take care of." In fact, in his personal life he was bisexual if not predominantly gay, though he had a number of close platonic relationships with women. Among them Nancy Walker, Libby Holman, and most famously Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a motorcycle accident while leaving a party at costar Elizabeth Taylor's house. His face was horribly disfigured and, while waiting for an ambulance, he almost choked. (Taylor saved his life by removing two teeth from the back of his throat.) After weeks of recovery, Clift return to film his final scenes in Raintree County, and it's easy to spot before and after evidence of his disfigurement in that film. Clift continued to work after the accident but became increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol. His post-accident career has been called "one of the longest suicides in Hollywood." He died in 1966 of a heart attack brought on by severe drug and alcohol abuse. He was 45.
As a special birthday treat, after the break we have some Montgomery Clift trivia, as well as a home video clip of the star in his youth, kidding around at home with Marlon Brando. It's a hoot to see these two together camping it up. Montgomery Clift Trivia:
Submitted by on Wed, 2007-10-17 11:00. |
User login![]() Recent comments
Recent blog posts
New forum topics |









The full Monty
Wow that colour picture
really does him justice! I did not realize he had such great legs! My favourite Montgomery Clift acting performance was in "Judgement At Nuremberg" one of my favourite movies from 1961. The cross-examining of him in the courtroom was heart-breaking to watch. The film had a who's who of great actors, including Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Otto Klemperer (Col. Clink from Hogan's Heroes), and Maximillion Schell who won the Best Actor Academy Award. Rent it if you have not seen it yet.
Cheers
JBE
Best Movie.............
The Search is his best movie in my opinion. I had never heard of it until I saw it on TCM late one night. It is now my favorite Monty Clift movie. It is the story of a small boy who is seperated from his family during the war and his mothers search for him. Monty plays an army officer who wants to basically adopt the small boy and take him home with him. If you ever get a chance to see it, it is a great movie. Very sad and touching.
ah, monty....
he was pretty darn hot, eh? my fave movie of his is probably red river.....i have no idea why, but i find him incredibly sexy in it. *shrug*
...i read somewhere that he got into drugs and stuff as a result - - well, ONE result being his homosexuality (or bisexuality??)...it's been said he was just really ashamed and he tried countless times to change himself. but eh, i don't know if that true or not....but yeah...have read it.
Red River and HoYay
My favorite part of Red River is when Cherry (John Ireland) and Matt (Clift) are comparing guns:
Cherry: "That's a good looking gun you were about to use back there. May I see it?" (pause) "Maybe you'd like to see mine."
Matt hands him the gun and he says as he's fondling it, "Nice...Awful Nice."
They then proceed to shoot off each other's guns all the while complimenting each other on how well they handle the weapon of the other.
That is hilarious
I wonder how many people watching at the time picked up on the not so subtle homoeroticism? I wonder if the screenwriter(s) were gay?
Cheers
JBE