Monty Clift Centennial Maxi-Series
Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 3:42PM by Nathaniel R
We've been wanting to do this for years and the perfect occasion finally presents itself. Team Experience will be celebrating the late great Montgomery Clift every evening in the first half of October for what would have been his 100th birthday on October 17th, 2020...
Prologue: Clift was born into a wealthy family in Nebraska and though his early years were spent in luxury, the Depression ruined the Clifts financially when he was just 10.
His mother prized education but young Monty resisted and jumped into the professional actor's life at just 15 when he made his Broadway debut. He tread the boards until his mid twenties, bringing him early minor fame and major acclaim. The combination of buzzy talent and head-turning beauty were of obvious interest to Hollywood and he made the jump to Instant Movie Star in 1948 with his first two films, both leading roles, one an Oscar favourite and the other a blockbuster success.
A promotional still from his sixth Broadway play (he was just 19 years old)
For our series we're going to watch every movie he made before his tragic death at just 45 years of age. To make it doable and still keep up with current movie season and such on the blog, we've divvied up the movies amongst several members of our team. The pictures that Oscar voters noticed are in red for you completists, the bold titles were nominated for Best Picture.
ACT ONE
- Episode 1 The Search (1948) Best Actor nod
- Episode 2 Red River (1948) first huge hit - FREE ON PRIME
- Episode 3 The Heiress (1949) FREE ON CRITERION CHANNEL
- Episode 4 The Big Lift (1950) FREE ON PRIME
- Episode 5 A Place in the Sun (1951) Best Actor nod FREE ON PRIME
- Episode 6 I Confess (1953) his only Hitchcock
- Episode 7 Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953) FREE ON PRIME
- Episode 8 From Here to Eternity (1953) Best Actor nod
ACT TWO
- Episode 9 Raintree County (1957)
- Episode 10 The Young Lions (1958) Only film with Brando
- Episode 11 Lonelyhearts (1958)
- Episode 12 Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) third and final film with Liz
- Episode 13 Wild River (1960)
- Episode 14 The Misfits (1961) FREE ON ROKU with ads
- Episode 15 Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) final Oscar nod
- Episode 16 Freud (1962)
POSTHUMOUS
- Episode 17 The Defector (1966) released posthumously
- Epilogue Making Montgomery Clift (2018) the documentary
We hope you'll join the festivities by watching at least a few of the pictures you've missed up until now and celebrating in the comments.
Reader Comments (30)
The only one I haven't seen is 'The Defector', although I understand I'm not missing much.
I will use the excuse to watch some of the other films again, can't wait to read what you all have to say.
Fantastic. Montgomery Clift is one of the greatest actors in film history and he deserves to be remembered. Too bad he made few movies and it is also a pity that he did not appear in an episode of a television series, it would have been interesting. He should have won the Oscar for Judgment at Nuremberg.
There's a good, academic but very readable, book about Clift from not that long ago, "Montgomery Clift, Queer Star" by Elisabetta Girelli, that I recommend. Great insights throughout.
Can’t wait!! A lot of these are blind spots of mine. Can’t wait to watch!
He looks bad in The Defector but the movie is q good,please do a piece on his underrated Freud performance.
Very exciting! I haven't seen enough of these, so it's going to be a Monty autumn while I catch up.
I'll also encourage anyone who hasn't seen The Heiress to make it a priority. So much fun, and he's gorgeous in it.
He's visually the precursor to Tom Cruise.
The thing about Montgomery Clift is that he really exudes a "thing" that makes me think he really was a good person... I don't know how to explain, but the idea I always get from his pics or movies is that, behind the role, there's a man with a good nature.
And I'm a big fan of his work in "Judgement at Nuremberg"
Monty Clift, an actor for the ages.
A really good actor, he could be bigger than Brando in my opinion.
My top 5:
1.From here to eternity
2.A place in the Sun
3.The search
4.Judgment in Nuremberg
5.Freud.
I've been obsessed with MC for decades. I have seen every one of his films multiple times...except The Defector, which I was unable to locate for years and didn't really want to because a) I had only heard sad things about it and b) once I've watched it, a major chapter in my life will somehow be over.
I've had a copy of it on DVD on my desk for the past three years in anticipation of a project about him, but still haven't watched it. Maybe this is the occasion.
Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star (A&E Biography series) is a good overview of his life, but I highly recommend Patricia Bosworth's book Montgomery Clift.
My top 5 Monty screen performances:
A Place in the Sun
From Here to Eternity
Red River | I Confess
Wild River
Honorable mentions: The Misfits, Judgment at Nuremberg
Every time that I Confess shows up on TCM or wherever, it is a terrible copy. I refuse to watch it unless I can give it the viewing that it deserves. Does anyone know where/how to watch it?
I also don't think that I've seen Red River all the way through.
I've only seen The Heiress, A Place in the Sun, Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station, Suddenly Last Summer, Wild River, and The Misfits, so I definitely have some catching up to do. He was certainly a special presence on the screen, exuding such sensitivity and vulnerability. A Place in the Sun is the most recent of his films that I've watched and, while the movie kind of left me cold, I thought he was great in it.
Just out of curiosity. Which version of Indescretion will be looked at? The pre-Selznick interference cut, which I don't think has been show much (I saw it when there was a Jones retrospective about a decade ago at this point) is a very underrated movie and I hope that one is used instead of the short version Selznick made. That one is actually noticeably worse.
I've only seen 5??? A Place in the Sun is in my All Time Top 5, plus From Here to Eternity, The Misfits, Suddenly Last Summer and Red River.
I've got some catching up to do too!
And he was so, so, SO beautiful!!!
Very cool.
I've seen all the films and years ago read the comprehensive Patricia Bosworth biography of him. It was very informative, beautifully researched and so very, very sad. He was a complex, deeply troubled man. A brilliant actor, that depth of feeling came at a heavy price.
My top 5 favorite performances of his:
From Here to Eternity
The Misfits
Judgement at Nuremberg
A Place in the Sun
The Heiress
a) YAY!!!!!!!!
b) I echo working stiff on the Bosworth biography. Get it.
c) Dave in Hollywood, I know I, Confess is on DVD but Youtube streaming supposedly has an HD copy
side note: Nick Davis turned me onto justwatch.com, which is a website that aggregates your streaming/download options for movies in general
d) Thanks Dan, for the suggestion.
“The true originator of the rebellious 20th century antihero was Montgomery Clift. Not Marlon Brando or James Dean…[but] the restrained performer with the inner tension and those ancient, melancholy eyes…his presence so unobtrusively strong that it lingered even when he was off-camera.” (Marcello Mastroianni)
Clift was a beautiful man and a brilliant actor whose life became hell after the horrible accident.
The GIF on the bottom right is a full swoon.
The gun comparison scene in "Red River" is a classic bit of homorerotic subtext. I think Tom Cruise is closer to Tyrone Power in looks and career than to Monty
jaragon -- i would agree. i frankly don't see any through line from Monty to Cruise other than that they both have brown hair?
I would say that the true originator of the rebellious 20th century antihero was John Garfield as Mickey Borden in Four Daughters a full decade before Monty appeared on the scene. But Monty picked up the void left by Garfield's blacklisting and then early death before either Brando or James Dean made any sort of appearance.
Alden Ehrenreich, Richard Madden, Dane DeHaan, Dan Stevens, Finn Wittrock, Sam Claflin...
I've only seen one of his films (RED RIVER), but a friend gifted me THE HEIRESS for Christmas a few years ago and I still haven't seen it! I KNOW! But this upcoming centennial is the perfect reason to finally see that and maybe a few of his other films.
Looking forward to the Monty Clift tribute! Curious how Terminal Station/Indiscretion of an American Wife would be received. It's somewhat divisive and there are some obvious flaws in the movie. But I personally think it's a hidden gem.
Ooh this will be a great series. Even three of his Oscar ignored titles are very good to great (Red River, I Confess, The Misfits). You might even have time to finish up Seasons Of Bette before the super grand Judy Holliday centennial next year!!!
@Workingstiff. None of those guys even come close. There have been a few guys as beautiful in their own way in more recent years (young Ryan Phillippe, comes to mind) but few with the combination of looks, acting chops, and soulfulness. I just watched URBAN COWBOY the other day. It's not very good, but it did remind me that Travolta was both a great actor and a stunningly attractive human being. There have only been a handful who offer the two together.
I do think there is some similarity in looks between Tom Cruise and Clift in the final photo above--the 19 year old on Broadway one. But normally I don't really see a similarity either.
Another one here missing only The Defector. Don’t think I ever heard of it. A pity self-hatred destroyed him. Or so I’ve read (bio). They had faces then.
this is the only blog online for Monty's centennial celebration. thanks for setting this up.