Montgomery Clift

I recently stumbled on a documentary about Montgomery Clift called Making Montgomery Clift that was directed and written by Clift's nephew, Robert Anderson Clift, who's the son of Monty's brother Brooks. The documentary was interesting and prompted me to read up on Montgomery Clift because I really didn't know much about him. Of course I knew he died young, had male partners, and was incredibly good looking. I didn't know anything about his family, how he came to be an actor, or about his car accident. What was fascinating to me is how Clift basically self-destructed. For someone who was so attractive and talented, he just threw himself under the bus with alcohol and pills. In both of the biographies I read about him, Montgomery Clift: A Biography by Patricia Bosworth (show below) and Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift by Robert LaGuardia, both authors seemed to feel that Clift's homosexuality (or bisexuality) contributed to his self-destruction. I'm sure that played a part. Hollywood wasn't exactly welcoming to gay men back when Clift was a movie star (and it's not much better now), but I think Clift had other issues that drove him over the edge. He just never seemed to enjoy the success he had. He worked himself into a frenzy over scripts by rewriting a lot of his own dialogue, rejecting scripts in search of the perfect vehicle, and being neurotic about life in general. Even many people who loved and supported him had to eventually distance themselves from him because he refused to get help for himself or to even acknowledge that he had a problem with drinking and drugging. The addict has to want to help him/herself. No one else can do that job. 

Both biographies talked about Clift before and after his car accident and how his face changed as a result. I saw pictures before and after and I don't think his face changed much. The doctors did a great job of putting his face back together after his car accident. He was still a handsome man. What changed Clift's looks were age, booze, pills, and smoking. Clift at 40 was never going to look like Clift at 20.

Clift was only 45 when he died. What a waste. Had he lived, maybe he would have written a book about his life because, really, he's the only person who can tell the REAL Montgomery Clift story. Sadly, that story will never be told.