Alexa here. Montgomery Clift would have turned 95 years old this week. To celebrate, I dug out this 1949 issue of Movie Stars Parade of mine and re-read the interview. The Monty revealed by the publicity machine is surprisingly close to the Monty of my imaginings: intuitive, self-loathing, tentative, magnetic. [More...]
It is a short piece - one suspects that fielding movie rag questions wasn't his forte - but, as always, it is the little details that make these old articles magic. Here are some excerpts from the interview, taken on the cusp of his biggest successes.
On clothes:
He doesn't care about clothes and is only comfortable in sports attire. He had on a herringbone tweed jacket, grey flannel slacks, white shirt, dark red tie, navy topcoat. Because it was chilly and rainy and he had a cold, he was wearing a scarf, but he was hatless as usual. When I asked him, a little bluntly, if he were putting on an act (as I'd read) about having only two suits of clothes, he showed the spirit that was so thrilling in Red River. "I'm uninterested in clothes, but I resent those implications. I don't have a complete wardrobe, I guess, because I don't seem to need one. When I need clothes, I buy them." Then he asked, boyishly: " Do you think I ought to get one of those light summer suits?"
On his eating habits:
For a lean guy, he eats an awful lot, preferring meat and eggs above everything...he ordered consomme ("must get lots of liquids"), bacon and scrambled eggs ("make it three of four, will you?"), custard and espresso coffee in a demi-tasse, though he ended up by drinking about a pint...He always makes his own breakfast at home (six eggs), eats out the rest of the day..."I often [eat six eggs] at home but I wouldn't have the nerve to do it here."
On why he doesn't usually frequent such fashionable restaurants:
Actor Clift is studying all the time. It's one reason he doesn't frequent fashionable restaurants and other so-called smart places. "I'm only likely to play an actor once in my lifetime," he said. "Don't you think I'd do better to learn about the people I may portray?"
On loving stage and screen:
Journalists have said that I don't like movies...that I love only the stage. That's so wrong. I think motion pictures are as great an artistic medium as the stage. I love good pictures as much as I love good plays. I hope to act in good pictures as well as good plays. I think it would be absolutely wonderful if some day I could direct pictures. I think that is the most subtle form of creative act.
On watching himself on screen:
The first time I saw myself on the screen, I decided I might as well quit right there; I might as well give up the stage and the screen pronto. It's a good thing Paramount had already asked me to do The Heiress or I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to even discuss another picture. Honestly, dear, I thought I was awful.