Una carta de Jim -Brando Clift- Dean

En este post escribí sobre James Dean, de cómo Elia Kazan le habló de él a Montgomery Clift, de cómo Monty supo de la fulgurante carrera de Jimmy y de la anécdota, bastante conocida, de que James Dean, cuando era un simple aspirante a actor firmaba sus cartas como "Jim -Brando Clift- Dean".

Aquí tenemos una de esas cartas. La escritura tan infantil y ese corchete que incliuye los apellidos de sus ídolos nos puede hacer pensar que no es auténtica, pero yo creo que sí. Perfectamente se puede haber conservado una de esas cartas. Si alguien entiende la letra y puede traducirla, se lo agradecería mucho.

Inventory of the Montgomery Clift Papers, 1933-1966 (Part I)

En la biblioteca pública de Nueva York (NYPL) se conserva una interesantísima documentación sobre Montgomery Clift. Se trata nada menos que de un archivo - inventario que abarca desde 1933 hasta su muerte en 1966. He contactado con la biblioteca y me han proporcionado un dossier que es el índice del archivo. Aquellos que tengan la ocasión de ir a la biblioteca pública neoyorquina les recomiendo (o casi les pido encarecidamente el favor) que hagan una visita y "vean" esos documentos. Yo daría algo por ver la correspondencia de Montgomery Clift.

Como es un dossier muy largo, he dividido la información en varios post que iré subiendo.

(English text)



Inventory of the
Montgomery Clift Papers, 1933-1966

Descriptive Summary

Title: Montgomery Clift Papers, 1933-1966.

Collection ID: *T-Mss 1967-006
Creator: Montgomery Clift .
Extent: 12.3 lin. ft. (30 boxes)


Administrative Information

Access: Collection is open to the public. Photocopying prohibited. Advance notice required
Preferred Citation: Montgomery Clift Papers, *T-Mss1967-006, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Processing Information: The collection was conserved, rehoused, and reprocessed in 1995. Clippings and scrapbooks were photocopied for conservation purposes.


Biographical Note

Montgomery Clift was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 17, 1920, hours after his twin sister Roberta (Ethel). He lived with his father William Brooks Clift, his mother Ethel "Sunny" Fogg Clift, and his older brother William Brooks, Jr. In the mid 1920's his family moved to Chicago and later, in the early 1930's the family settled in New York City.

At the age of twelve, Montgomery Clift made his first stage appearance in an amateur production of As Husbands Go in Sarasota, Florida. His professional stage debut was in a Stockbridge, Massachusetts production of a new comedy called Fly Away Home. In 1935, he made his Broadway debut in a New York production of Fly Away Home. Later that year he opened in a Broadway musical Jubilee. Other Broadway plays include Yr. Obedient Husband, Eye on the Sparrow, Dame Nature, The Mother, There Shall Be No Night with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne , The Skin of Our Teeth with Tallulah Bankhead, The Searching Wind, Foxhole in the Parlor, and Tennessee Williams' You Touched Me! Montgomery Clift and his longtime friend Kevin McCarthy also wrote a screenplay of You Touched Me!, but it was never produced. Other plays he appeared in are The Wind and the Rain, Out of the Frying Pan, Our Town, and Mexican Mural. The Sea Gull in 1954 was his final stage appearance.

In 1946 Clift made his first film, a western entitled Red River, opposite John Wayne. Due to a delay in the release however, his film debut was The Search in 1948 which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. Later that same year Red River was finally released. In 1949 he co-starred with Olivia DeHavilland in the film The Heiress and went to Germany to film a World War II movie The Big Lift. He earned two more Academy Award nominations for best actor for his performances in A Place in the Sun (1951) and From Here to Eternity (1953). His co-star in A Place in the Sun, Elizabeth Taylor, became one of his long time friends. He made two more films with Elizabeth Taylor, Raintree County (1957) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959).

On May 12 1956, Montgomery Clift was involved in a near fatal car accident after leaving a dinner party at Elizabeth Taylor's house in Beverly Hills. The accident disfigured his face, leaving it half paralyzed. Despite his injury he continued to make movies. He appeared with Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, and Hope Lange in The Young Lions (1958). He co-starred with Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in the film The Misfits (1961). He also earned his fourth Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor for his 7-minute performance in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). In 1966, he made his last film entitled The Defector. Other films include I Confess (1953), Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953), Lonelyhearts (1958), Wild River (1960), and Freud (1962).

He died in New York on July 23, 1966 in his sleep. The cause of death was occlusive


Scope and Content Note

The papers of Montgomery Clift contain correspondence, scripts, photographs, notes, and scrapbooks. The collection is divided into eight series correspondence, writings, four series of scripts, personal papers, and scrapbooks.

The strength of the collection is the scripts. Some of the scripts, especially the produced scripts, range from early drafts to final drafts and most contain annotations by Montgomery Clift providing the researcher insight into Clift's involvement with the roles he created. Another aspect of the collection reveals Montgomery Clift's ambition to do his own writings. The collection contains original manuscripts of the screenplay You Touched Me! from the play by Tennessee Williams. The screenplay, written by Montgomery Clift and his long time friend Kevin McCarthy, was never produced.

En otro post completo la información.

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.

Clift Family Papers.- biblioteca y archivo estatal de Tennesse

Los Clift, la familia paterna de Montgomery Clift, eran una familia sureña proveniente de Tennessee. He contactado con la Biblioteca de Nashville, capital de ese estado y me han proporcionado la siguiente documentación. Es una información acerca de William Clift y su hijo Moses Clift, bisabuelo y abuelo respectivo de Montgomery Clift quienes lucharon en bandos diferentes (de la Unión y Confederado) en la Guerra de Secesión. La documentación que se conserva de esta familia es desde 1820 aproximadamente hasta 1968 (tan sólo 2 años despuñes de la muerte del actor).

(English text)

State of Tennessee
Department of State
Tennessee State Library and Archives
403 Seventh Avenue North
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0312

CLIFT FAMILY PAPERS
ca. 1820-1968

Processed by:
Jean B. Waggener
Archival Technical Services

Accession Number: 1968.383
Date Completed: December 3, 1968
Location: VI-F-4

INTRODUCTION

The Clift Papers, ca. 1820-1968, are photocopies of originals owned by William Clift, Rowland, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. The materials in this finding aid measure .42 linear feet. There are no restrictions on the materials. Single photocopies of unpublished writings in the Clift Family Papers may be made for purposes of scholarly research.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The Clift Family Papers containing approximately 150 items (269 photocopies), span the years from ca. 1820 to 1968 and are composed of Civil War letters, Bible records, a deed, wills, genealogical data and correspondence, historical and biographical sketches, D.A.R. and Daughters of 1812 applications, and other papers.

Of special interest to the historian are the letters (August 20, 1863 to October 27, 1864) of Colonel William Clift, 7th Tennessee Regiment, U.S.A., his second wife, Elizabeth, and other members of the family in Kentucky. Clift’s letters, written largely from Knoxville, Knox County, Chattanooga (Hamilton County), and Soddy (Hamilton County), Tennessee, reflect his movement and conditions in Kentucky, his imprisonment in Atlanta, and his activities in east Tennessee, where he carried messages for the Federals through Confederate lines. There are two letters reassuring Mrs. Clift of her husband’s safety, one (March 20, 1864) written by Major General George H. Thomas, and another (September 24, 1864) written by a member of his staff. One letter (undated) from Clift’s brother-in-law tells of the excitement in Kentucky regarding the Negro question, mentioning that Colonel Frank L. Wolford has denounced the President as a traitor and that Kentucky Governor Thomas E. Bramlett did not reply to the charge. During March and April 1864, Colonel Clift wrote to his wife from Soddy, Tennessee, about the possibility of her joining him, but cautioned her that there were robbers everywhere. Clift’s views toward slavery are revealed in his statements that he favored the proposal to emancipate the slaves and to leave them in the states where they “respectively belong and let them do the labor in freedom that they have done in slavery.”

The Clift family papers, including a sketch concerning how the Civil War in east Tennessee affected the Clift family, center around Hamilton County, Tennessee, while the McDonald and some of the other families followed the familiar migration pattern from southwest Virginia through east Tennessee, and on to Texas. Other family lines settled in Maryland, North Carolina, and Kentucky. Since the families in this collection are so closely related, the researcher should consult folders for any families into which their lines married.
Included is genealogical information for the Brooks, Brothers, Clift, Doughty, Fowler, Hutcheson, Kearley, McDonald, Rawlings, and Rowland families.


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Colonel William Clift

- 1794? December 5, born in Greene County, Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio (now Tennessee) In childhood Went to Knox County, Tennessee, with his father.
- 1823 April 25, married Nancy Brooks (1795-1847), daughter of General Moses Brooks of Knox County; children by this marriage: James Warren, Mary Ann, Joseph, Robert Brooks, America W., Elizabeth Agnes and Moses H.
- 1824-1825 Settled in Hamilton County, Tennessee, and became the first millionaire and one of the largest land owners who ever lived there
- 1828 Helped organize and became a charter member of the Soddy Presbyterian Church, which was first called Mount Bethel Church; was a ruling elder and clerk of the session for 40 years
- 1848-1855 Served as Commissioner of Improvement for the U.S. Government prior to 1861 Commanded the Hamilton County militia for many years; was a magistrate.
- 1861 Although he was far past the age for military service, he declared himself for the Union and organized the Seventh Tennessee Federal Regiment, of which he was elected Colonel. This regiment had no Federal authority atfirst and was considered by some to be a guerrilla regiment. On November14, 1861, Governor Isham G. Harris issued an order to capture Clift and his men, dead or alive. Two of Clift’s sons served with him in the 7th Regiment, while two sons and the husbands of his three daughters were in the Confederate Army.

1861, Nov. Clift’s regiment disbanded, with Clift and three of his men voting to stay in the area, 100 of the men seeking to join Federal forces in Kentucky and 200 of the men voting to disperse
- 1862, June Clift recruited men in Morgan, Scott and Anderson counties, Tennessee, for a regiment to be called the 7th Tennessee Volunteer Regiment.
- 1863 Married Elizabeth
1863 October 24, was captured by Confederate troops commanded by his son, Moses H. Clift, while he was attempting to carry dispatches from the Federal commanders in Chattanooga – then in a state of siege – to General Burnside in Knoxville
- 1864 early February, escaped from from prison in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1866 February 27, died in Hamilton County, Tennessee; buried in the Soddy Presbyterian Church Cemetery.

References:
1. Armstrong, Zella. The History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee, Vol. I. Chattanooga, Tennessee, The Lookout Publishing Company, 1931.
2. Tennesseans in the Civil War, Part I. Nashville, Tennessee, Civil War Centennial Commission, 1964.
3. Data in the manuscript papers.

CONTAINER LIST
Box 1
1. Aids to the researcher – Notes re the collection, its compiler, and genealogical
research

2. Civil War letters – Clift, William, Col., 7th Tenn. Regt., U.S.A., 1863-1864, containing letters from family and from Major General George H. Thomas
3. Genealogical Data – Brooks family
4. Genealogical Data – Brothers family
5. Genealogical Data – Clift family
6. Genealogical Data – Doughty family
7. Genealogical Data – Fowler family
8. Genealogical Data – Hutcheson family
9. Genealogical Data – Kearley family
10. Genealogical Data – McDonald family
11. Genealogical Data – Rawlings family
12. Genealogical Data – Rowland family
13. Genealogical Data – Rowland family
14. Sketches—Biographical – Rowland, Martha Cheatham (Fowler), 1852-1935
15. Sketches – General – The Civil War in Eastern Tennessee and How It Affected the Clift Family of Hamilton County.

Una carta de Montgomery Clift en el archivo de Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn es un pintor norteamericano de origen lituano, que se caracteriza por el realismo con que plasmó las condiciones de marginados posicionándose en posturas políticas de izquierdas. En el Smithsonian Institution se guarda su archivo en el que se encuentra una carta de Montgomery Clift.

Su nombre no aparece en la biografía de Patricia Bosworth pero sin duda Montgomery Clift le conoció. No se puede acceder a esa carta, sólo puedo dejar el enlace donde se ve ese dato.

Ver web.

El divorcio de Brooks y Eleanor Clift (documento)

En esta web jurídica, está publicada la sentencia de divorcio entre Brooks Clift, el hermano mayor de Montgomery Clift, ysu cuarta esposa, Eleanor Clift, que es periodista en la actualdad.

896 F.2d 1383

283 U.S.App.D.C. 85

Unpublished Disposition

Notice: D.C. Circuit Local Rule 11(c) states that unpublished orders, judgments, and explanatory memoranda may not be cited as precedents, but counsel may refer to unpublished dispositions when the binding or preclusive effect of the disposition, rather than its quality as precedent, is relevant.

Eleanor CLIFT, Plaintiff,

v.

Jo Anna CLIFT, Individually and as Personal Representative

of W. Brooks Clift.

No. 89-7204.
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.
March 6, 1990.

Before WALD, Chief Judge, and MIKVA and HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judges.
JUDGMENT

PER CURIAM.

1
This cause came to be heard on the appeal from the judgment of the District Court granting the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, and was briefed and argued by counsel. The issues have been accorded full consideration by the Court and occasion no need for a published opinion. See D.C.Cir. Rule 14(c). For the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum, it is

2
ORDERED and ADJUDGED, by the Court, that the judgment is affirmed.

3
The Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate herein until seven days after disposition of any timely petition for rehearing. See D.C.Cir. Rule 15.
MEMORANDUM

4
While appellee Eleanor Clift was married to her former, now deceased, husband, W. Brooks Clift, they bought a house that was titled to both of them. In 1981 Brooks and Eleanor Clift separated, leading to divorce in 1984. In 1982, Brooks and Eleanor Clift entered into a contractual agreement; the terms of their agreement provided, inter alia, for transfer of the jointly titled house to Eleanor Clift on certain conditions, and for the establishment of a trust fund for the children of Eleanor Clift and Brooks Clift. See Separation and Property Settlement Agreement, Aug. 18, 1982 ("Agreement"), reprinted in J.A. 48. Brooks Clift died in 1986, and, in the present action, his wife at the time of his death, Jo Anna Clift, represents his estate.

5
In the action below, Eleanor Clift brought suit seeking a judicial declaration that she was the sole owner of the house whose title she and Brooks Clift had jointly held and that she is trustee of $26,177.00, which she is to hold for the benefit of her children by Brooks Clift. In opposition, Jo Anna Clift counterclaimed for payment of an amount that, she argues, Eleanor Clift owed Brooks Clift on a promissory note that Eleanor Clift had given Brooks Clift pursuant to the Agreement. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the District Court entered judgment for Eleanor Clift, holding that she had not defaulted on her obligations to Brooks Clift under the Agreement, and that, pursuant to the Agreement, she should hold in trust for the benefit of her and Brooks Clift's children any remaining obligations she has to Brooks Clift.

6
We uphold the District Court's decision solely on the ground that, even if Eleanor Clift owed Brooks Clift's estate a sum of money under the terms of the Agreement, that same Agreement also extinguished the debt and calls upon Eleanor Clift to hold the sum of the debt in trust for her and Brooks Clift's children.

7
Central to our disposition of this case are three paragraphs in the Agreement. Paragraph 7 provides the conditions under which Brooks Clift would transfer his interest in the house to Eleanor Clift. See Agreement p 7, reprinted in J.A. 52-53. Paragraph 8(c) of the Agreement states that, "[i]n the event of the death of either party prior to the completion or cessation by the last child of his college education, the Husband agrees to waive over to the Wife in trust for the children any sum due him from her pursuant to Paragraph 7 hereof...." Id. p 8(c), reprinted in J.A. 54 (emphasis added). Finally, Paragraph 13 of the Agreement provides:

8
Except as otherwise provided herein, all obligations due from one party to the other shall be extinguished by the death of either, and any such rights shall not accrue to the estate of the decedent.

9
Agreement p 13, reprinted in J.A. 55 (emphasis added).

10
Relying on paragraph 7, appellant Jo Anna Clift argues that Eleanor Clift failed to meet some of the conditions precedent for this transfer, namely, timely payment on the balance of a note from Eleanor Clift to Brooks Clift. In response, Eleanor Clift argues that she was entitled to offset against her debt to Brooks Clift certain Social Security payments that Brooks Clift should have turned over to Eleanor Clift for support of the children. We hold that, even if Jo Anna Clift was correct in her claim that Eleanor Clift was indebted to Brooks Clift's estate under the terms of paragraph 7--a question on which we take no position--paragraphs 8(c) and 13 clearly require that that debt be extinguished and held by Eleanor Clift in trust for her children. For that reason, the District Court's decision is hereby

11
Affirmed.

Contrato con la Paramount.- 24 jul 1951

Scarce official studio document signed "Montgomery Clift " [retained carbon copy], 1p., 4to, Hollywood, California, July 24, 1951, being the agreement between Clift and Paramount Pictures releasing him from his contract with the studio following the release of George Stevens Academy Award winning picture "A Place in the Sun".

The letter advises: "...This will confirm our understanding and it is hereby agreed that your employment agreement with the undersigned corporation dated July 14, 1948 shall be and the same is hereby terminated by mutual consent as of July 24, 1951... ".

A rare form of a scarce film autograph, very small pinholes at left margin, otherwise boldly signed and near fine. Superb!

Documento con fecha de 24 de julio de 1951 que estipula el fin de contrato con la Paramount. Ese contrato se había firmado el 14 de julio de 1948 y expiraba en esa fecha (24 de julio de 1951), tres años después.

Red River.- documento contractual

Hacer clic para agrandar / to click to enlarge

Este documento es bastante interesante. Fechado el 9 de julio de 1948 (tal día como hoy, hace 60 años, estando Monty próximo a cumplir los 28 años), hace referencia como indica al principio a un contrato anterior de4 de septiembre de 1946 que se trataría del contrato que firmó Montgomery Clift para rodar Red River, su primera película.

Este segundo documento habla de cláusulas económicas y por lo que he podido entender habla de un desacuerdo por parte de Monty. En la línea que hay en medio se dice que esta carta tiene la intención de resolver dichas disputas ("This letter is entended to settle said disputes"). Tras su negativa al poderosísimo Mayer de la Mgm, Monty le dio largas a Howard Hawks y cuando finalmente firmó el contrato lo hizo por una sóla película. Algo totalmente inusual entonces (y que tardaría en dejar de serlo).

No es de extrañar que una vez rodada la película, siguiera habiendo asuntos pendientes como muestra esta carta. Pero finalmente se llegó a un acuerdo como acredita la firma de Monty a pie del documento.