Mogomery Clift (1920-1966) Was Great!

Cafe Society
1

I saw a film of his today, The Search (1948) on TCM, and I was most impressed by his acting style, and when I learned the film had earned several special Oscars, I became even more respectful of what I had just seen.

The film concerns itself with the end of WWII and the repatriation of many children who were caught up in the war, separated from their parents by the camps and the cruelty of war in general.

One such family was Czech and a little boy becomes separated from his mother and though they both survive, the mother cannot find her child because of his repressed memories of who he is (“Ich weiss nicht” ), and ill fate.

An American Soldier (Clift) finds little Karol, takes him in and teaches him English and becomes attached to him to the point of wanting to take him with him to America.

This is all I want to tell you, because I would like y’all to se this film, not only because it was done so well in '48 that it would play just as well today with no remakes, but also because it may represent the first time an actor (Clift again) actually re-wrote the screenplay and script (at the expense of pissing off the writers), and actually made it work!

The film is not available on video-cassette right now (at leat I couldn’t find it), but TCM will repeat it on July 27th, 2004, and if you log onto Turner Classic Movies they will send you an e-mail reminder one week before it plays.

One other thing about Clift: Although I didn’t know who he was until the end of the film, he looked vaguely familiar to me. When I saw a studio still of this handsome guy, it hit me: He looks like Gene Krupa (the late jaz drummer)! Sure enough, when I compared the studio pic with my poster of Gene, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t they get Clift to play The Gene Krupa Story instead of that goofy looking Sal Mineo?”

I am looking forward to seeing more of this fine actor’s work, and if you see this film or know of it, I would like to read your thoughts.

Thanks

Quasi

2

I remember that film! Damned fine film. And Clift is fantastic.

I’ll have to remember to watch the movie when it plays in July. Thanks for telling us about it!

3

A good friend of mine is completely obsessed with Monty. She produced a production of a play about him, has a vast collection of photos, and is slowly building a collection of his films. Several of them are not even available on DVD yet.

I personally thought he was amazing in ‘From Here To Eternity’ and ‘A Place In The Sun’. Amazing, fully-immersed performances.

thwartme

4

Maybe it’s just me, but I never saw that much difference in his face pre-accident and post-accident.

5

I remember his movies from my younger years. I’ve always found Montgomery Clift to be interesting, distinctive and slightly off beat.
I’ve seen all but a couple of his movies over the years and thoroughly enjoyed all I’ve seen.

6

Montgomery Clift fans might enjoy the song “The Right Profile” by The Clash (from the London Calling album).

Sample lyrics:

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?

7

Damn, wasn’t he, though?

Sorry to be speaking as a “Monty-Neophyte” (having seen just the one film), but I found the character of Ralph Stevenson in The Search to be charismatic, and I am in hopes that the actor himself was that way in real life. (I love good-natured “smart-asses”).

Because I work nights, I often do not sleep well during the day, and so I turn on an old movie hoping that its stilted dialogue and schmaltzy music will lull me so sleep. That didn’t happen on Sunday with this film. It mesmerized me and although I felt like shit at work Sunday night, I’m glad it kept me watching.

I too was a child of post World War II Germany (being born of a German mother and American father), and when I was little I looked like the kid in the film, and as I watched, it brought back memories of how enamored I was with my father in his American Soldier uniform, and how he too taught me to speak English using pictures and a dictionary. So I guess you could say I saw a lot of myself in that film, and so my interest in Mr. Clift is probably based on that fact.

Sorry. I seem to be rambling and not making any definite point, but getting back to the subject of this thread, whatever the reason I watched, the actor held much appeal for me, and I cannot wait to get to know him better through his other films.

Thanks

Q

8

Personally, I can give or take living, on-screen Monty; but I owe a big debt of gratitude to dead Monty.

Why? Well, dead Monty provides the theme for one of my best NYC trivia questions, namely: Where is Montgomery Clift buried?

Answer: The Quaker Cemetery inside Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, USA. Most NYers – Brooklynites especially – are surprised to learn this.