90th Anniversary of
Montgomery Clift's birth


90º Aniversario del nacimiento de Montgomery Clift (1920-2010)

aaaaa TODA LA INFORMACIÓN SOBRE EL ACTOR MONTGOMERY CLIFT EN ESPAÑOL aaaaa

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31.1.10

Contrato para la película Judgment at Nurember.- 31 en 1961

Montgomery Clift.- contract signed 01/31/1961:


(pulsando en la foto se lee el documento)

Relating to his Oscar-nominated role in Judgment at Nuremberg and the fact that he is not getting a salary for it.

TLS: "Montgomery Clift", 2p, 8½x11, separate sheets. New York, 1961 January 31. A letter from Roxlom Films to Clift, headed "Re: 'Judgement at Nuremberg'", which he has signed on the second page at lower left under the words: "Accepted and Agreed to". Clift is notified by Roxlom Films "that insofar as United States and State income taxes are concerned, that, because we are not compensating you by payment of salary, such taxing authorities may take the position that the living expenses and transportation which we have paid for you under the employment agreement should be considered as income or gratuities because they do not relate to the production of income for you...we will pay to you the difference between the amount of income tax which you would have had to pay had such expense payments not been a part of your taxable income and the amount of income tax which you may be required to pay by including such expenses or any part thereof as income taxable to you...." Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) was nominated for the 1961 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as witness Rudolph Peterson in Judgment at Nuremberg. He had been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in 1948 (The Search), 1951 (A Place in the Sun) and 1953 (From Here to Eternity). 2 file holes at top blank margin, staple holes at blank left corner. Creased top blank margin.

Documento con fecha del 31 de julio de 1961 (y firmado por Montgomery Clift el 8 de febrero) que estipula el contrato del actor para realizar Judgment at Nuremberg. Cabe recordar que Monty no cobró por hacer ese papel. Fue una decisión suya puesto que prefirió hacer el pequeño rol del judío discapacitado al rol protagonista de fiscal.

Hace 49 años.

30.1.10

Eleanor Clift

Eleanor Clift

Eleanor CliftBorn: 7-Jul-1940
Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Journalist

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Madam President

Husband: William Brooks Clift (brother of Montgomery Clift, b. 1919, d. 1986, three sons)
Son: Edward Montgomery Clift
Son: Woodbury Blair Clift ("Woody")
Son: Robert Anderson Clift
Husband: Tom Brazaitis (journalist, b. 8-Aug-1940, m. 1989, d. 30-Mar-2005 kidney cancer)

University: Hofstra University (one year)
University: Hunter College

Newsweek Columnist (Capitol Letter)
Newsweek White House Correspondent (-1985)
The Los Angeles Times White House Correspondent (1985-86)
Hoover Institution Media Fellow (2002)

TELEVISION
The McLaughlin Group Panelist

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
The Last Debate (5-Nov-2000) Herself
Independence Day (2-Jul-1996) Herself
Getting Away with Murder (12-Apr-1996) Herself
Rising Sun (30-Jul-1993)
Dave (7-May-1993) Herself

Official Website:
http://www.eleanorclift.com/

Author of books:
War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics (1996, with Tom Brazaitis)
Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling (1996, with Tom Brazaitis)
Madam President: Women Blazing the Leadership Trail (2003, with Tom Brazaitis)
Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (2003)
Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future (2005, with Evan Thomas)
Two Weeks of Life: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Politics (2008)

http://www.nndb.com/people/227/000117873/

29.1.10

Photoplay.- edición Australia (enero 1951)

Edición australiana de la revista Photoplay de enero de 1951 con un reportaje dedicado a Montgomery Clift titulado "Restless Rebel" (El rebelde inquieto) y firmado por Joseph Steele. La fotografía de Monty sentado en el sofá es bastante desconocida.



Datos de la revista:

(English text)
Australian edition of "PHOTOPLAY" magazine, and very rare. Has a very nice colour shot of Esther Williams on the cover. Dated January 1951. 68 pages.

Other features
Hawaiian lullaby by Ben Gage (husband of Esther Williams)
Hollywood divorces aren't my fault, by Louella Parsons;
Lana Turner is back with a new life
History of "The Hollywood Figure" (lots of cheesecake)
Peter Lawford
4 page list of current actors, their marriage record, home life facts, community service and honors
6 very cute pics of Liza Minnelli as a pint-sized ballerina;
Lewis Milestone, the director of "Kangaroo"
"It Was A Dream Of A Party" - with Rock Hudson, Vera Ellen, Douglas Sirk, Allene Roberts, Joan Evans, Johnny Sands, Barbara Lawrence & Robert Stack, David Brian.
MONTGOMERY CLIFT is a "Restless Rebel" (5 cool pics).
Gorgeous evening gowns modelled by Vera Ellen.
Deborah Kerr, Lauren Bacall, Barbara Lawrence & Virginia Mayo.

Foto dedicada (1)

Monty sentía auténtica devoción por Greta Garbo. Estaba fascinado por su figura, su áurea misteriosa, su ambigüedad sexual. Todo el embrujo de la Garbo le cautivaba, por eso era asiduo a sus fiestas y no dudaba en invitarla a las suyas. En cierta ocasión, dentro de las excentricidades propias de Montgomery Clift, quiso besarla y dijo que sus labios estaban resecos, agrietados y fríos cual estatua griega.

Esta foto, de un Monty jovencísimo (corresponde a la colección de fotos que le realizó Alfred Valente en su estudio a principios de los años 40), era dada por el propio Monty a sus fans y amigos. Por el tipo de firma y sobre todo por la historia que acabo de contar, esta foto es auténtica.

Estos son los datos que acompañan a la foto:

Original Montgomery Clift autographed photo purchased seveal years ago from the state of Claire Kroger, longtime companion of Greta Garbo. Ms. Kroger lived with Ms. garbo for many tears and was with Greta when Greta died in 1990. Ms. Koger was left out of Greta's will and died penniless. Shortly afeter her death belongins were sold at an state sale where among several items were two photographs, this one of Montgomery Clift and the other of Lana Turner, wich I also have up for auction. This photograph of Montgomery Clift, who was a close and personal friend of Ms. Garbo. They're friendship spanned many years where Greta and Monty developed a strong relationship. Ms. Garbo met the young Montgomery during his New York theater years and convinced the reluctant actor to expand his repertoire onto the movie screen, where he found success.

28.1.10

Fotos personales: Monty fotógrafo


Es conocida la afición que Monty tenía a la fotografía. De adolescente desarrolló esa afición como comenté en este post.

No sé el año de esta fotografía, calculo que es de 1950 ó 1952 como muy tarde. Monty está concentrado observando una cámara fotográfica bastante grande, no parece que sea suya sino que alguien se la deja, quizá su amigo el periodista Perrone (ver post).

27.1.10

Picture Show.- 1952

Montgomery Clift Picture Show 1952 Magazine Cover Photo UK

26.1.10

25.1.10

Quebec, ciudad hitchcockiana

En este blog, aparece un entretenido post acerca de un viaje a Quebec y el autor relaciona sus vivencias con I Confess (Yo Confieso, 1953), que como se sabe se rodó allí.

"(...) Me detuve en I confess (Yo confieso o Mi secreto me condena, fueron sus títulos en español, aunque ahora que se ha editado en DVD el secreto se convirtió en “pecado”: Mi pecado me condena), la cinta canadiense de Hitchcock. Estaba sólo en renta, y le pedí a los amigos que eran nuestros anfitriones la llevaran a casa. Por lo mismo, cuando esa otra tarde hicimos el viaje en río desde Montreal y apareció ante nosotros el viejo Quebec, pensé que llegaba a una locación hitchcockiana, pues Yo confieso abre con esa misma vista filmada desde un ferry. Luego, unas flechas de tránsito con la leyenda “direction” van conduciendo a los espectadores al lugar donde se acaba de cometer el asesinato. Se ve, desde la ventana, al hombre tirado en el interior y una cortina de cuentas de madera que se sacude en la puerta por alguien que acaba de cruzarla; y sale de la casa un hombre con sotana y sombrero, que camina calle abajo. Dos adolescentes pasan por ahí de regreso al hogar (a deshoras, porque en sus tiempos libres cuidan niños), y van atrás de él. Esta es la secuencia inicial de esa película que había filmado Hitchcock en Quebec justo cincuenta años antes de que llegáramos a la ciudad (...)"

El autor demuestra tener bastante conocimientos acerca de Montgomery Clift y su actuación:

"Montgomery Clift firmó el primero de julio para interpretar al padre Michael Logan. (...) Sorprendió de tres maneras a Hitchcock.
Una: En 1945 el actor había conocido, en la Gran Estación Central de Nueva York, al hermano Tomás, un joven monje que acababa de tomar los hábitos y con el que hizo gran amistad; a su llegada a Canadá, Clift buscó a su amigo y vivió con él unos días en un monasterio para que éste le enseñara a rezar el rosario y decir la misa. Obtuvo de él una forma de caminar que el actor creyó propia de los curas. Con estas armas, Montgomery Clift estaba casi listo para empezar el rodaje.
Dos: Como “actor de método”, Clift no sólo estudiaba a conciencia a sus personajes sino que requería de la constante supervisión de su maestra Mira Rostova, que viajó con él a Quebec y aprobaba, a escondidas del director o para su desesperación, las maneras y tonos del padre Logan.
Y tres: El actor tenía una dependencia más: la bebida. Luego de la filmación, y para vengarse de él, Hitchcock pidió en una fiesta que la copa de Clift siempre estuviera llena y le provocó una borrachera que a las pocas horas lo dejó tirado en el piso con un perro lamiéndole el rostro."


Leer el post entero.

24.1.10

Encuentro con la prensa

Durante el rodaje de From here to eternity (De aquí a la eternidad, 1953) Monty estuvo charlando con este reportero japonés quien le enseña un ejemplar de su revista.

Meeting with Japanese entertainment reporter Masanori Komorimiya on the set.

23.1.10

I Confess.- secuencias

(pulsar en la imagen para ver mejor las escenas)

22.1.10

8 películas

20.1.10

Montgomery Clift participa en el concurso televisivo What's My Line?

What's My Line? fue un veteranísimo concurso de la televisión norteamericana que consistía en que 4 concursantes tenían que adivinar qué invitado se encontraba en el plató. Fueron muchos los actores y actrices de Hollywood que participaron (ver lista) y curiosamente Montgomery Clift también acudió. Me sorprende porque lo hizo en una fecha tan tardía como 1963, es decir no fue en su época más temprana de popularidad y cuando realmente estaba bien físicamente.

En 1963, Monty Clift vivía semirrecluido en Nueva York y llevaba 2 años y medio sin rodar. En Hollywood le consideraban ya acabado y físicamente estaba muy deteriorado, de hecho presentaba una pronunciada calvicie en la coronilla, que no se notaba en las películas pero aquí es la primera vez que se le ve.

En la esta web se recogen los datos del programa:

El programa se emitió el 20 de enero de 1963, es decir, tal día como hoy (hace 47 años) y era el programa nº 648. Montgomery Clift era el "invitado misterioso".

Game 1: Andy Robustelli (b. 12/8/1925) - "Imports Dolls" (self-employed; Andy is also the Coach, Player and Co-Captain the NY Giants Football team. The panel must guess his secondary occupation of importing and selling bobblehead dolls patterned after the characters in the comic strip Peanuts, which was created by Charles Schulz. The dolls are sold under the company name of - what sounded like - Robustelli, Dodake and Unsworth.)

Game 2: Mrs. Dinah Thetford - "Television Director" (salaried; in the United Kingdom, she works for Associated TeleVision Limited as the director of the British equivalent of "To Tell The Truth" and other programs; she stated that American panel shows are better than British panel shows; from London, England)

Game 3: Montgomery Clift (10/17/1920 - 7/23/1966) (as Mystery Guest)

Game 4: Chet Gross - "President of Rubber Band Company" (self-employed; he is the President of Merit Supreme Rubber Bands; from Alliance, OH)

Aired January, 1963. Arlene Francis, Peter Cook, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Bennett Cerf. Challengers are a doll importer, a television director, and the president of a rubber band company. Mystery guest is Montgomery Clift. (WKEND-3/20150)

Gracias a que han subido el video en Youtube, ¡podemos verlo!








Ver información del concurso en la Imdb.

19.1.10

La familia Sinatra recuerda el rodaje de From here to eternity

En la web Sinatra Family, hay un apartado donde se repasa la vida y la profesión del actor, año por año. Éstas son las referencia que se hacen de Montgomery Clift


NOVEMBER 1952: Artist Paul Clemens, a close friend of Ava's, was living in a guest house on Harry and Joan Cohn's estate. Harry, the head of Columbia Pictures, asked Paul if he would invite Ava for dinner. As Paul recalled, "Ava knew that what producer Buddy Adler and Cohn were working on was the script for From Here to Eternity. And at the Cohns' that night Ava said, 'You know who's right for that part of Maggio, don't you? That sonofabitch of a husband of mine. He's perfect for it.' And Joan said, 'My God, you're right!"' Ava had to leave for Africa to begin filming Mogambo. Dad went with her. Joan carried the ball. A week later Frank Sinatra received a telegram from his new agent, Bert Allenberg of the William Morris Agency, telling him to come home. He did his screen test for Maggio in Hollywood. Joan Cohn said, "Harry called me at home one day and told me to come to the Columbia lot. He sat me down-just the two of us-in a projection room and he ran Eli Wallach's and Frank Sinatra's screen tests. Not once, not twice, but three times. Then Harry turned to me and I said, 'Well, you've got a nice Jewish boy and you've got a nice Italian boy, Harry. What's your problem?"' Harry made the ethnically accurate choice. Frank got the role-$1,000 a week-co-starring with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr and Donna Reed.


APRIL 1953: The stars of From Here to Eternity flew to Hawaii to begin filming. Burt Lancaster remembered, "Deborah Kerr and me and Frank and Monty are sitting up in the front of the plane. And he and Monty are drunk. Monty, poor Monty, was this kind of a drinker-he'd chug-a-lug one martini and conk out. And Frank was, I believe, having a few problems, and so, when we arrived, these two bums were unconscious. They were gone! Deborah and I had to wake them up....This is the way they arrived, and Harry Cohn is down there with the press and everything. Well, we got through that, and now we start to do the picture. Every night, after work, we would meet in Frank's room. He had a refrigerator and he would open it and there would be these iced glasses. He would prepare the martinis with some snacks while we were getting ready to go to an eight o'clock dinner. We'd sit and chat about the day's work and he would try his nightly call to Ava, who was in Spain. In those days in Spain, if you lived next door to your friends, you couldn't get them on the telephone, let alone try to get them on the phone from Hawaii. He never got through. Not one night. When you finished your martini, he would take the glass from you, open up the icebox and get a fresh cold glass, and by eight o'clock he and Monty would be unconscious. I mean really unconscious. Every night. So Deborah and I would take Frank's clothes off and put him to bed. Then I would take Monty on my shoulders and we would carry him down to his room, take his clothes off and dump him in bed. And then she and I and the Zinnemanns would go out and have dinner."

AUGUST 17, 1953: From Here to Eternity opened nationwide, on its way to grossing more than $80 million in its first year and becoming Columbia's biggest money-maker to date. So big was the box office that New York's Capitol Theater remained open 24 hours a day to accommodate the crowds. Topping the critics' choice of acclaimed performances: Sinatra as Maggio.

JANUARY 9, 1993: The Career Achievement Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival was bestowed on my father at the Riviera Hotel. Preceding the presentation of the award was an hourlong tribute with Robert Wagner serving as master of ceremonies. The tribute chronicled Dad's career through a number of his film clips, including scenes with Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate, Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running and Montgomery Clift in From Here to Eternity. At the ceremony, George Sidney, who directed Dad in two musicals, Pal Joey and Anchors Aweigh, paid him the ultimate compliment: "His first take is better than most people's tenth. He always went for the best and took risks."

ERNEST BORGNINE(FATSO JUDSON, THE GUY WHO KILLS MAGGIO): I went to work the first day, and as luck would have it, my first scene was with Frank Sinatra and I'm dying inside, because here was the man who song "Nancy" (I named my daughter Nancy because of that song). My idol, my everything, I loved him in everything he ever did. And I said, "How can 1, a mere nothing, come on here?" But I knew I had to play this part as the meanest SOB that ever existed, otherwise the part won't play. So I was out there pounding the piano and everything else, and we started this scene. I'm looking around and I see Frank Sinatra dancing with this girl. And I see Montgomery Clift over with somebody else. And standing on the side were Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster talking to Fred Zinnemann. I was engulfed with stars. And I'm just shaking, you know. And Fred suddenly looked up and said, "OK, begin the scene!" So we started. I'm playing the piano and it come to the point where Frank says, "Come on, why don't you stop this banging on the piano, will ya? Give us a chance with our music." And I stood up to say my first line. I said, "Listen you little wop." He looked up at me, and as he looked up at me, he broke out into a smile and he said, "My God, he's 10 feet tall!" Do you know the whole thing just collapsed. His laughter broke the tension. It was so marvelous. I've never forgotten Frank for that. He was the most wonderful guy to work with that you ever saw in your life. He knew how I must have felt you know. And because of it, he took the time to break that tension. That's something that I have done with everybody that I've ever worked with since. I break the ice for the other people. And I think it's nice, because it reverberates all down the line.

BURT LANCASTER ON SINATRA'S PERFORMANCE IN FROM HERE TO ETERNITY: His fervor, his anger, his bitterness had something to do with the character of Maggio, but also with what he had gone through in the last number of years: a sense of defeat, and the whole world crashing in on him, his marriage to Ava going to pieces-all of those things caused this ferment in him, and they all come out in that performance. You knew this was a raging little man who was, at the some time, a good human being. Monty [Montgomery Clift] watched the filming of one of Frank's close-ups and said, "He's going to win the Academy Award." And that's what Monty felt was going to happen.

18.1.10

Ciné Revue.- 1950

En el número 6 de esta revista, estaba por tanto empezando a editarse, aparecen Olivia de Havilland en la portada y Montgomery Clift en la contraportada. Acababa de estrenarse The Heiress (La heredera, 1949) y Monty era ya un estrella en todo el mundo.

Retrato (25)

Este cuadro no es cualquier obra, pertenece a un reputado pintor californiano y da la casualidad que se encuentra en España, en el Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao.

"Monty Clift was a twin" se llama el cuadro, basado en unas fotografías tomadas al actor durante sus vacaciones en Europa en 1950 (ver post). Es del artista Peter Blake (autor de la portada Sgt. Pepper de The Beatles) quien lo pintó en 1983 tras leer su biografía. Se trata de una reflexión sobre el torturado y recordado actor.

17.1.10

Descalzo por el set

Un Monty descalzo pero con impoluto traje blanco se pasea por el set de The young lions (El baile de los malditos, 1958) y se para pensativo en un tablón de anuncio del rodaje. En Sevilla parecería la pizarra con las tapas de un bar :D

15.1.10

The Young Lions Cards Collection

Colección de 4 pósters coloreados de la época de la película The Young Lions (El baile de los malditos, 1958) con escenas muy conocidas de la misma.

14.1.10

Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star Part

El documental Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star fue rodado en 1998 por John Griffin quien también se encargó de su guión. Es un documental excepcional, tanto por las imágenes de Monty (multitud de ellas desconocidas incluyendo filmaciones de su infancia), como por recoger testimonios de sus amigos y quienes le conocieron. Es, por tanto, muy completo, abarcando toda su vida y su carrera.

Ha sido subido a Youtube por WitoWed. Es una gran noticia porque yo hasta ahora no había tenido la oportunidad de verlo. Cada mes iré poniendo un parte. Y en este post pondré los enlaces de cada uno.

This documentary biography of Montgomery Clift chronicles his life and film career and includes interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues.

Ver 1ª parte.

12.1.10

Screen Sinatra.- canción From here to eternity

Este disco recoge canciones de películas en las que actúa Frank Sinatra. Incluye el tema From here to eternity, compuesto por Fred Karger y Robert Wells. El conjunto de las canciones fueron grabadas entre 1953 - 1971 y el disco se distribuyó en 1989.

No sé qué canción es, ni si aparece en la película. En el listado de la Bso de la película según la Imdb no aparece. Pero podemos ver la letra de la canción "From here to eternity" y escuchar un fragmento aquí.

En este post, hablo de la partitura de la película (la original de 1953).

* Karger fue el cuarto marido de Jane Wyman.

10.1.10

Imdb (II)

Date of Birth: 17 October 1920, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Date of Death:23 July 1966, New York City, New York, USA (coronary occlusion)
Birth Name: Edward Montgomery Clift
Nickname: Monty
Height: 5' 10" (1.78 m)
Mini Biography

Monty was born just after his twin sister Roberta and eighteen months after his brother Brooks Clift. Their father William made a lot of money in banking but was quite poor during the depression. Their mother Ethel "Sunny" was born out of wedlock and spent much of her life and the family fortune finding her illustrious southern lineage and raising her children as aristocrats. At 13, Monty appeared on Broadway ("Fly Away Home"), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years before finally succumbing to Hollywood. He gained excellent theatrical notices and soon piqued the interests of numerous lovelorn actresses; their advances met with awkward conflict. While working in New York in the early 1940s, he met wealthy former Broadway star Libby Holman. She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality. She would wield considerable influence over the early part of his film career, advising him in decisions to decline lead roles in Sunset Blvd. (1950), (originally written specifically for him; the story perhaps hitting a little too close to home) and High Noon (1952). His long apprenticeship on stage made him a thoroughly accomplished actor, notable for the intensity with which he researched and approached his roles. By the early 1950's he was exclusively homosexual, though he continued to maintain a number of close friendships with theater women (heavily promoted by studio publicists). His film debut was Red River (1948) with John Wayne quickly followed by his early personal success The Search (1948) (Oscar nominations for this, A Place in the Sun (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)). By 1950, he was troubled with allergies and colitis (the army had rejected him in WWII for chronic diarrhea) and, along with pill problems, he was alcoholic. He spent a great deal of time and money on psychiatry. In 1956, during filming of Raintree County (1957), he ran his Chevrolet into a tree after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's; it was she who saved him from choking by pulling out two teeth lodged in his throat. His smashed face was rebuilt, he reconciled with his estranged father, but he continued bedeviled by dependency on drugs and his unrelenting guilt over his homosexuality. With his Hollywood career in an irreversible slide (despite giving an occasional riveting performance, such as in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)), Monty returned to New York and tried to slowly develop a somewhat more sensible lifestyle in his brownstone. He was set to play in Taylor's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), when his companion Lorenzo James found him lying nude on top of his bed, dead from what the autopsy called "occlusive coronary artery disease." His death was called the longest suicide in history by famed acting teacher, Robert Lewis.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan

Trivia

1995: Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#29).

He is referred to in the Jets to Brazil song, "Conrad" on their album, "Orange Rhyming Dictionary".

He is the subject of the song "The Right Profile" on The Clash's album "London Calling".

He is the subject of R.E.M.'s song "Monty Got a Raw Deal", from their LP "Automatic For the People".

Was a close friend of Elizabeth Taylor, Kevin McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe and Roddy McDowall.

The release of Red River (1948) made him an overnight sensation and instant star. He embodied a new type of man on screen, the beautiful, sensual and vulnerable man that seemed to appeal to women and men alike. After A Place in the Sun (1951) came out he was Hollywood's hottest male star and adored by millions. He looked incredible and was a fine actor, a rare combination. His only rival in this regard during the next few years was Marlon Brando, whose career turned out to be more stable and successful in the end. Clift's mental problems prevented him from staying at the top, as his drinking and drug problem began to affect his acting and bankability. The loss of his dashing looks in a well publicized road accident during the filming of Raintree County (1957) didn't help, either. What followed could be described as the longest suicide in show-business history.

Interred at Quaker Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, USA.

He had so many health problems on the set of Freud (1962) that Universal sued him for the cost of the film's production delays. During the trial, the film opened and was such a huge hit that Clift's lawyers brought up the point that the film was doing well because of Clift's involvement. Clift won a lucrative settlement.

Always in high demand as an actor, he turned down the role played by William Holden in Sunset Blvd. (1950) and the part of James Dean's brother in East of Eden (1955). In 1955, alone, he passed on five Broadway plays, (among them Eugene O'Neill's "Desire Under the Elms"), and he turned down the films Desirée (1954), Friendly Persuasion (1956), Prince of Players (1955), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Moby Dick (1956) and The Trouble with Harry (1955).

Younger brother of Brooks Clift.

He was voted the 60th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Was Elizabeth Taylor's choice to play her husband, the closeted homosexual Major Weldon Penderton, in Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967). He died before the film began shooting and was replaced by Marlon Brando, who at one time was considered his only rival as an attractive leading man who was also a great actor.

In Robert Laguardia's "Monty" (1977), the first published biography, Laguardia tells of how Clift was discomfited when he initially met co-star Burt Lancaster on the set of From Here to Eternity (1953). Lancaster was in awe of Monty and was so nervous, he actually shook during their first scene (as also mentioned in Lancaster's biography).

On the set of The Young Lions (1958), Marlon Brando insisted on doing his own stunt fall after being "shot" by co-stars Clift and Dean Martin and wound up dislocating his shoulder. Clift, seeing that Brando was in pain, offered him a swig from the thermos jug he carried with him at all times. The combination of vodka and prescription drugs in the thermos helped Brando through the ordeal.

Marlon Brando, who calls him a "friend" in his autobiography, says that Clift was a tormented soul addicted to alcohol and chloral hydrate, a depressant and sedative which he drank. On the set of The Young Lions (1958), he warned Clift that he was destroying himself like Brando's own alcoholic mother had. For his part, Clift was always supportive of Brando as an actor, even when his career began faltering after Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).

Suffered from dysentery and colitis for most of his adult life.

Spoke fluent French, Italian and German.

His father was a violent, abusive, ultra-conservative bigot and did not get along with his son. As an actor, whenever Clift was playing characters snapping as they went up against ignorance or brutality, Clift was said to have acted with his father in mind as an antagonist.

One of only six actors to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his first screen appearance. The others are Orson Welles, James Dean, Alan Arkin, Paul Muni and Lawrence Tibbett.

Hollywood folklore has it that his ghost haunts the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The actor had stayed there while filming From Here to Eternity (1953).

At his near-fatal car accident in 1956, Rock Hudson, Michael Wilding and Kevin McCarthy formed a protective shield to prevent Clift's photo from being taken by photographers as he was carried from the wreck to the ambulance.

A sometime guest of Broadway legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne at their rural retreat Ten Chimneys in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

Is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996) (TV)

Marilyn Monroe described him as "the only person I know who is in worse shape than I am."

Turned down Dean Martin's role in Rio Bravo (1959), which would have reunited him with his Red River (1948) co-star John Wayne.

Became good friends with Dean Martin while filming The Young Lions (1958), and Clift helped the singer, who was best known at that time as a light comedian, with rehearsing his heavy dramatic scenes. In later years, as Clift was ostracized by the Hollywood social set for his substance abuses and mental instability, Martin stuck by the troubled actor and often brought him along as his guest to parties.

Son of William Brooks Clift and wife Ethel Anderson Fogg, an illegitimate daughter of Woodbury Blair by Maria Latham Anderson, both of whom had Dutch American ancestry. Woodbury Blair was the son of Montgomery Blair, after whom his great-grandson received his middle name, and wife Mary Elizabeth Woodbury, daughter of Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), US Supreme Court, and wife Elizabeth Wendell Clapp.

Voted for Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election, but later actively campaigned for Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential election - much to the annoyance of his father.

He was a close friend of Elizabeth Taylor, although he greatly disliked her husband Richard Burton, and the feeling was mutual. Clift once said, "Richard Burton doesn't act, he just recites.".

In Italy, most of his early films were dubbed by Giulio Panicali, then by Giuseppe Rinaldi. He was occasionally dubbed by Gianfranco Bellini (in The Search (1948) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)), Nando Gazzolo (in The Young Lions (1958)) and once by Pino Locchi in Raintree County (1957).

Related to actor Michael Anderson Brown.

On the advice of his close friend Libby Holman, he turned down William Holden's role in Sunset Blvd. (1950) and Gary Cooper's role in High Noon (1952).

In the James Kirkwood novel "Hit Me With A Rainbow", early on the lead character is told that he resembles Montgomery Clift. He reflects that this has been happening often and surmises is it due to Clift's recent death.

Robert LaGuardia, in his 1988 biography "Monty," claimed that director John Huston, who had paternalistic feelings towards Clift after directing the alcoholic and emotionally troubled actor in The Misfits (1961) (1961), became sadistic towards him during the troubled Freud (1962) (1962) shoot. Basing his charges on interviews with co-star Susannah York, LaGuardia claimed that Huston kept asking Clift about the Freudian concept of "represssion," obviously alluding to Clift's repressed homosexuality. Apparently, Huston himself could not broach the idea that Monty was gay in his own mind, but subconsciously, he reacted to Monty's homosexuality quite negatively. (Marilyn Monroe had admonished Monty not to work with Huston again, finding him a sadist on the "Misfits" set. Her ex-husband Arthur Miller, on the other hand, did not fault Huston in his autobiography "Timebends," but instead, marveled about how he kept his cool during the "Misfits" shoot, which was also troubled due to Marilyn Monroe's mental illness and frequent absences from the set.) Monty's biographer thought that Huston still had paternalistic feelings towards the actor, but was subconsciously appalled at his surrogate son's homosexuality; thus, he began to torture him on the set by insisting on unnecessary retakes and that he perform his own stunts, such as climbing up a rope. Despite Monty's many problems, he always proved a trouper, and gave as much as he could, including diving into a river in his last film, The Defector (1966) (1966).


Personal Quotes

[reported last words, upon being asked if he wanted to see one of his movies on TV[ Absolutely not!

What do I have to do to prove I can act?

I love the stage, but after a few months you can get tired. I would rather do three movies than play in one stage hit. I played in four flops in a row when I was about 17 and I was delighted. I was being paid to be trained.

I keep my family out of my public life because it can be an awful nuisance to them. What's my mother going to tell strangers anyway? That I was a cute baby and that she's terribly proud of me? Nuts. Who cares?

[recalling his arrival in Hollywood] I told them I wanted to choose my scripts and my directors myself. "But sweetheart," they said, "you're going to make a lot of mistakes." And I told them, "You don't understand; I want to be free to do so."

Good dialogue simply isn't enough to explain all the infinite gradations of a character. It's behavior -- it's what's going on behind the lines.

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 feel my real talent lies in directing for my later years.

[on Marilyn Monroe] Marilyn was an incredible person to act with, the most marvelous I ever worked with and I have been working for 29 years.

[on Elizabeth Taylor] Liz is the only woman I have ever met who turns me on. She feels like the other half of me.

Salary

Freud (1962) $130,000
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) Waived salary
Raintree County (1957) $250,000
From Here to Eternity (1953) $150,000
The Heiress (1949) $100,000
Red River (1948) $60,000
The Search (1948) $100,000

Screen Hits Annual 1950

A vintage movie magazine titled SCREEN HITS ANNUAL (1950). In this magazine you will find the following:

* ELIZABETH TAYLOR (COVER+)

* MONTGOMERY CLIFT (COVER+)

* June Allyson (cover+), Alan Ladd (cover+), Lucille Ball & Bob Hope "Fancy pants" (back cover+), much more.

Harry Crampton Collection. Crampton was a graphic artist, with a keen eye for beauty, who became a movie press agent in the early years of film. In 2006 he passed away in Toronto. Crampton was an avid colletor of vintage Hollywood magazines. He loved the 1920's and 1930's era and always dressed to the "hilt" adorned in attire from that era. Harry Crampton was extremely friendly to all who knew him and passionate about both his collection and Hollywood stars. These magazines were aquired thru a colse friend of Harry Crampton.

9.1.10

Monty inédito (11)

¿Qué os parece esta foto?

Seguro que es la primera vez que la véis. Un joven y natural Monty fotografiado en plena conversación, con un gesto un tanto de preocupación.

8.1.10

Gay for Today

En este blog se recoge una semblanza de Montgomery Clift haciendo especial referencia a su homosexualidad.


Montgomery Clift born 17 October 1920 (d. 1966)

Edward Montgomery Clift was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Appearing on Broadway at the age of thirteen, Clift achieved success on the stage and starred there for 10 years before moving to Hollywood, debuting in Red River (1948) opposite John Wayne. Clift was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor that same year for The Search. Clift was billed as a new kind of leading man: sensitive, intense and broodingly handsome, the kind of man women would want to take care of.

He had a highly successful film career, performing in many Oscar-nominated roles and becoming a matinee idol because of his good looks and sex appeal. His love scenes with Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951) set a new standard for romance in cinema. His roles in A Place in the Sun, the 1953 classic From Here to Eternity and The Young Lions (1958) are considered signatures of his career... read full article.

7.1.10

Frases de películas (1)

A man loves a thing – that don't mean it's gotta love him back.

Montgomery Clift as Pvt. Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt in From Here to Eternity

6.1.10

Prince Monty

Con 13 años y medio, Monty interpretó al príncipe bueno Peter en la comedia Jubilee, según el libreto musical de Cole Porter. Hoy que es el día de Reyes, homenajeamos a Montgomery Clift como el gran actor y la estrella cinematográfica fulgurante que fue.

5.1.10

Montgomery Clift. Vincitore e vinto. Biografía de Michelangelo Capua


Estos son los datos del libro, la sinopsis y datos del autor:

AUTORE: Capua M.

Montgomery Clift. Vincitore e vinto

COLLANA: Le comete

PAGINE: pp. 262

ILLUSTRAZIONI: N° 27 b/n f.t.

FORMATO: cm. 14x21


IL LIBRO

Bello e sensibile, intelligente e colto, ricco di talento e capace di assoluto rigore professionale: non si smetterebbe mai di elencare le doti di Montgomery Clift, uomo e attore. Eppure la sua vita – nonostante il successo e l’agiatezza che ne derivò – non fu che una lunga sequenza di sconfitte, appena interrotta da rari momenti di serenità.

L’omosessualità, mai negata e mai completamente accettata, fu senz’altro una delle ragioni di questo irrimediabile disagio esistenziale: era tutt’altro che facile essere e mostrarsi «diverso» nell’America del secondo dopoguerra.

Ma anche l’irrisolto rapporto con una madre autoritaria e protettiva, l’acuta sensibilità in conflitto con un mondo già dominato dal culto dell’apparenza e del denaro, la difficoltà di stabilire e mantenere profondi legami personali, non furono di certo motivi secondari.

Oggi Monty è quasi dimenticato (anche se qualcuno dei diciassette film di cui fu protagonista si affaccia di tanto in tanto sui nostri teleschermi). Eppure se fosse morto nel terribile incidente d’auto che ne sfigurò anche il futuro, sarebbe entrato nel mito, come è successo a James Dean e a Marilyn Monroe.


L'AUTORE

Michelangelo Capua è nato a Napoli nel 1966. Dopo aver vissuto e lavorato a New York, oggi risiede a Londra, dove si occupa di libri rari e di cinema. Con le Edizioni Lindau ha pubblicato: Vivien Leigh. Ansia di vivere e Anthony Perkins. Prigioniero della paura.

Sesión de fotos

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2.1.10

Hollywood Yearbook 1950


En este anuario de 1949 (publicado en enero de 1950), con la simpática June Allyson en la portada, hay un reportaje de Montgomery Clift titulado "A new kind of dream guy" ("Un nuevo tipo de chico de ensueño" sería su traducción) que recoge unas fantásticas fotos de Monty acreditando su condición de chico ideal:

La foto del desayuno tomada por Kubrick de 1949, la de las admiradoras de 1948, una escena de The Heiress y la foto que sirvió de portada a la biografía de Patricia Bosworth tomada también por Kubrick en 1949.

1.1.10

Foto del mes (27)

Una vez más se pone a la venta en Internet este calendario. Ver el de 2009.
Su carrera comprende 17 títulos entre 1948 y 1966. Trabajó con los grandes directores (Hawks, Hitchcock, Stevens, Zinnemann, Kazan, Huston, Wyler) y las grandes estrellas (Lancaster, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Brando, Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor especialmente) de entonces.
Su carrera comprende 17 títulos entre 1948 y 1966. Trabajó con los grandes directores (Hawks, Hitchcock, Stevens, Zinnemann, Kazan, Huston, Wyler) y las grandes estrellas (Lancaster, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Brando, Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor especialmente) de entonces.
Su carrera comprende 17 títulos entre 1948 y 1966. Trabajó con los grandes directores (Hawks, Hitchcock, Stevens, Zinnemann, Kazan, Huston, Wyler) y las grandes estrellas (Lancaster, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Brando, Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor especialmente) de entonces.
The Right Profile
Lyric
Say, where did I see this guy?
In red river?
Or a place in the sun?
Maybe the misfits?
Or from here to eternity?

Everybody say, is he all right?
And everybody say, whats he like?
Everybody say, he sure looks funny.
Thats...Montgomery Clift, honey!

New York, New York, New York, 42nd street
Hustlers rustle and pimps pimp the beat
Monty Clift is recognized at dawn
He aint got no shoes and his clothes are torn

I see a car smashed at night
Cut the applause and dim the light
Monty's face is broken on a wheel
Is he alive? can he still feel?

Everybody say, is he all right?
And everybody say, whats he like?
Everybody say, he sure looks funny.
Thats...Montgomery Clift, honey!

Nembutol numbs it all
But I prefer alcohol

He said go out and get me my old movie stills
Go out and get me another roll of pills
There I go again shaking, but I aint got the chills