95: Montgomery Clift

In this supersized episode, Alex and Nick break down the full career of Alex’s favorite actor of all time, Montgomery Clift. Seventeen roles, four Oscar nominations, and a lifetime of Hollywood infamy.
Our previous podcast episode on "A Place in the Sun" (featuring Alex’s dad) is here.
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Watch Alex's films at http://alexwithrow.com/
Watch Nick's films at https://www.nicholasdostal.com/
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Transcript

0:09

Hey, everyone. Welcome to. What are you watching? I'm Alex with our own. I'm joined by my best man, Nick Dostal. How you doing there, Pierce? Howard. Well, which way you look. There's Frank. Good boy. It is white. It's. It's. That's one of the best fucking lines. Oh, my God. Ever said. I think it's the hardest he's ever laughed in a movie. It's so good. Oh, so fun to watch that with you. Just plain old drunk in the car. Oh, it's so great. God, we're going to have a lot of fun today. Yeah, I'm. I'm real excited to be here. So my. So, my. This is this. What a surprise for me. This one. Well, yeah, I mean, it's a surprise for me too, because. Podcast Episode 86 We did a Place in the Sun. Yeah. With and it was with my dad. He was our first official guest. We picked that because my dad showed me that movie when I was so young. It's kind of my movie with my dad or one of them. We Yeah, we have several, so it was so nice to have him on. And then we had talked about like, what's our next big episode? We had done Tarantino, we had done Birdman and we were talking about other directors to do and after Replacement Son, you were like, I think I got to stay on this Marty train. I think we got to do this. And this needs to be like our next big deep dive music to my ears. This is my favorite actor. I love all of his work. I've reviewed all of his work on my blog. He's been my favorite actor, I mean, God for over a decade. So it's a surprise for me, too, that you wanted to do this because, you know, you had 17 films to get through. So it's just great. It's great. And this is a this is one that we had this idea since the beginning. Since the beginning, Yeah. This was always sort of like one that you want to hit eventually. And we were almost going to do this last year in time for his birthday. That's right. That's right. But after we did a Place in the Sun, I was just like, I kind of can't get enough of this guy, right? I know we're doing another director, but if we're really going to dive into something, I don't mind if we make it. Monty Oh, God. So, I mean, I have everything that I kind of want to say, but him being your favorite actor, what is it? I mean, there's so much that we're going to get into, but like, what is it for you that makes him your favorite actor? Yeah, big question. Appreciate the question. We're we're just diving right in. It's like it is a thing where I don't know if I consciously made that decision years ago, but yeah, it's a question that I get asked a lot just as a lifelong lover film. So when I throw him out, I feel very confident about it, feel very good, I think. I mean, the first thing I saw him in was a place in the sun. And then I started chipping away at his filmography From Here to Eternity, The Big Things Judgment at Nuremberg that so when I was calling myself like a monty Clift fan and even when he graduated to my favorite actor, I think I had seen like seven of his performances. Seven out of 17. Yeah. And I still felt confident doing that. Part of me, part of me didn't even want to go watch all of his work because I hadn't even heard of some of the movies. And I'm like, Are some of these not going to be good? Is he not going to be good in them? You know, joke is on me. I watched them all. Appreciate every movie, love every performance. Yes, for one, for varying reasons. But the all encompassing reason for me is that he really was the first practitioner of this method style of acting, even though Brando and James Dean are credited with it and he is one of the you know, it's unfortunate to say, but it's one of the most notorious Hollywood tragic figures. I mean, he's like in some ways he's kind of the male Marilyn Monroe in a lot of ways. And I just think the whole legacy behind him is fascinating, the sort of having two careers pre and post accident, all the personal troubles he went through in his life. I add all that in because it's just like what appeared on screen was brilliant every time, no matter what he had going on in his real life. And there is a vulnerability to him that was not seen in American films, especially in 1948 going into the fifties. It took like the sixties and seventies for that to become a thing. Then we start to get, you know, Moody Pacino, Moody De Niro, Moody, Dustin Hoffman. They are all direct influences of Clift. Even if Brando and Dean get brought up in conversation more so. And I for the first time watched all of his work in order right after COVID hit. I was like, This is my first COVID project. I'm doing all 17 in order. I reviewed them on my blog and that just cemented it. I was like, This is the best actor. This is my favorite actor to watch. I do not care what movie it is. I can put one on. And then researching this episode, I went through all of them in order again and then was just like kind of picking and choosing what scenes I wanted to watch. Watch the movies with the commentary on that was great and still now recording this podcast and more interested than ever in him. That's crazy. That's just crazy. And that makes sense. As for a number of reasons why he's your favorite, because of not only his work, but also because of the law. Yeah, like you being a movie history fanatic, his history, which is one that I had no idea. Right. Right. This was something that when I first saw a place in the sun, I could not believe who I was setting my eyes upon. I was like, Who is this guy? And I didn't know any of his history. So you start telling me, but I wonder if that's part of it. I wonder if there's anyone who watches Monty's work, who doesn't know anything about him. I think they would instantly find this level of intrigue and just overall captivation. Right? He is immediately captivating no matter what you watching in pre accident post. Yeah. You're like, Who the hell is this guy? I can't take my eyes off him. That's what I felt when I was 15, watching a place in the sun for the first time in when I was 15. Like, I definitely love movies. I love movies from birth, but I still was not going back to like 1951, you know, old Hollywood cinema. I wasn't there yet. I was still working on current stuff and we talked about this a lot on the Place in the Sun podcast that watching that movie for the first time really got me into going back like horde back and seeing everything. Of course, I'd seen like The Godfather, I'd seen the big ones, you know, like those big movies, the big classics, but that I went, Okay, this is a guy who never won an Oscar. I need to start digging. Like there's a whole ocean here, similar to when I saw all the seventh seal for the first time. I went, Oh, my God, Like this. There's a whole world of foreign cinema that I've never tapped into that begins now and then. That, of course, changed my life. But yeah, he was what? Monte was one of the first ones. Certainly one of the first actors that I latched on to. It was like, God, this is just my guy. Yeah. Like, oh my God. It yeah, yeah. Love him, love him. I want to know, like, how was it for you just to watch all of his work because you hadn't. So, like, how was it just to go in order? Oh, man. I mean, I know the answer even texted itself. It's just. Oh, it's been a really fun, you know, month and a half or so, getting your text message was like, Jesus Christ, this movie, it's it's wild because, you know, whether it's the the movies range in terms of their level of being an overall good quality movie. Yes. He's in some uncontested classics and some movies that some people that a lot of people probably haven't even heard of. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And even if those movies aren't that great, there's not too many that I actually really found on here to not be that great. I agree. Even the ones that were a little bit lesser than I guess I'll say he was not, no matter what. I think I was just blown away by the fact that like, how come nobody talks about this guy? Yeah. In the ways that we still revere. Well, not so much Brando anymore because of things that we found out about him. But I think even still, people talk about his work on a certain pedestal. Yeah, definitely. Dean Yes, but it was the first thing that I noticed when I watched the place in the sun. This guy's doing this stuff before. Dean and Brando, quite frankly, is doing it better then to kind of go back and start with a few years earlier with his work. Right. I was just shocked. Yeah, I was shocked that it did not feel like I was watching a movie from 1948. It felt like I was watching a performance from at the very earliest, the seventies. Right? Right. This guy was just so ahead of his time. I was deeply moved by so many of performances, ones that I'm still kind of like shook by it. Like I have goosebumps thinking about one in particular and just being another fellow actor. I see someone who I've never seen before and I feel like he touches on levels of humanity that very few ever have. Yeah, yeah, I understand him and he comes out in such simple, delicate and truthful ways that it's almost like it stops everything. Yeah. The moments where he's says or does something. I truly feel like time stands still. Yeah. Like, like there's certain like we'll get to on, but like, I'm just using one as an example which you'll go to the young lines don't you. Don't fall like that moment. Everything goes away. It's, it's like there's no acting in that. There's no transcending the art form. And this is the early sixties. Yes. It's crazy. Yeah. Because you just feel what he's trying to communicate in that moment. You get his character. Yeah. And you get his intention. And he is just. It's just communicating. It is as simply as possible. But I don't know how you do that. I don't know how he does that. Yeah. And it's pretty crazy that we're talking about this. Like, this isn't a contemporary performer. This is someone who was born in 1920 and died in 1966. Yeah. Still talking about him with so much reverence. And I actually as well have I get chills talking about some of these performances still and watching them and going, God, like it's just crazy. Now back to your earlier point of like, why don't people talk about him? It's a really good question. I mean, Dean is just that's like so tragic. The three movies he died so so young. Brando, you know, has those, like legendary iconic performances in those legendary iconic movies. And Brando lived a lot longer. Yeah. You got to have like the late career Brando and win an Oscar for The Godfather when, you know, we're going to get to Brando. Wasn't really doing good roles pre Godfather like Post Waterfront Pre Godfather. It's a tough time for him and that's like, you know, 13, 14 years. It's it's tough. He's hit and miss. Yes, he is very much if you watch every single film Brando did, he was hit and miss and even talked about that like some movies he didn't care about. Cliff. To me, I never see a missed performance. No. I see influences that could be, you know, we're going to get into the troubles you had. We're not going to dive into them. We're really here to talk about the work. But there were some times when he wasn't in the most perfect state of mind while filming, and you can kind of see that in some of them. One really in particular. But I still like watching the movie and I still really like the performance, like the depth he gives to it. There is something about knowing a little bit more in depth where he was in his life with the troubles that he had and how they may or may not have influenced his performances. It's speculative. I think that's part of the intrigue about him, is that everything seems to be speculative. Yeah, everyone has an opinion that you, him, everyone's opinion is different. Yeah. Yeah, very true. I had no idea how famous he was. I did not realize he was as famous as he was. Yeah. No idea that he was gay. Right. It is something that the humanity of him comes through, right? It doesn't matter about the sexuality. Yeah, He is just communicating the human experience. This is another big point. That is. Yeah, hard to confirm. There are a lot of rumors. There's a lot of innuendo, he said. She said, By all accounts, Montgomery Clift was gay. Now, how much he was conflicted by that. What I have always heard, I've read every biography, I have read, everything. My understanding has always been that he was very secure with his sexuality in private, like among people who knew him well. It wasn't something that he was necessarily trying to hide. He was, by necessity, hiding it from the powers that be in Hollywood. Yes. What you had to do and we are going to get to a story late in a film he was in late where the director found out about his sexuality and was not pleased and gave him an incredibly hard time. So that's always been speculation that his sexuality added to his inner demons. I don't really know about that much, but it was still pretty rare for someone, at least in private, among his friends in the forties, to be very open and frank about their sexuality. Certainly. And it is one reason that makes me like him even more. Yeah, because there was just this confidence to him, the same type of confidence where he comes to Hollywood in the forties and he's like, I'm not joining a studio, then not part of the studio system. I'm going to do whatever the hell I want to do. And he was right. As far as I can tell, one of the first major, major stars to do that, if not the first. Well, and also just kind of putting into context what that actually means for him is that back then directors were like this. Actors were like, this is that you belong to a studio and that studio you were had them. They had you under contract for at least five years. Yeah, they were years long contracts. Yeah. And you did not get to choose which movie you want. They told you. They told you. You're like, All right, we got a new John Houston picture. You're going with him, right? Well, I don't want to do that. Well, tough shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and so here comes a guy that is like a very, very hot theater actor and just is like, I'm not doing that right. And he did it. Like, did it like he like I like his whole entire career. He was offered some of the hottest projects. Yep. On an independent level, which is crazy. Which is crazy. And then even turned them down. Turned them down. Some of them he accepted and it was like really close to shooting. We'll get there and turn it down and, you know, angered some really famous directors. Yeah, but there's there's actors that I look up to today because I think you and I in particular are very attracted to the The Independent spirit of film. And that's not just the making of the movies, but the actors. Yeah, I think that's why we gravitate towards guys like Christopher Abbott. Sure. Because he's got a record of saying like, I don't give a shit about like these big studio things and making money. Yeah, I want to do what I want to do. And if you truly are about that, yeah, yeah. You live a little bit of a hungry life as an actor here because these indie movies these days do not make any money. Aubrey Plaza is a great example of like, great point. Emily the criminal like, you know, that speech that the director gave about her just showing up in New Jersey, not taking any pay. Right? She's a huge star. Yeah. Yeah. She didn't have to do any of that. So, yeah, this is really a guy that was living that independent spirit before. It was a thing acting on a level that no one was before. It was a thing. Like, this guy's a true revolutionary. Yeah, absolutely crazy. And he needs to be talked about. Yes. Which is why we're doing this. So that is by long way of saying why I love him so much. Always have. Ever since he came into my life. I'm so glad that you're on this journey of finding a new level of appreciation for him. We're going to keep this very simple. The man was in 17 films. He gave 17 performances. We are going to go through each of them. We have notes that we haven't shared with each other, and that's really it. I'm going to start with a bit of a bio. Just, you know, this is brief, but just by way of introducing him a little more so born Edward Montgomery Clift on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. That's interesting because that's a same city that four years later Marlon Brando was born in as well. It's weird. It's kind of funny. Monty's parents were Quakers. They moved around a lot and his mother insisted that all the Clift kids were were to be presented as aristocrats, private schooling and tutoring, traveling the world, speaking multiple languages. They, quote unquote, lived a protected life. Early on, Monty's taken with the theater, and at 14 years old, he debuts on Broadway 14. This is 1935, several years doing theater. He's getting acclaim in theater and radio broadcasts. And as we said, Monte was one of the very first, as far as I can tell, the first major actor to be a practitioner of this method style of acting before Brando, before Dean. If you go back and read some of the early reviews for his early films, some of the critics are like, they just don't know how to write about it because they're like, This is new. Like, I've never really seen a man doing this before. I'm like, This is great. Yeah. And that's why, you know, his first film, acting performance comes in 1948, and once that happened, there was a new style of male acting in Hollywood. And it is here. I don't know if that was ever the headline, but showing this level of realness, this level of vulnerability and just being a human here it is now. And while we will touch on this as we go through Monty, he is my favorite actor of all time, but I don't believe anyone would accuse the man of being easy to work with. I don't think anyone would say that he had an easy time in his personal life. The performances, like we said, they are there. We're going to talk about all 17 today. But he didn't always have the easiest time on set and he honestly rarely liked his own work, which it got it stuff like that's just fascinating to me. Whatever his demons were, he had them, as we all do. He was deeply insecure, and shortly into his career he developed a very dangerous relationship with alcohol and drugs that ultimately led to his untimely death. But the work is there, goddammit. Is it ever and I'm ready to get into these performances. Yes. Jump right. In 1948, Fred Zinnemann directs The search, and Monty is playing Ralph Stephens Stevenson Oh, well, you know those. As for the characters, I don't know if they ever refer to him as that, but, you know, he actually shot Red River first, But because of the post-production on Red River took so long, the search was shot and released before Red River ever came out. The search, I mean, we I touched on this with my dad in the piece in the sun pod. This is it is such a natural and human performance. He's funny, which is so rare and he is so good with that boy. It is just it's some of the best acting that Clift ever did. It is one of the best films that no one ever talks about. Yeah, you show it's like 90 minutes long. He shows up 30 minutes in. Well, okay, well, before I even get into Monty. Oh, yeah. What I what my biggest takeaway in so many ways from this movie was I just could not believe that this was 1948 and the Holocaust was happening in the same decade, I mean, three years earlier, three years earlier. And they made a movie. I don't know if there's a movie you would know better than I, but certainly that I haven't seen one where it basically brought all that up that quickly. I mean, I mean, they even shot that like in postwar Germany. I have never seen a movie that was talking about the horrors of the Holocaust that shortly after they happened. It's really wild to watch now. Really wild. I mean, it's kind of like it's not the same type of atrocity in any sort of way, but it's it is on the level of, you know, September 11th when when you died in 93, I was like five years after. Yeah. Like you everyone was sort of like, is this too soon? Yeah. What are we right? You know, so this movie had the balls to do this, and Fred Zinnemann clearly had something he wanted to say. Well, I'm an actor. Yeah, I'm going to get into that a little bit. Yeah, but if I am talking about Monte, this was the first movie that I had seen of his work besides A Place in the Sun. So I started with this. I could not believe what I was watching. Yeah, I could not believe that there was an actor in 1948 on screen as natural and as a man. So I guess when we say why, why him? Being a man is such a different kind of story to tell here is because back then you had men could not be sensitive. They couldn't be sensitive or vulnerable. They're just hard nosed. And, you know, what are we doing over here? You're not. He's so sensitive and delicate with this kid. Yeah, I can't imagine another another American actor this time doing this. Not at all. And you. You really do. It is black and white. But I had to pinch myself and I go, what am I watching? A contemporary movie? Or I don't like that because the boy is that honest as well. But I think that's just because that's a kid. Yeah. Yeah. And and he's just kind of going off of what Monty's doing. But this is such a really, really wonderful adult child dynamic. Yeah. Yeah. It's something that, you know, me and my kids and. Sure, sure. This is an exception for sure. But I just couldn't I couldn't believe how human what I was seeing on the screen was. Yeah. It, that was one of the things when I was really jumped out at me like he's sarcastic in a way that we're still like, sarcastic to this day. Yeah, the way he's just always like with stuff I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, licking an envelope, like, I've talked about this before, but it just it's so human. Just doing these things that I cannot recall ever seeing in a movie this early. An example would be like when he's thinking he actors at that time, if they were thinking they would be like this very kind of like statue, like, hmm, Sure. Yeah. Mm hmm. He's leaning back in his chair. Yeah. Arms kind of going everywhere. Like, you know, he's rubbing his chin with his fingers and he's like, Huh? Ah, I don't know. Yeah. Like he's saying things so off the cuff. So naturally it was not done. No, not at all. But when you're watching it, you realize, well, this is how humans are, This is how they always. Exactly. And it's just wild. But it's also, you know, in the context of time. Sure. But let's take that out of it. This performance is so sweet and endearing and the man's fucking beautiful. Oh, my God. He's gorgeous. Gorgeous. That one of the most beautiful faces I think I've ever seen. Yeah, Right away, buddy. Yeah, And you. Just as soon as you see him sitting in that jeep, and then you're like, I mean, it's the same feeling as a place in the sun when he first comes on screen. But even this, you're just like, Oh, my God, who the fuck are you? Yeah. Made for the camera. Made for the camera. Made for just like what beauty is personified by. And then you get a person, at least this character that he's playing is just so considerate, is so caring. He does not want anything bad happen. Everything is right. Yeah. This guy. Yeah. Yeah. And there isn't. The conflict that he has is not about his conflict is like, how am I going to take care of this kid, right? This isn't my responsibility. Yeah, it's all a conflict of good. Yeah, this kid is now he's on my shoulders. Like this is my responsibility. It's the opposite. It's like, what do I need to do to ensure that this kid can actually live a good life for the rest of his life? Including, like, Can I take him back with me? Yeah. Out of this place and take him back to America with me? Yeah. And and I even love that there's one moment where he's trying to get the kid to talk, and. And he offers him a drink. Yeah. Yeah. So he's like, this is like stuff that, you know, I thought of a woman under the influence when he's trying to feed his kids. Beer. Yeah, well, this is going back even further than you want to drink. And. And also, just about this movie, The end. Oh, my God, It's so good. That's a beautiful and beautiful, beautiful ending. Very powerful. This a very powerful movie. Mm hmm. Yeah. I'm going to add a little to that power because I didn't even know this until research watching this movie and this performance for this podcast. So, Alfred Fred Zinnemann, he was born in what is now considered Poland in 1907. And he, like his parents, were Austrian Jews. Zinnemann goes to get a law degree from the University of Vienna in 1927. He became interested in film. He studied in Paris. He helps out on film shoots in Berlin. Then in 1929, he immigrates to America and gets involved in Hollywood. Is an extra in the original All quiet on the Western Front in 1930, World War Two breaks out, but Zinnemann is directing feature films in Hollywood. A few years later, he finds out that both of his parents were murdered in the Holocaust. In the film he decides to make After that is the Search, which is a movie, a Hollywood movie that highlights the atrocities of the Holocaust. Like in a major Hollywood way. I never knew that story. That makes me respect Zinnemann so much more. Always, always loved him. It is a very powerful movie up until its very last second, and I really want people to go and check this one out. Yeah, So damn good. Oh my God, We're going to do these as we go because, you know, I don't want to save them for the end, but it's very rare for an actor to be nominated for their first performance. He was he got an Oscar nomination for this. He lost to Laurence Olivier for Hamlet that went on to win the Best Picture Oscar. So it makes sense. I've seen Hamlet. I would obviously still give this to Clift. Like, it would have been great if he won. You never won an Oscar. We're going to talk about all four of his nominations. But yeah, just just want to call that out. The real kind of the real headline there is that this young actor was just nominated for his first movie, very, very, very rare back then, as stated, he did shoot Red River for Howard Hawks in 1948. That was the first movie he shot, explained Matt Garth, opposite the biggest movie star in the world, John Wayne. No one knew how it was going to go. So while we do love the search, I love Fred Zinnemann for casting. Clift. It's really Hawkes that we got to, you know, give this praise out to because Hawkes and I hear that Zinnemann had heard from either Hawkes or someone on Red River like, No, this kid is good luck. This kid is good so he can hold your, you know, Holocaust postwar movie. But Red River, you know, got take him to Missouri. Matt like I just I really love this movie I love rewatching it. It is it's a really good classic Western and how the hell he is so good playing against John Wayne. Who knew? But it really works in this movie, right? Yeah. It's so good, man. I can't believe how much I enjoy this movie. Well, if you think about it, seem like there probably isn't a better example of the old style of acting. Even though John Wayne was never really talked about as being a good actor. No, he was just very prolific. He was very much icon. Yeah. And he did the same style of things. But. But you still got the very old guard, right, versus the newest of all guards. Absolutely. And I can't imagine that they got along well. Well, yeah. There's a lot has been written about this. You know, Wayne is like definitely has his guard up like, okay, I'm a whatever. I'll give the kid a shot. We'll see. And was testing him pretty early in their first scene and apparently after a few takes, went up to Hawks and went, All right, the kids got it like okay, yeah we're going to expect Yeah. And then I think he respected him. And Clift Clift was definitely very nervous to play against John Wayne. I mean, it's his first movie, but I think he also held his own and didn't old cower in that nervousness and I think Wayne respected that. And Clift can cook and act. There's some funny stories where Wayne thought it was really funny that Clift couldn't really fight that well, like in real life. And he has a few fight scenes, so he had to kind of teach him how to throw his weight around. And and that's okay. Everyone's got to learn. What was funny is that going forward from here, like Clift is in a lot of fights. Oh, yeah. Big time. Like a ton. Yeah, Yeah, like, and but I think the thing that stood out for me with, with Clift's performance in this is exactly it's the way he stands up to Wayne, not just as a character. Right. But it is, it's almost like that thing where it blurs the lines like you are watching another guy stand up to the idea of John Wayne. Right. And Clift does it effortlessly. Effortlessly. And he's never bothered by it because they're also friends in the movie, too. Well, he's like surrogate son. Yeah, exactly. So they have that dynamic. But Monty takes on a leadership role at one point of the gang in this, and there's a little bit of like a struggle all along the way, but it builds. Yeah. And you can see that the gang while maybe being hired by Wayne's character, eventually just starts kind of gravitating more towards Monty's character. Right. Which is what the script dictates. Yeah. But the way that Clift carries that, he, like you can see his character understands that this is happening, right? And he's okay with it. This does not bother him, but he feels the weight of it. Like, how do you just sort of without there ever being dialog scene for scene gradually carry the weight and weight position and when all these older like cranky you know cowboys over some their presumed leader because the movie like we're not really going to go to deepen into what all of these movies are about. But basically this is you know, John Wayne is trying to get a shitload of cattle several hundred miles across a bunch of states. And they got to they got to, you know, take on the Missouri and a bunch of stuff happens. There's a stampede. And as there are problems, as problems arise which are bound to happen, Wayne is not handling it well and he's becoming like obsessed with this thing of I don't care, We are getting there. I don't care if our men are tired. I don't care about any of this. And Clift is taking a more, you know, kind of human, softer approach. And the men are responding to that. The men are like, yeah, like, we would love to get some sleep, but I keep going for hours on end. Yeah. And it's really cool to watch him win everyone over. And the idea to that, like the whole entire time, you're you're kind of wondering if Clifton Wayne are going to like, go at it. But I mean Cliff's character is it's very obvious that he's like the best shot there is. Yeah. People know about him. Yeah, there's a reputation behind him. He is very, very cool. Very cool, very cool. So he kind of carries all the tropes that you'd want from like, the young, right? Right. Like that young, like new cowboy. But it doesn't feel forced and it doesn't feel like they're. They're putting that on. Yeah, he does in a way I've never seen, honestly. Yeah. I mean, even starting with like, you want to see the size of my gun with that guy, which is they ain't talking about their guns, you know, it's 1948. We got to if there's going to be sexual innuendo between two men, they had to kind of cover it up in that way. But yeah, speaking of like the shot, the way he shoots the guy who started the Sam the stampede, like, he just does it so quick. Oh, God, I love him in this. And one of my favorite stories is that after John Ford, who, you know, pretty much made John Wayne famous and who worked with him constantly when he saw Red River, he apparently said to hawks, Well, Jesus, no one told me this son of a bitch could act. And then after that, you see John Wayne giving what I would say, better performances in John Ford movies. So I think that's all due to Red River. And I've always really liked this movie and it's just it's a great criterion. I bought the criterion for it. Oh, so good. So good. Do we bring up the one elephant in our room right now? Yes. There is a bit of an asterisk to this movie. I don't really want to describe what it is, but it was it was quite common in old Hollywood movies that if things weren't kind of going well in the third act in the movie, could sort of just end it could end right here. And our characters, at least one of them, may not be in the best standing. And that's just how a movie today would probably end that way. What they would often do in old Hollywood movies is tack on to 3 minutes, maybe 90 seconds, in which the things that were just bad, a few seconds ago, now everything's okay. I have a lot of examples of this. I don't want to call them all out. But yes, that a lot of people take issue with the end of this film and and how quickly comes. But I don't know. I just kind of laugh when I see it. I don't really know what else to say. It's not enough. And it has nothing to do with Monty. We should say nothing about Monty, right? It's just a movie. It's just the movie. It's just a damn fucking. What's the code? The Oh, the Hays. Yeah, yeah, the Hays code. Yeah, his code. Right, right. But. But I'll say this when this because I had never seen this movie. And when the ending came, I literally grabbed my phone to go, What the fuck is this shit? Yeah, this is ruined it. So yeah, it comes quick. It does, it does come quick and it does ruin it. But I will say it is not enough to ruin the whole entire movie, right? Like you're not going to waste your time watching this movie, so. So don't do that. But do be prepared that this ending sucks. It just, it turn so quickly. There's another one that was even like right around this year. I've actually already talked about this before so I'll, I will say it. The original nightmare alley does this to it does not end how the book ends. The Guillermo del Toro Nightmare Alley ends. How the book ends. But then they just in the original movie, add on one final scene to give it. Yeah, this sort of nice happy ending. And those are all studio notes you can just feel. Yeah, it's like, come on, we can't end up like this. Everyone needs to leave the theater smiling. Oh, that was fine. And that again, it is not the stance that people would take now today, but it was just very common. It's very common when you investigate old movies. I would love to talk to an older person that was alive during that time who may have seen it in theaters and asked them in the time if they felt that that was right or not. Right. Right. Or if they just wanted to talk. LAUGHS Yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't know. You just find pretty old person. I see. 94. Yes. All right. So talk to me. Tell me what you thought about the Harris. Yeah. Third movie, another huge director. Now we have William Wyler. My dad talked about this movie and this performance on the place, and it's on Pod here. Monty is playing Morris Townsend. Wow. This movie was a huge influence on The Age of Innocence by Martin Scorsese that you can really see when you're watching that this is a difficult movie to describe without giving away the ending, because the ending is so, so powerful. My dad and I, we both alluded to it. I will say the star of the film is really Olivia de Havilland, and she won the Oscar for it. Clift is playing. I mean, even her dad is probably the second lead, and Clift is coming in as this suitor to this woman who's going to get a large inheritance. She's she's already getting an inheritance. But after her father dies, she's going to get a large inheritance every month. So the story becomes, is this Maurice Townsend interested in Olivia de Havilland as a woman, or is he interested in getting this money? And what's cool is we get not often, but very few occasions of seeing him without her, without de Havilland. And that's when we can really study him. And you still can't really tell. You still can't really tell if he's which side of the fence he's on. It's a very twisty performance, but the beauty of the performance is that he convinces us of both things like at least once you're like, okay, this dude shit. No, this is really good. Like, this is an earnest guy and you keep going back and forth, you know, battling all that, which leads to the end when all is revealed and watching how Olivia de Havilland handles it, it's just, oh, my God. It it's really, really good. It's really stunning. Unfortunately, difficult movie to find. Criterion did pick it up. I own the disc just it's never available on their website. This may be a performance aside this is a performance I love, but this is really where we get the first kind of crazy on set stories of Cliff and we can get into that. But the errors itself as movie 1949. Great film, great film. I want to hear about the stories, but can you think of another actor at that time that could have pulled this movie off the way Cliff does? Yeah, you see, like honestly, to kind of flip that question, I imagine brand O.o studying this before he did streetcar into to get to like desperation and you know Brando's not the nicest guy in streetcar obviously but you still kind of understand it when he's yelling Stella Yeah that's not funny to us. We're like, Oh my God, like we really get it. But still not the most affable guy and you just don't really know what this doing. I think if any other actor did it, he might be showing his hand or going a little hard this way or this way, but showing us those scenes of Maurice either with like, like sometimes he's hanging out with their maid in, like, caring. Like the maid loves him. The maid wants him to be part of the family and everything. So he's he's a smart guy. He knows who to like, you know, kind of loop in. But the dad always has his his suspicion of as he should. How much do you think, especially in some of these earlier roles, Because we kind of know when he starts to become a little bit more difficult, quote unquote, these choices that he's making. Right. In these sort of ways. Yeah. How much of these do you think are him or the director or both? I think this is why he started having problems, because I think he locked into a lot of choices in I'm talking choices in like how my hand moves. Yeah. On what word it moves on. We've already talked about his posture. We already mentioned that he's so loose in his posture. Yeah. Something that carries through to Daniel Day-Lewis to Heath Ledger. He's it just he does what you never expect, like being very loose, leaning against a very like he's always moving his hands. I think he thought about that a lot in sometimes perhaps was not really willing to take direction. For instance, apparently William Wyler just had a hell of a time with Monty's posture on this movie, wanted him to stand up straight, stand up straighter, and Monty just didn't do it. And that's that's got to be pretty annoying. But again, yeah, every actor had good posture in 1949. Yes. The way you did it, that was. And you come in and just being, you know, very loose and slouching. Sometimes people haven't really seen that. Now, additionally, Olivia de Havilland kind of felt like she was acting against a bit of a wall. These are her words. But and she is really, by my accounts, the only female performer I can find who maybe didn't have universally nice things to say about him because he got on very well with his female leads or costar. It's usually most usually, and it's not like she bashed him. But there, you know, on that criterion, there are a few kind of special features after the fact. And just apparently, you know, he's young actor and apparently he was so set in his ways and in his choices that he wouldn't really stray from those much and that would be difficult to act against and to direct it. Would it? Yeah, it performance is great, but it would still be tough. It would be tough. You know, the one thing you brought up about him is that, you know, for being he ends up really kind of being a character actor. If you look at him throughout his career, he makes adjustments and changes and things here and there. You know, this is one thing I talked about in our Heath Ledger pod, and I feel like it's almost the same thing in this Monty One is that when you watch an actor and their work back to back to back like this, you kind of really pick up on their essence as a human being. Yeah, because you're just watching them, you know, put themselves out there in very artful, vulnerable ways. You you just you can't help but pick up who they really are. But a physicality thing that that Monty does is the way he plays with his hands. Like I'm not you know, we can see it on the pod but he does like this. His wrists kind of are very loose. They're very expressive, very, very like he'll touch people with them and and talked about things were moving his fingers all about. And it's not distracting at all. No, but it is it's become for me, a thing that when I'm watching his work, I go, oh, there's it's Monty. Yeah. Because you can tell like probably is who he was. He'd be talking to his friends like that. Yeah, sure. It's we all have these things and he wasn't afraid to shut them down for the sake of posture. Like, you know, you you can't say these things about maybe like, some of like Humphrey Bogart. No, you can't. You know, every Bogart, like, had a pocket hand and a pocket other hand holding a cigaret or drink. And that was what it was. And that's what it was. And that's an acting crutch huge. Absolutely. I learned that early on where you develop these habits because you're kind of afraid to show yourself. Yeah. So shoving your hands in your pockets is a huge one. Any time you can get your hands on a prop, right, you can be doing something. So for Monty to be kind of just like flailing up, flailing, but just sort of just easily letting his hands talk. It's. You don't see that then? No, not at all. Not at all. And it's very, very cool. Yeah. So it's high tension with that one. No, but it's very important to mention because yeah, when you're watching all these and you're like he really does use his body. Well, he does. He's not just selling it with the delivery of the words like even I mean, God, he's got those eyes and the way he can dart looks so quick, like you're like, Jesus, man. I mean, watching him think and watching him change his mind, it's just it's so, so fun. And then the iris is great for that because as the audience, we just don't know. We don't know. And we're trying to guess the whole time, like, is this guy shithead? Is he well-intentioned? A lot of fun. Oh, wow. Love it. Love it. This next one, here's how I want to set it up, because I actually want you to introduce like, it's just so cool, like our exchanges about this are so cool. But basically, Montgomery Clift is doing well from these performances so well that Billy Wilder offers him the role, the lead role in Sunset Boulevard. And Montgomery Clift accepts this and it's a go movie is he's in it. It's all good. And he pulls the plug. Montgomery Clift does very shortly before filming began, and Billy Wilder was not pleased about this. You know, he offered it to William Holden, who is that character was supposed to be much younger, as much younger than William Holden. William Holden did a great job. The movie worked out. The movie's a masterpiece. But in rejecting that role so shortly before it was supposed to begin, he became open very quickly, was like, you know, agents, whoever give me a project in the big lift really fell into his lap. He was able to go overseas for it. Now, the big left 1950, directed by George Seaton Clift, is playing Danny McCullough. This is probably the film, maybe the film that is the least seen among his body of work and maybe the one that I like him in it. But maybe the film that I was like, Oh, I don't know if that really works. And I watched it. I do have a newfound appreciation for it. I liked it more. Moreover, tell me your experience with watching the Big Live. I fucking love this. Yeah. Which I did not expect. It's so cool that you loved and I told you wait to tell me why on the part. So I don't even know why you liked it that much. I mean, other than it's a well-made movie, it's really good. Well, this was one where didn't go in chronological order. Let's get this one moved around. And then it was one of the only movies that was free. It's just on YouTube. Yeah. And so I was like, All right, I'm going to knock this one out. And man, I did not expect this, right? So the thing that I was taking, cause I don't know anything what this movie was about. No idea. I'm watching what seems to be in a not a bad way, but we're really learning about the Air Force here. It's really like a Hollywood propaganda film for the Air Force. Yeah. Yeah. For like, the American Air Force. It really is. But but the beauty thing about this movie is that where the story goes has nothing to do with war, really. It becomes like this. Like journey. So. So basically, Montgomery Clift plays this guy who he shines. He's he's one of the he's a gruff, but everyone around him knows he's special. He's like the good looking guy that like they're all like they give a special space just because he is who he is. Right? But he's not anyone special. He just just comes off that way and he carries a very capable reputation. But this is just kind of in his body in the way that he is, is so natural. Again, another natural performance that you just didn't see at that time. Yeah. Yeah. They land somewhere in Germany. Mm hmm. And they are trying very, very hard just to get one day. Yeah, they want one day. Him and his. His best friend Paul Douglas. Yeah. Yeah. And they get it and he meets this girl. And what ensues from here is a mix between Roman and that. I can't recall watching something like this, but. Yeah, yeah. Comedy, like, almost like complete farce comedy, right? Yeah. Included by Monty. Like Monty in one scene ends up, like, hiding from the Nazis. Yeah. And he's ducking around this party by, like, you know, literally as slapstick as you can imagine. Yeah. Joining the band on stage, pretending to sing as one of. Yeah, that is really funny. And it's really funny and it's a film noir in a lot of ways because I don't want to say too much, but there's a very, very real kind of femme fatale part of this movie. Sure. And everything the movie is doing, I just kept looking at it and I go, What is this movie? It has everything. It's it's this propaganda movie for the Air Force, but not like I don't feel like it was forcing it down my throat. And I don't mean propaganda and like a negative. Well, it was basically the movie. I mean, George Seaton That was that was the assignment. Like, we need to show what the Air Force can do. This is the first time we'd seen plane footage like this, and you're going to put like real actors in it. But most everyone else, not those two, not Paul Douglas and Marty, but almost everyone else in the movie are playing themselves. Are playing your soldiers. Yeah. Yeah. And again, the way that I mean, one of the words I don't think you can know if you had to come up with just certain adjectives to explain. Montgomery Clift I think Charming has got to be like that right at the top. Yes. And the way that he is charming with this woman in particular who I also can't take my eyes off. Yeah, she's great eyes. Great. She's truly fantastic. Yeah. It's really like it's a a match of them watching to out charm one another. There's just some levels of comedy here where they get caught and they're being forced to go to the. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I'd like to consider like, the ambassador or something like that. Yeah. And they get lost in the shuffle and they realize that they can, they can run, right. And they just stand there. Yeah. And Imani just goes What are we waiting for? And then they take off running. Let's go. I don't know. There's just something. There's this movie does things that again I did not see. Yeah. Done then and I loved the ride this movie took me. Oh, man, that's so great. Because like I said, this is probably the one that the movie, not the performance. The movie that I was the most down on. Yeah. And then your love for it. Like I it again. I just reinvestigate it. There's so much more stuff that I don't know what I had missed. Like I love when he's getting ready to go to bed, like on the plane and he goes, If it's cold, don't bother me. I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight. Like you never heard another actor real good night. And yet 50, just the way he says it all sarcastically. He's always chewing gum. Yeah, spitting it out. And yeah, What line did I write down is so sarcastic goes. I feel as though you and I are getting married. Lt like he's just always bustin. Bustin chops. He is. I think that's part of like that gruff part of. Yeah. Like yeah he, he's not. It's one of his most cynical roles without being a cynical person. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, that's part of his humor and that's something that we should talk about too, is I think it's very important if you're an actor, no matter what character you're ever playing, even if it's not expressed in that script, find that character's humor. Sure, sure. Yeah. We're all human. We all think certain things are funny. Yeah, but they're all different. According to who you're playing. Yeah. So you kind of have to find your character if they're a true person, where their humor lies. You pepper that in this is example, he does it for all. He really does. It really does. Yeah. They can range from being cool like this one is to being very not cool. Yeah. Like the young lions. Like he's a dweeb. Yes. I mean, yeah, yeah, he's, yeah, that's, which is part of we're going to get there but that is part of the charm of that. That's part of the charm of it. Yeah. Leads to his art for sure. For sure. His, his humor is, is expressed in every single one of his roles. But this is probably the one where I would say this might be his most comedic. Oh, wow. Very cool. Very cool. See, now that makes me want to go back and rewatch it. Thankfully, this is a very easy movie. Define like this is one that whoever was responsible for it just gave up on it because this is in the public domain. You can just find this anywhere. It's very easy. The big lift, I would say probably the least seen film in his filmography, but one if not the easiest to find. So just give it a chance. And yeah, drawing out the humor of the performances is really good because I do think he's funny and almost every sometimes humor is not. It's not necessary for the character, but when he's peppering it in, yeah, and in whatever way he's managing to do it, I just love it. He's very sarcastic in a way that I feel is so contemporary. Yeah, I feel like it's sarcastic the way it still is. And Bogart, they weren't being sarcastic like that, or unless it was the job, like his girl Friday. Carol The job is to be sarcastic. That's the thing. They're sarcastic characters. That is who they are playing. But these none of these characters were defining these Cliff characters. They're not like sarcastic guys. He's, as you said, just peppering that in. Well, great. And no disrespect to Cary Grant. No, not at all. Also, do I say why, but just kind of talking about the comparison of what actors were like back then. Yeah. When you watch Cary Grant, he is so specific to who he is. Yes. But that's also very specific to that time. Of course. Of course. Where Monty was not specific to his time. No, not at all. That's why I think there was a lot of just consternation on set with his directors who wanted perhaps to keep him in the box of the time. Yeah, He's like, no, I don't recall like hearing screaming matches. Like, No, I'm changing acting. That's what I'm doing. Yeah, It's not that. It's like just the confidence it must have taken and it doesn't even sound like he was a terribly confident man. It sounds like he's deeply insecure, But to go ahead and do that anyway. Well, these are all the reasons why I love him. These are all the reasons why he's my favorite. A big lift. Good stuff. I love. Yeah, I love that movie. We arrived the perhaps the boss of it all, 1951, The Place in the Sun directed by George Stevens. Here we have Montgomery Clift playing George Eastman opposite Elizabeth Taylor is Angela Vickers, opposite Shelley Winters. You want me dead? We're going to Yeah. We talked about this movie for 2 hours and one minute, which is exact length of a place in the sun. That's the exact length of our podcast episode Episode 86. I don't really have much more to add. I don't want this to seem like cheap for people who maybe missed that episode, but please go listen to that. It's one of my favorite episodes we done. We went through the movie pretty much in order and just broke down. I mean, everything we loved about it. You mean my dad? It was great, great times. But yes, I don't I'm not trying to skirt over it on the Montgomery Clift podcast, But, you know, if you did listen to a place in the sun, that episode screen acting does not get better than this. To me. It just doesn't. I think the film is a seminal American classic. I think this is some it's right up there with the finest film acting I've ever seen from anyone in Montgomery Clift playing George Eastman. One thing I forgot to mention on that podcast that I wanted to use as a selling point, Charlie Chaplin said of that movie that it was the greatest movie ever made about America with a good compliment. So that should give, you know, some more incentive to go check it out. But yeah, we talked about it a lot. A great film. But you know, my favorite film we're talking about today. And honestly, mind to mind you, but the only thing that I'll add on to it is that that was my first experience with Montgomery Clift. Same. And my hope would be is that you would watch that movie if you haven't seen anything from Montgomery Clift and you will feel just like I am aware, that you will be compelled to know more about who this guy is. Not not just as like a person, but just like like when I watch, I go, Who the fuck is this guy Who's George Eastman? Yeah, like Monty Clark. I have never seen this actor. Yeah, and I cannot believe what I'm watching before my eyes. And I guarantee you you'll have that. So. So watch a place. And if there's one movie to kind of start, it could be that this is a great this is as good a place as any to start a very well-known movie. It's a great performance. Elizabeth Taylor's great and it probably was great. And Revere's great, everyone's great. We're going to get into how I feel about her. Oh, yeah, we are. It's just it's one of the best just to put on a place in the sun. I watched it. God, I watch it two or three times for that, you know, Episode 86 and I watched it two or three times again, getting ready for this. Never bored. The Master Never. It is. It's an absolute American masterpiece. Which brings me to another bit of upsetting news. He was nominated. Montgomery Clift was nominated for Best Actor. We've gone through this a lot. Probably my least favorite award in Oscar history. He lost to Humphrey Bogart for the African Queen. Not really Bogie's fault he had never won. And people probably figured this is it. This is maybe the last chance to give it to him. So Oscar politics take over but place the sun was very won six Oscars including best director. So yeah very good movie but he should have won that fucking Oscar. Come on, man. Come on now. 1953 is a huge year for Monte. He's in three movies. They're all released this year. First is, I confess, directed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock. Here Clift is playing Father Michael Logan. There's no one better to play this many inner conflicts because this is not just a priest who has to keep a confessional secret there so much more. He's battling so much in this performance, and he has to keep it all inside because per, you know, the rules of him being priest, he can't talk about this stuff. It's a Hitchcock movie. So there is a murder. Who did the murder? Of course, the priest is made the chief suspect of the murder. The priest knows who the murder. But because the murder, because it was confessed to him in an actual confession, he cannot say and he will not say to anyone. So that's kind of the driving force in the movie. Now, I guess mileage is going to vary on the movie, on the performance. I really like it. Critics were not very kind about his work, but, you know, this is your first time watching it. It's my first time watching it. I was not a very big fan of this movie. Fair enough. Fair enough. And but I was not a fan of, quite frankly, Monte in it. I'm going to get to why until because then when the movie to me, the star of this movie is Hitchcock. Oh, sure. Yeah. This is a Hitchcock movie, which is often the case. Which is often the case again. And that's a great yes, it's very, very great. I was following the story and the entire time just kind of was feeling that I think Montevallo miscast. I didn't really feel his level of contribution. Yeah, in terms of what he can do as an actor, right up until we get to that last act, the last act is very strong that let it be confirmed. One thing for me, Monty's is the greatest of all time for a lot of things, but I think he is the true best actor who's ever taken a stand in any movie ever because he does it a lot. Oh, like takes a stand. Yeah. Like against something. Like for something. Well, he's always in court, right? Taking a stand for. Yeah. And a place in the sun. Sure. And this scene. Yeah. Is a banger. Yeah, it really is. You mean when he's, like, walking where the guy will everything. Like when he's on the stand in the trial and they're asking him because it conflict is right, you know that he knows who did it and he is saying, no, I did not say that. Like he's being very proper about it, but he's not giving it away. Yeah. And like the last half hour of this movie I think is just cinematic gold. Yeah. And Monte's a part of it, but I think his contributions to the arc of this story are shown here. Other pieces of the movie. I felt a little bit of a disconnect, but the other pieces, the movie that were carrying it, were like the detective. Yeah, he was very good, very good. There's also like a really great diagonal shot, really high up. There is a flashback scene. Yeah, the flashbacks are groovy in this for Yeah, they're really, really cool. And there's just one of those Hitchcock like really high angle like so exaggerated or where he he's watching her come down the stairs right Right And it was just one of those things where I go look at that look at hitch Yeah yeah in this thing Yeah. I think there's no one better at taking the stand than Montgomery Clift. And this movie is a pure example of it. And the end is great. And it's great. Yeah. Yeah, it does. I mean, it leads to a good, solid Hitchcock ending now to try to layer in some context for what you're talking about. So he and Hitch did not get on well making this movie and it's very easy to understand why Hitchcock is a no nonsense British director. Yeah, it's like you go here, you say your lines. He doesn't, you know, doing take after, take after take, which was often required of Monty because you know, being late to set because he's in his trailer just doing he doesn't know he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know if this line delivery is going to be best. I do think the end product, particularly that that last act of the film, is captivating. It's a very serious hitch movie. Yeah. Clip Monty is very serious in it. There's not a lot of room for humor in that beginning. Some of the flashbacks, we really get to see him, you know, before he became a priest. More like human. But flesh is really funny. Yeah, I know, I know. It's sort of saying, like, that's what makes those such a trip. But in the present day, he's very because of his job. He's very kind of stoic and buttoned up. But there are two other reasons why. Perhaps you're you're feeling something about his performance is that this is the first instance. I can tell that Monty was pretty drunk a lot even during takes. And, you know, I don't know if I can spot that in this performance. I can. And then in another one coming up. But there's this really famous story about that guy yelling at the end. You know, giving that speech and Monty waiting outside the door. That guy did that in like two takes, like they were done in 2 hours, you know, the reverse shot. They did the reverse shot of Monty walking in and giving his little speech as he's walking in. And that's like 4 hours just to and that's it's a quick shot. Yeah, it took 4 hours because, like, the walk wasn't right. He kept flubbing his lines. And, you know, now to to me in 2023, watching a 1953 movie, I don't really care about that stuff because the take that they went with with Clift is a banger as you said like it's really, really good but Hitch Hitch just wasn't on board with it. A lot of directors weren't on board with this. Like, I think we hear more about this now. Yeah, we'll do take, take, take. But I do think that is, you know, I think that added to some of the perhaps the tension on set. Moreover, this is the biggest kind of point for Monty's acting style and something I've been waiting to talk about until now. Montgomery Clift, not unlike Marilyn Monroe, had an acting coach, Maria Russell Stover, who was with him on set all the time, every set. And when a take was done, he's not looking at Hitchcock going, Did I do that right? He's looking at a mirror going, Is that okay? And, you know, getting a thumbs up, thumbs down. Now, sometimes within a day she was kicked off set like, absolutely not. We're not doing this. But then even at the end of scenes or at the end of the day, he's going and breaking down everything with her. So he, for the majority of his career, took his direction from an acting coach, which is, you know, some of the ones who branched out like Marilyn Monroe did it. So some some like icons of this time period did that. But again, that is not going to go over well with any directing, any especially Hitchcock. And I think you can kind of see some of that. But it does lead to a good Hitchcock ending. It's a good ending for sure. And I actually think I like the movie a little bit more than you. I'm obsessed with and I, I love him. But I will agree that I think for the first, you know, 90 minutes of this, another actor could have done it. Yeah. There's nothing that really stands out about, you know, what he's doing. But I kind of blame the character for that. I kind of. I said some of the character. Yeah. Yeah. But all good points or good points. But yeah, but then like these, like I said, like when we get to that, that end there is like that's, that's, that's Monty at his best. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. I confess. Good stuff. Okay, now we come to a movie or movies that not a lot of people talk about I had never seen until I was researching all of his work and 2020 terminal station is the name of the film 1953, directed by Vittorio De Sica, who directed The Bicycle Thieves. Very, very famous international cinema film. So I don't even know how to start with this because we both really, really like this movie, Like we both really like it. So it's Terminal Station 1953, starring Montgomery Clift and Jennifer Jones. Jennifer Jones was married to a very famous producer at the time. Darryl Zanuck. And Darryl Zanuck apparently did not like the way this movie was going. De Sica claimed to not speak any English, so would not really communicate with, you know, they're shooting in Italy, so he's not communicating with the producer. So he he cuts his movie. It's 90 minutes long. It's terminal station. And you can watch this movie. I really like it. I love just kind of the narrative of it. It takes place in damn near real time. But this producer sees this and then somehow, I mean, this is just this is outrageous. Goes this isn't going to do well in America, so I'm going to cut this down to like 60 minutes or 70 minutes and call it indiscretion of an American housewife and release that in American theaters. It didn't really do good because when you watch that chopped down version, which whenever I watch this movie, I always do Terminal station, the long version, and then I do the shorter version and you just watch it like, Wait, how in the world did you think this is going to work? So all by way of saying, you can have a really fun time investigating Terminal Station, watching both versions. Definitely. If you're only going to watch one watch the longer one. The European cut. Yeah, really good movie. I mean, now we can actually start to get into the content of the movie, but what a weird weird just kind of story making up behind this. Yeah. And there is strange. I mean, we can hear about crazy stuff like happening sometimes this now, like stuff getting taken away and editors get recut, but never this significantly. And then now you can just watch both versions. It's pretty crazy. Yeah, it's it's weird. It's it's like it's. It's so petty, it seems. Yeah. Yeah, very. You know, it's almost like it's even worse than, like, Rebel Without a Cause where the director found out that Dennis Hopper was sleeping with the girl. Natalie Wood. Natalie Wood. And so he just basically cut out every single time as much as he could. And now he's just like, in the background. Just in the background. So this definitely takes it to another level. Yeah. Here Clift is playing just a straight up Italian man named Bonnie Doria. You kind of get to slip something in the. Oh, yeah, That's why my English is so good, because my mom was American or something like that. They slip that in, but he's supposed to be fully Italian. And the setup in the movie is that he has met a woman, Jennifer Jones. They've met Jennifer Jones is married, and she's arriving at a train station to go back home. She has to go back home to her kid. All that stuff. Monty, is you know, he shows up kind of late right before she gets on the train is a great introduction shot of him like coming into focus. Oh, she's so, so good. It's so harshly out of focus. And he walks right into focus eyes just like, where is she? Where is she? And Then basically the movie from there, once they connect in the train station, it's like almost real time, not unlike a before sunset thing where they're just staying in the train station talking about their life. Should they be together? Should she not leave? I don't really want to say where it goes, but you realize as each scene goes on, it's also not unlike the heiress where we go, What is this Giovanni guy really about? Like, is this a good dude? It's not like she has money or anything, but like, is he good? Are all of his intentions noble? And then as the movie kind of goes on, like he becomes a bit of an asshole and I'd like really, really appreciate that. And I remember the first time I watch this, like, Oh my God, I mean, it it leads to a moment that he does something that splits them up for a significant period of time in the movie. And then and then it becomes like, are they going to find each other again before she perhaps catches this last train home? Yeah. What's fascinating about this movie is like we're talking about how Montgomery Clift was not the typical male actor of that time, but this was probably his. But I mean, this in a good way. Like this was almost his most macho. Yeah, yeah, sure. I agree. I agree. But there was so specific to the character. Yeah. Like, this is a character that believes that, you know, he's the man. What he says goes, Yep. And then also being very self-centered, very in the way of like, well we, I mean they allude to sex, which I think is fair to say. Yeah. But they allude to it without saying because that was just at the time. Yeah. You couldn't. Right. And it's sort of like, well we did that that means that we're in love. Right. Right. And and we're gonna have to figure this out. Yeah. And so much is so dumb because guys are just like, it doesn't matter. The logistics. Yeah, it we'll figure it out. But you're like, No, we won't. Yeah, exactly. We will be right. How are we going to just magically figure this out? Yeah, and this movie actually like toys with that notion in a way that you don't see back then, at one point, I did kind of feel like this was a little bit too on the nose and but at the same time it was like, Oh, come on, it's not that bad, right? But what the movie then does without giving it away is that the stakes all of a sudden become so heavy that you're like, okay, this is so much more right? I think it's actually symbolic. Like I'll say basically like the jail stuff. Yes. Like they they go off and they're kind of gallivanting on their own and doing their stuff. And this you know, this is 1953. This isn't really allowed. Yeah, that's what they aren't married yet. They're not allowed to just go and like, hang out in an abandoned train compartment, even though they're not doing anything wrong. And yeah, they get caught and they get brought in for questioning at the train station. At the train police station? Yeah. And I was thinking to myself as the audience watching it, I go, This is a little dramatic, isn't it? Like, I mean, really, they just got caught in train station, but you're basically putting them like, like the stakes are like, she's not going to be able to go home. Yeah, she might miss her train, like she's going to go to jail. But then what I realize is, is like, this is a fucking allegory for infidelity. Yeah. So these stakes that they're putting on her in the story, they're saying this, but then I'm realizing I go, This isn't about that, right? This is this is about the way that I feel that this is way over the great call. It's a great read, by the way. And and I'm like, oh, this is all symbolic. This is all a metaphor for this. These are the stakes of what it means, right? The consequences. And then it all adds up. It all makes sense. And everything we've seen up until this point is now justified. Yep. In everything we've seen. Yeah. So the payoff for this movie is truly incredible when at times you kind of wondering, does this really add up, Right. What it does. No, you are you're if you're I mean, join the journey. Hop on it. You're going to be 90 minutes, but you're I definitely question it like, is this going to be a worthwhile endeavor? Yeah. Yeah. This thing going to wrap up like I don't I was also very confused by seeing Marty play a character whose default setting is just a jerk. Yeah, you don't know that about him right away, but then you start to learn that and you're like, Man, what is this? And again, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say it's his movie. I would say it's Jennifer Jones movie. Yeah, he's like the lead and they play. They played really well off of each other. But yeah, you're right. It really is just kind of a whole metaphor for we've made this choice, we've gone this far. I do think I think it's safe to say even critics at the time said that they had already, you know, gone that far. You can't say the word sex like we slept together in a movie at this time. And then. Yeah, just like this kind of he seems a little confused, like, why don't you want me like, yeah, this is this is what it's going to be. And he's making jokes about, like, we're going to have some terrible quarrels. I just know it and I'm going to. I may have to hit you. Yeah. She's like, Yeah. She's like, You would do that. And he's like, Yeah, it's fine. Like, I'll just do it. If it's a quarrel, it's fine. And you're like, What? Well, the thing is, like, as ridiculous as that sounds, and even as it plays, right, but by today's standards, it plays ridiculous back then, you know? Yeah. I mean, you even go back to like certain really hardcore, like Italian male performances. Sure. I mean, Raging Bull is a perfect example. Yeah, it's like an Italian. Sarah. They're like a very egotist. Michael Mann Of what I say is how it goes. I'm the man. So what I say in our marriage, that's just how it's going to be. You're going to do what I say. Yeah, and that's it. And so when she says No and she says no a lot, he then takes that to such extremes. Like he's like, crestfallen, right? Like you even see, like times where he just, like, puts his head in between arms and it's like the world has just ended. Yeah, but, yeah, but that's he's playing the type of person like he's actually being truthful to the type of character he's playing. Yeah. You really, like, just put his head down. Yeah. Again, talking about this posture, this body language, it's like, can't understand that something is going his way. He's such a him the first time he meets that nephew, he's such a dick. He doesn't even. Oh, you do. You forget you didn't even acknowledge him. And then as soon as he needs them and finds a big power pole, you know, that's all he wants now, you know. Tell me where she went. Tell we were she went and the kid gets his moment. Oh, yeah. Fuck you, buddy. Yeah, I tell you anything and is just great. It's great to watch me put in this place by this little kid. Oh, I love. Because in their first scene, he's the man. Like, I'm not. I am not going to degrade myself by being introduced to this child. I don't care. That's what it is. That's how his face reads. And then. Yep, as soon as you need him, as soon as you can utilize him, that's when it's oh, oh, hey, hey, hey, hey. Oh, I love it and love that. And she does a great job, too. Jennifer Jones, because there's so many times where she goes back and forth between taking him back. Yeah, she that conflict in her is so alive. Yeah. That I believe when every time she does but it's also captivating when she does too. Yeah. The first time she but I don't want, I don't want to ruin it but at this train track. Yeah. The train tracks. It's fine. He makes this big like we are mad at. She is mad at him. We're not going to say how that arrives. But after they've talked for a little bit, you know, things aren't really going that well and they do split up for a little bit. And then he makes this like heroic effort to try to find her. And he has like almost gets hit by a train. You jump across the train tracks and yeah, that like, kind of wins her back. And that's a little bit too. We're like, Oh, yeah, look what he's willing to do. Yeah, yeah. And I think this is also like one of those moments where this movie is so overdramatic, right in the right ways, because I think so much of that, like literally he did that. Yeah, but the point is, this guy's willing to get hit by a train. He's willing to cross the tracks for love. Yeah, exactly. Oh, for all For love. Yeah. And so the sentiment that's being portrayed to us by. Do you know the writer? I actually. I thought he. I thought Vittorio, you know, wait till you figure this. I can't believe I know this. Oh, yeah. I'm going to put some context in this for you. Yes, yes. Sorry. Maybe I don't know what he helped kind of trimmed down on the other version. Yeah, it was kind of like that, but go ahead. Well, it's Truman Capote. Truman Capote is one of the credited writers, but apparently his work, apparently he even went on record and said, I didn't really add much, but he was. When Selznick was cutting it down, he went to Capote to ask like, Where can I make cuts? I could do this stuff. That's as as I know. But yeah, it's a it's so crazy to see him credited. Yeah. In it you're like, Huh? What? Yeah, yeah. But so this is just one of those. It's a very, very bizarre movie. Oh, yeah. But I think by the time it's all said and done, it achieves what it set out to do. Yeah. Even in ways that I didn't expect for things to land how they did. And I also didn't realize that that there's one of the most iconic moments in cinema, at least in my mind visually, is the very end when he jumps off the train. Yeah, I had no idea I'd seen that footage. Oh, really? That in my mind, like that shot of him falling, he falls. Yeah. Yeah. That's like one of the most iconic Hollywood you just see, like, in a clip, like. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I had no idea that was Monty. Oh, that's so cool I think, yeah, this stuff is just so, like, ingrained within me. But I do think I've like, seen that clip, just that little clip of like a guy falling out on the Oscars. Yeah, like an Oscar montage. Yeah. Yeah, definitely check that movie out. Have some fun with it if you want. Watching both versions. If you watch Terminal Station first, the longer one, you're just going to see that the American cut down is this bastardized version. D takes all the heart out of it. Like there's just no heart left in the damn thing. It's really wild. We end 1953 Oh with From Here to Eternity. Oh, he's working with Fred Zinnemann again, playing Robert E Lee Pruitt, better known as Pru. This is monumental Hollywood film. One won Best Picture, won Best Director won a bunch of Oscars. Prue Oh, my God. It's just one of my all time favorite Monty Clift performances. I mean, I don't even know really where to start the movie is. I've talked about this before. This is one of those old Hollywood movies that talking about Oscar clips. We've all seen the clip of Deborah Carr and Burt Lancaster rolling around, waves hitting on and on the beach. On the beach, it's very easy to go, oh, that's that movie. Like, I don't know if that's movie. That movie is going to be for me, man. This movie has some heart. This movie has some fight, but it's dark. Yeah. The way that like you don't expect. And here's what I'll say. Like if a movie starts on Hawaii and it's 1941, just take a wild guess where we're going, That's all. And you know, you're watching it. You're like, Are we going to arrive there? And we do. And it's I mean, yeah, let's just open it up from here to eternity, because you told me how much you liked it when you were watching it. And oh, my God, I couldn't believe it. I, I think I had this idea of this movie. This was one of those, like, big Hollywood movies that just sucked. Like, I thought. I thought this was a movie that its reputation was, is that it costs like a giant amount of money. It didn't end up being what the studios wanted it to be. I don't know where any of this idea came from. I don't know how true any of that is. It doesn't seem like it, though. No, I just thought it was going to be a schmaltzy, overblown like drama that I romantic drama that I've seen a million times. Yeah. Yeah. And I this was this is one of my favorite in Montgomery. Absolutely. Just as a movie. Yeah. And his performance. Oh, my God, it's so good. And I had no idea what this movie was about. I had no idea. I had no idea. And I'm so glad because this was such a wonderful movie to get to watch. Yeah, I told my mom about it. I called her at the day after I watched it and I was like, you know, what I watched From Here to Eternity. And she goes, Oh, yeah, yeah, the movie is great. I go, Yeah, it it really is. It really is. It holds up. Yeah It really does. Because it's not like stuffy or schmoozing at all. Like it really, really lands. And part of the reason that honestly, is from Oscar winning performer Frank, who won an Oscar for his performances. And he's just so good as this guy just getting bullied as a soldier, getting bullied. He and Clift become friends and while their friendship feels so lived in, I guess they already knew each other before he shows up. But then they reconnect on this base and I love how they always call each other buddy boy, love how they're playing pool. We get to see Marty play pool again, like he doesn't play since he those shots, he's so good. And then his his chemistry with Sinatra is great. And also his chemistry with Donna Reed is just so electric and oh, my God. I mean, Peru is just the scene where he proposes and it leads to an argument. It's like, oh, I just I love it. And she takes she takes control and then he relents. It's I don't know, it's all so well done. Or when he learns her real name, he's just so gentle. They're like, I again, going back to his amazing with his female costars and also with Sinatra here. And and that's something I didn't bring up when we were talking about Red River. Oh, yeah. Because we kind of spent most of that harking on him and John Wayne. Sure. But his chemistry with the female lead. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. So good. So it was on fire. Yeah. Like all his performances with women are just so incredible in watching his performance, his character in this, there was a real power to him in this one. Yeah. That he I haven't seen him exude in a certain way like there was like he was very confident because he's a small guy, but we understand that he's this incredible boxer. Yeah, this amazing military boxer. And he's actually like on this base now because the degenerates who run like this boxing league in the military, run in part by Burt Lancaster, like, no, we're going to get this guy. He's going to come and win in the championship. Prue had his last time in a ring, had a very bad experience. He hurt someone very badly. He does not want to fight. Yeah, so that becomes kind of his story arc. They're going to bully him into boxing and watching him kind of know, like possess this confidence, his physical confidence, even though he's a skinny guy. It's really cool. It's really cool to watch him play that very, very cool. And I think it's in his stillness. There's always this thing. There's power in stillness. Yeah. And if there is one word to describe him, I kind of take on his performance here is that it's purposeful. He does not say or do anything right that he does not mean. Yeah, and he's very soft spoken and it's just cut to the chase. There is no like, you know, you know how we're talking about in his other performances where there's like those, those like, oh, I don't know, like these kind of very naturalistic ways that we elongate words or sounds to form our thoughts. Not with this care. No. He's, he knows what he. Yeah, he knows. He knows. And I've never seen him like that. Yeah. It's a really. Yeah. It's even terminal station. There's so much more of that almost with whiny in that. Of course he's not like that in this but there's there's a there's a grovel in his voice there's like even that scene where he says I quit fighting right You know you know like it's serious. Exactly. Yeah. And then, and then when he's talking to the girl for the first time. Yeah, Yeah, he's charming. Yes, he is. He's an asshole. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially be talking to the soldier. Yeah. Oh, I love that. I did. 2002 hands up to him. It's so good. He. Yeah. What? Like I forgot what he says, but, like, this guy's so the scene is, is that they're basically a at a strip club. That's sort of what it alludes to. Like a burlesque type thing. Yeah. And he's got his eyes on the prettiest girl there because he's Monte Clifton. God damn right, she's giving him the eyes, too. And so he makes his way there and he's doing his thing, and then he goes away for one second. So like, basically protect Frank Sinatra. Right? Right. Like, because he's there for him first. Yeah. Comes back. And now there's this new soldier trying to make his move. Watch out. But she's got her job. Yeah, She's like, her job is to, like, promote that right work there. And so she's doing her thing and he ain't having it. And the way that he proceeds to verbally and banter through wit and through like, kind of machismo, this like, that's a great this guy. Oh, yeah, it's hilarious. And you don't see Monty ever that aggressive or that witty. Sure. It's just a pop. Yep. He's got it. Like, he's just got it. It's fucking great. I love that. You know, Burt Lancaster is really giving him a hard time. Like, you got to fight, You got to box, You got to box. And I loved it when they both just get hammered in Monty. I mean, few people played drunk better more convincingly. The Montgomery Clift, let me tell you. And then they just sit there and I love that he has you really is a few key scenes, a few key wasted scenes, I should say, with Sinatra and Lancaster. And, you know, he just really nails them. I imagine he had a lot of prep to get into those that I just I love when they're just sitting down. And that's how they come to understand each other, like just with drunken conversations. Like, no, I really do have like, there is a reason I don't want to continue with this fight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very good. It's I think his character's all about loyalty and pride. Yeah. Yeah. He is extremely loyal to himself, but then Frank Sinatra and then even to Lancaster to a point. But then you know where the end goes because of his loyalty and pride. Yeah, he. He. It's a flaw. It's a flaw, I'll put it that way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but then and we can't really say even though these are old movies and like, I would. Yeah, but I don't want to spoil this. Exactly. I mean, but when he's playing bugle like and I mean, you know, again, talking about things that men didn't do a lot, you just sitting there playing the bugle, not saying a word and crying. Yeah. And then he finishes his song, adjusts his posture, and then does it again, plays a song, and it's still crying. Every time I've watched this movie, I've cried. That's every time it's so moving. I've never been moved to tears just by watching someone else cry. There's something going on in his eyes that's so much more than the character or Oh, yeah, like that. Monty's giving us something with that. Oh, something of himself. That's what I mean when I say the essence of these guys. Like when we watch these performances from these actors back to back right here, there's there's moments where we're not watching the character. We're seeing them. Yeah, it transcends it's like, are we watching a performance anymore or is this, you know, Montgomery Clift? This is something about him as a human being. And yeah, and he's letting us in. And I think that scene is, is one of them because how could you not like. Yeah, obviously you understand where the story is, where those stakes are and where we're at and why he is. But I think if you were ever even just to put on that scene. Yeah, without context context like give you like it would still be moving. Yeah absolutely. That's his power was definitely one of his best roles. I will say I've always loved this movie. I did see this one young I bought the Blu ray and was able to listen to a commentary by the director's son, which is really cool. Who's on a lot, and Alvin Sargeant, who went on to actually become a great screenwriter. He wrote Julio for Fred Zinnemann, won an Oscar for writing Ordinary People, but he has a really small role in the movie, so they're both on the commentary, a lot of great stories. I'm just going to share one because this is hilarious. Obviously, Montgomery Clift was notorious for preparation. Like, I mean, of the first actors I've heard stories about, like Daniel Day-Lewis preparation. So if he's playing a soldier who is an excellent bugle player, you know, they may have even dubbed that sound in of him playing the bugle later. I'm actually certain they did, but he still wanted to be an expert at it. And he was so practice and practice. They told great stories about how he was staying in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which is weird because we can see it right now from us recording this that we have a crazy view of the city is pretty wild and he would trick kids across the street at school by like making noises to signify that the class is letting out early. And he just kept doing that. He was having fun. But in addition to Cliff preparing a lot to get into a character that also came with having trouble getting out of a character. So it wasn't like last day, you know, my last scene is done and then Prue is gone. Prue would hang around for a little bit, George Eastman would hang around for a little bit. And they tell this great story, Fred Zinnemann on this commentary. It tells his great story about how Clift stayed in character, took the bugle with him everywhere, always wearing Hawaiian shirts. And apparently they all went out to dinner. Fred Zinnemann, the son, the wife. Clift like everyone goes out to dinner after the movie's wrapped. And he Clift proceeds to get just thoroughly fucking trashed at this dinner. It's in one of the nicest restaurants in Hollywood. Just wasted and in typical Monty fashion, having a great time. And so he pulls out his bugle, just starts playing it very loud instrument horn into a nice restaurant, and a man came up to him and, said, You know, I'm having dinner with my wife. I would appreciate it if you be quiet so I can enjoy dinner with my wife. And apparently Monty stood very drunkenly and very kind of showmanship like and said, Go fuck yourself to the guy. The guy punched him in the face. Monty fell over bloody nose, laughing hysterically the whole time. They escorted him out of the restaurant and he was just having, you know, the time of his life. So that's a greater monty because saw it. I don't I don't think that was a unique one, but I just loved them telling that it was great from someone who was actually there. Like, that's not law. Like this guy was there. It's like a 17 year old kid watching it. I love it. Great movie, though. There was something I heard. I don't know if this was the conversation we had or if this was something that I was watching. But without ruining a key element to the movie, A monty goes to take on somebody in the movie. But can Ernest Borgnine play an absolute monster in this movie? Yeah. Monster. Yeah. A complete asshole. Yeah. And now the movie doesn't say this, but from what my understanding was, is that they're the real meaning behind the reason He's going after vengeance. Is. Is this man didn't just make fun or beat up. Oh, I told you this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That this was actually alluding to, like, sexual abuse. Sexual abuse. So. Yeah, Yeah. And and because this is 1953, these type of things were not talked about. I remember feeling like the stakes seem inordinately high, right? For for Monty to be basically throwing everything away on this one thing But then what you mean we were having the conversation because Monty plays it to the level of of the sexual abuse. Yeah, Yeah. In thinking about it in that context. Yes. Changes everything, right? It makes it so much more understandable and so much more. It just makes sense. You see the extra stuff you're talking about peppering in that sense of humor. Here is pepper. Yeah. And this knowledge and yeah, just to explain a little more. So part of the thing is that Frank Sinatra is playing a pretty, you know, like small guy. He's got a big mouth and Ernest Borgnine is just a tough asshole who seems to be in charge of the brig, which like the military prison. And he just dislikes messing with Frank Sinatra. We don't really know why. It's like your day is going to come. Wait till they send you to the brig to me. And then Sinatra gets sent to the brig and if you're just watching the movie and you don't know anything about, like the Hays Code and any of this stuff, you get the sense that, like, as soon as the film fades because, you know, he gets sent there and Borgnine is like that, like, Oh, welcome, you made it. Then he's just going to, like, beat the shit out of them. That's what's going on now. In researching this more, I actually really wanted to read this book. I just didn't have time, wanted to read it before this episode because it was written by James Jones, who also wrote The Thin Red Line. And apparently in From Here to Eternity, it's alluded to very obviously that the Sinatra character is enduring sexual abuse at the hands of the Ernest Borgnine character. And apparently there are like a few references in the book to. This not not just with them, but also like that there could be some consensual stuff going on with some of the other guys. Yeah. Yeah. This isn't you know, I don't know if this surprises people, but this has always been going on as long as the military has existed, trust me. And they you have to take that out. You have to take that out of the 1953 movies. You can include that. But didn't even know that until this viewing. And I text you that and I was like, Oh my God, Like knowing that you see Sinatra playing it that way. Yes. Borgnine Playing it that way. Cliff Lancaster You see that like, oh, this is not just beatings, even if that's what they're telling us, this one is step father. This was like the worst form of, you know, human humiliation possible. Yeah. And I think if you can go go into the viewing of this movie, whether you have seen them before or not. Yeah. With that extra onto it. Yeah. Because, because we're not making it up it's Yeah. Yeah it is. It may not be part of the movie but it is part of the original source text. Yeah. Please watch it. Yes. Yes. With that added stuff. Yeah. And I think there's just so many times in these types of movies, like again in Red River where, you know, they're talking, they're tight, they're in their guns. But like, maybe just like kind of like, read between the lines a little bit more and you'll get more because that that scene is fun if the guns yeah in that way it works for the story like if you wanted to go there with it, you could write if you did it and you don't have to, but it works. But I thought this was one where I really appreciated thinking about that because I was like, All right, this makes everything make a little more sense. Yeah, I feel the weight of things more. Well, on the place. In some podcasts, we talked a lot about the importance of careful language and how that it's not. Hello, Doctor, I am pregnant, I'm unmarried. I need an abortion. Yeah. Waiting 10 minutes, talking to a doctor just to reveal, like, am I okay to reveal that I'm in trouble? Just like. Or is he, you know, is he going to call the police? Like, what is it? And watching that and yes, you do. You have to bring a little more to it. And yes, reading between the lines a little bit to know what in trouble means. But if you bring these read to it, it's just it makes the movies better. And that's why this movie, Best Picture winner, 1953, I'm still having I'm still forming a relationship with it because I'm discovering all this stuff. I'm going to read that book and then I'm going to rewatch the movie and go like, Oh God, I didn't know all that stuff was in there. So great for we finish up on From Here to Eternity. Another bit of sad news, another best Actor nomination. He was nominated along with Burt Lancaster for best actor, William Holden for Stalag 17 won. And according to legend, this is great. The ceremony, the Oscar ceremony was running really long that year. So Holden got up there and his acceptance speech was simply Thank you. But then, moreover, when he was interviewed, like the next day, he announced publicly that he felt that Monty Clift or Burt Lancaster should have won that award. Wow. From Here to Eternity. And he's right. Because I love William Holden. I like him. Sunset Boulevard. I love him in network. I love him. Stalag 17. It's like, I mean, way down on William Holden performances for, me and Billy Billy Wilder movies. I just don't really like that movie that much. And it seemed like I think a lot of people thought he might get it for Sunset Boulevard. He might win, and he didn't. So maybe this is like a make up, you know, in 1953 54 being like, no, my competition should have won. Wow. And maybe because both those actors, Burt and Monty, were nominated for the same movie, they kind of canceled out. Could be. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, we've arrived at about the halfway point. This is the turning of Montgomery Clift's career. It's difficult to talk about Raintree County from 1957, directed by Edward Dimitrius. He's going to do two movies in a row with the Metric and Raintree County. Clift is playing John Shaughnessy Now, I like this movie. This is a tough movie to find. It still is very tough, but when you watch it you may understand why because some of the characters, particularly Elizabeth Taylor in the film, are just unapologetically racist taking place, you know, around the Civil War. He is playing abolitionist who just is not on board with any of this stuff. He's from the north. He meets Elizabeth Taylor, who's this Aunjanue from the south, you know, Southern belle. And she literally knows no way of life without slavery in the way that she's talking about it. It's just so normal, not unlike what Gone With the Wind does. That was in 1939. And this is 57. And I mean, we were talking this doesn't have anything to do with the movie, but I was like, maybe part of the reason this isn't on DVD or Blu ray is because no one wants to have to justify the content of it and some of what she says. And yeah, it's it is a tricky movie for that reason. And honestly, because of all this stuff, the movie doesn't really have as a movie that good of a reputation. But I think we should talk about let's talk about the movie first before we get into what the movie's more well-known about. Well, I think overall, just my experience watching this is that I've really, really enjoyed for a number of reasons. The first half. Yeah. Yeah, I, I honestly I mean racism included. I didn't really kind of follow where the movie was taking me. Sure. I thought the first half of this was just so well done. Well, the tone, the execution, the characters, I it was a very pleasant movie to kind of just be jauntily. Yeah. Just going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Outside of like a few scenes after that like, primarily once we get to the war. I enjoyed some of those scenes. Yes. But if I want to talk about the one thing that I absolutely just love about this movie is it comes. Here she comes. I love Elizabeth Taylor. Yeah. Oh, my God. And I think, moreover, is that Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor may, in my opinion, have the best onscreen chemistry I've ever seen. It is so good. They were in three movies together. This was their second. We definitely breezed over on this podcast. We breezed over a place in the sun, but we did spend two whole hours talking about the chemistry is just unparalleled in that movie. They're from right away. Right away. It's I've never seen two people on camera look at each other the way that they do. Yep. Like and I know they were friends. And I think that's part of the reason why very I think as like an audience member you if you know that it's even more endearing but even still like it's just like I watch the two of them look at each other and talk to each other forever, ever. There's even a scene like, she just makes Monty blush. Oh, yeah. Like Liz says his name, and he asks her to repeat it. You just, like, see, he does, like, a little dance on the stairs. You get to see him falling in love, like. Yeah, he's, like, blushing. Yeah, he's just falling in love. And I love that scene where he walks in and she's getting, like, her portrait taken. Yeah. And, and she just goes, she gets startled and she goes, It's you, it's you. But the way she says it, it's just I don't know. There's just so much going on. Yeah. It like, it truly feels like she's saying it's you. It's the person that I love more than anyone else on this planet. Like, that's how it feels. It's how it comes across. And she's just wonderful and tricky character for her. But I love her in it. I mean, I've always loved her. I mean, I I'm kind of blown away by how good she was in this in terms of like, a woman going crazy. Yeah. Yeah. You know, she's got such a fucking great career working with Tennessee Williams material. Yeah. Which we'll get into one more. But watching that performance like this, I did not expect this turn for this movie. I think it's one of the things that I actually didn't really like about the movie was that I just didn't feel this is the direction, But I don't know what I'm thinking either. But her performance is just killing it. It's really good the whole time, and watching Monte try to deal with her is just as good as well. The setup of the movie is essentially, you know, I said he's like from the north, he meets, he has to come to the south and he meets Elizabeth Taylor. And people in this New Town in Raintree County are like not on board with this dude who doesn't believe in slavery coming in, but he just he carries it. He's like, Hey, whatever. How's it going? He gets challenged to a footrace by Lee Marvin, which is just a lot of fun. Watch a drinking contest. Yeah, I love it. It studies like who won what he doesn't even know won. And then yeah, that. Oh, God. That Drink off with Lee Marvin. Hysterical. And I love that Monte's like. Well, this I've never had alcohol before was my first ever drink. What a weird thing for Monte to say, you know, but. And then not unlike a place in the sun in which there is a he's battling between his affection for two women. And Eva marie Saint is one of the women, and she's kind of like the quiet girl. Next door. It would seem like the safe bet, like you can have a nice life. And then Liz is this woman with a lot of baggage in terms of where she comes from? Yeah, she has. She tells lies that are big. Big lies. Yeah. Yeah. She's slowly just losing her mind for any reason in the film as a whole. You know, it's based on a book. It's 3 hours, but honestly, can almost be like a four hour movie because I feel like there's more in here that could have been added, but I still really enjoy it. I've only seen it twice and I feel like you like it. I do like Raintree County. Yeah, I like it. I had a much, much better time watching it the second time this time without having to go, you know, You had fun being on that ride with it like, where's it going? But knowing where it's going, maybe I'm just able. Yeah. Because like, even my dad put that. Yeah. He's so highly on top. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that motive, it motivated me to go check it out. And I knew we were going to be doing this episode, so I'm like, Right, I'm really interested in this. And, you know, it's like 3 hours. And that's one that I took like 4 hours to watch because I kept rewinding and paying really close and I, I liked it. It the movie is just not well-known for its content or its performance. So we're going to talk about why. But I really want people to say I want people to go check this out. But like, you can't. Yeah, it's like, yeah, yeah. It's very Turner Classic movies, I believe. I believe they play it once a year for like one night. And I was randomly on Hulu and it just popped up on Hulu and I was like, Oh my God, it's on Hulu now. Headed on there for four whopping days. Yeah, that was it. I would definitely buy this if it was released. But again, some tricky content with it. Certainly now. Yeah, now we come to the big turning point because on May 12th, 1956, they are filming Raintree County. They've been filming for like six weeks. A good chunk of time. Monty is invited to a very small get together at Elizabeth Taylor's house in the hills of Beverly Hills. And by all accounts, he wasn't turning one on, he wasn't drinking, maybe had like a little bit of a drink. He wasn't on pills. This is what everyone said. He was just dead tired from the night before of getting extremely drunk and doing all that stuff. So he was very tired. He wants to go home. He tells his friend Kevin McCarthy. No, I'm leaving. Kevin's going to leave too. Very funny. When I was telling the story to Dan yesterday, he actually knew exactly who Kevin McCarthy was fucking Dan like, how does he know who that is anyway? Kevin McCarthy is driving ahead of them and they're driving tonight and suddenly he does not see Montgomery Clift's headlights. So he turns around and Montgomery Clift has it was found out later that he had fallen asleep at the wheel and he had wrapped his car around a telephone pole and nearly died by all accounts should have died. It was such a chaotic scene. This is like 1956 and I'm like street lights everywhere, you know? Would have been dark out there. Yeah. McCarthy decides to go back up to Liz's house to get help and to get everyone from the party. They all stormed down. We I went through a brief version of this on the place and son part. But Liz, you know, came down. She's taken teeth out of his mouth. She's saving it's life. He's a mess. The press show up, she threatens them. If you take pictures. There are pictures of the car, but there are no pictures of Montgomery Clift and saying like, I will bury you all if you get pictures of my best friend doing this. So it's a terrible accident. It's one of the most notorious accidents in Hollywood history. It's one of the most terrible things to happen to someone of such charismatic star power, to someone really on the rise up. And this is no real fine point to put on this. The accident happens in 1956, and what ensues is a ten year long suicide. And I do not use that phrase lightly, but that is how a lot of people around him felt, because he lives miraculously, he manages to live his faith. We can talk about his face like it is different. It's different. He had to get a lot of 1956 plastic surgery done. I don't even know how they did it. Yeah, but the there's a hardness to it now. There's almost like a it looks kind of like a box, like a Frankenstein sort of box. There's no there's no kind of smoothness to it. That's, that's one thing. But talk about miraculous. Like two months after this accident happens, they let him come finish his scenes. Raintree County Because they film so much of the movie, they couldn't afford to reshoot all of its stuff. Yeah, it would been too much work. So they decided to wait. And that kind of makes watching Raintree County the very, like, poor quality version that you and I watched a little a little more carbon that you're. I mean, I'll speak for myself. I'm trying to be like, can I spot accident scenes? You know, the post-accident scenes, because movies are shot out of order. And I'm fairly certain that his first scene post accident is actually relatively early in Raintree County. It's still kind of hard to tell in this movie, which is so weird because accident had just happened. But yeah, this is one of the most infamous stories in old Hollywood history, the Montgomery Clift accident that did not kill him then, but it did eventually, you know, lead to his demise. From here, his alcoholism gets unmanageable. His pill usage gets unmanageable. And one of the craziest things is that while his life was, by all accounts, in complete and utter turmoil, the man is still 100% capable of giving us iconic, legendary performances that by and large, we're still talking about today. Yeah, but that's you know, that's the accent that is that's a turning point of his life, I suppose. The questions that I have as it goes forward from there is it sort of, you know, I mean, I don't know. I feel like there are weird questions to have. It's like what exactly was done on his face? Like what? I don't even know. Yeah, because you're talking about 1956 plastic surgery, basically facial reconstructive surgery. Going forward. He's still very handsome. He is a handsome man. But yeah, there's like a there's a puffiness that's there. It's not as angular that kind of the thing, the cheek, those cheekbones that are like the drawl in. Yeah. Like those aren't really there. And then from then on, Yeah. Like there's just a hardness then that begins to develop movie after movie. Yeah. Yeah. But still very good looking person. But it's not that face. Oh, that beautiful fucking face. I think also shapes a lot of post-accident performance. Oh, it absolutely does. It colors everything in his life that's on. And I was watching in that documentary of making Montgomery Clift where one of his friends was saying that Monty actually preferred more of his post-accident performance. Yes, it's very true. These two favorite performances of his own were post-accident ones. Yeah. Yeah. And the one we're about to get into right now is one of them. Like that Segway I did. I wasn't ready because I was taking a swig of my beverage. Yes. He goes from Ranger County in 1956, directed by Edward The metric to Edward Demetrius next film The Young Lions made in 1958. Here Clift is playing Noah Akerman. Let's talk about this movie. This a weird one to talk about, but what I'm going to say right up front is that, you know, when he was talking about his career, he didn't do a lot of interviews. But like after the fact, when he was talking about his career, he said that Noah was the closest he could get. He felt like that was the closest I could get for blurring the line between character and self and basically, like what I put on the screen, like, that's the best I can do in terms of acting. We already reference this performance with Don't Fall, Don't You Fall, but we're going to get into a lot of like the movie itself. I know the best way to start this. I'll talk a little bit about it's about look, because that'll help describe how we watch it. Yeah, the movie, it's based on a book and the movie's about it's about three guys and it's essentially cutting back and forth between all three. And the three guys are Monty Clift, who's kind of this like weakling soldier. And then we have Dean Martin, who they befriend, like when as they're signing up to enter into the war. And Dean Martin is, I mean, kind of playing like a version of himself. He's like this crooner and. The military guys, like, I don't give a shit how hot you think you are out there in the clubs like you're your mind now. You're in the military and him and Noah, like they have each other's backs. You don't think they're going to because. No, it's like the dorky guy. He's Jewish, which definitely gets brought into question. Oh, he made fun of that constantly. Dean Martin is like a protective vibe of them. So that's 85 minutes of the movie. It's not 85, you know, concurrent minutes. It jumps around and then another 82 minutes of the movie are kind of Cheez-Its, are cutting to Marlon Brando as a bleach blond Nazi with a heart of gold who is just he's one of those good Nazis in a movie. And he doesn't like what's been going on. And he's trying to escape from the Nazi regime and we follow him. He's doing the very bad German accent. And this is a montgomery Clift part. But Marlon Brando is not goodness. No, no, he's he is not good in this movie at all. And I told you, if you're trying to save time, I promise you that you can skip. I mean, I don't really recommend this often for movies, but if we're just on the Montgomery Clift pod, you can very easily carve out a very good 90, 85 minute version of The Young Lions by fast forwarding through all the Brando stuff. Because they never shared a scene together. No. And it's I watched the whole thing, but then I was actually doing like, timestamps to be able to send you. Then the next day I just watch like the 85 minute cut. It's a really good 85 minute movie. Like there's a is an incredible 90 minute movie in there. No one talks about this movie. Yeah. Movie's not remembered well, because of that other frankly just bad 82 minutes of Brando it if we're talking about Bill young Lions as an entire movie I can't even say it's close to one of my favorites because that stuff really bogs it down. If you just watch the 85 minute multi cut, it's one of the best movies he was in. It really does. I mean, I mean, it's so separate. It's so separate and it's also so bad. Yes. It's really just stands out that I wish someone would just make a cut of this movie and just make it a whole entire story about two guys. Right. Who get drafted. And and that's Dean and Montgomery Clift characters. And in there is the reason why this movie is so amazing to watch, right? That right. Honestly, I would I would what I would do is I was fast forward through all of Brando's scenes, but I would I play it just so I could get the gist. Yeah like the lead in to the next like what was going in his story And I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, this is it's dumb. And it is. It's not. It's just not done. Well, know. Yeah, they really do. They're to make a sympathetic Nazi out of Brando and and Brando's acting is just so, so bad. Hey I looted earlier on the waterfront it's 1954. The Godfather is 1972. This is not like a rumor. Like he Coppola had to fight to get him in The Godfather because Brando was, quote unquote, box office, partially for movies like this. Like, yeah, I mean, the movie kind of rested on him and he was not given good notices for it. I'll say that. That all being said. Yes. Getting in the clift here. Yes. This was I mean, this is truly a magnificent performance. And this is one of the ones where I think plays I mentioned I said a word that I don't mean exactly. He's not really a dweeb, but he is very awkward and he is very meek, but he has like an absolute it's not even pride. It's it's he has this like he been beaten down by life. Yeah. So he hasn't I don't know. But he's, he's poor, he's Jewish. I only say he's Jewish because it's World War Two and he is getting a it is a huge plot point of the movie that his fellow soldiers are relentlessly mocking him relentlessly. But mostly he has no family. He's he's met a new woman who, you know, I don't even know if he's ever kissed a woman. This. No, no. I met her and fallen in love, you know, with the thing where they meet for, like, a day and fall in love. Yeah. I think the thing to pay attention to that so amazing about who this character of Noah is, is watching his very first few scenes. Yes. Like when he first means Dean Martin. Dean Martin tells him that, you know, he's about himself. Dean's like, oh, I'm a singer of this. And I'm and I'm singing that and all. And and you can see Montgomery Clift has a genuine interest in he's like, I've heard you. Yes, I like you. And then Dean tells him a song and he goes, I'm remember that. Yeah, just a very real thing. And Dean Martin sees that and he goes, You know what, come with me, let's be friends. And then introduced him to a girl, and then he falls in love immediately. Yeah. And there's a, a scene where he's trying to tell her father, Oh, I have a quote written I love. Is it the same quote? I don't have a family plot. I don't have a family iron, $35 a week. I'm one day in the draft. But I love hope and I shall love her for all of my life. And that's what he says as a way of like winning the dad over. And he says it so well, he delivers it so well. That tells you every single thing you need to know about yourself. You're playing that character that is truly a man alone. You can do all of that and he does okay, so if I'm talking about the character stuff, sure. His ears. Yes, gum. He put gum behind his ears to make him stick out. Yeah, And it's noticeable, but it's not distracting, right. But it's one of those things where it's like, okay, this is this is the awkwardness. This is the kind of jangly kind of Pru from. Yes from here to eternity. Yeah. Yeah. This is a character that Montgomery Clift is an actor that plays soldiers quite a bit throughout his career. He really did. Yeah. Every one of them is different. Everyone. And and this one is just no exception at all. And so this is the way we get to know this guy is that he's just this earnest nice, Yeah, yeah. Kind guy. And then when he gets bullied and beaten down like that scene. So basically one of my favorite scenes is he has$100 saved up that he's going to buy is going to buy a ring. What's the green shoes, Shoes, dress shoes. Going to buy shoes for hope The woman he's in love with. Yeah. And he goes into his footlocker footlocker to find it. And he's found that it's been stolen. And He's seething, but he and he does like this whole entire thing. It's almost like Cool hand Luke before Cool Hand Luke, right where it's all the guys are. They're like, in the barracks or playing poker and everyone knows the deal. He knows as soon as he can find the money that these assholes took it and they're not saying anything. And then when he questions about Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that whole thing and he puts up a sign. Yeah. A Oh, here it is. I don't care who took it. Yeah, but let's settle it and we'll settle it like men, which is now is a dumb statement, but let's just settle it. Yeah. I don't care who took the money. Just come meet me one on one and we're going to fight. Yeah, And because he's so small and because he's Jewish, something they're making fun of him for all the time. They make him an easy target. And these are like his superiors and fellow soldiers, just like wanting to beat the shit out of him for no other reason other than those things other than he's an easy target. The only person sticking up for him is Dean Martin, his friend, but whose chemistry is unbelievable. They're so good together. They're so good. So it's funny about when he challenges this one person to a fight. He says, you know, he doesn't even care about the money. He just wants satisfaction for solving this problem himself. Yeah, not one, not two, not three, but four of these assholes own up to it. I thought. No, it was supposed to be puny. Yeah, small and weak. It takes all four you to step up to it. Four guys own up to it. And no, it's like, fuck it. Yeah. Takes about one by one to the point where he schedules out the fight. Yes, but each of them. Each bob like one at a time. And I love. And he just keeps getting his ass kicked over and over and I mean even on Lee Van Cleef is in there and he actually after after seeing talking about Cool Hand Luke, how he keeps getting up. Yeah. George Kennedy, it's the same thing here. They're like beating the shit out of him over and over. But the guy has heart. Yeah, he's fighting them one at a time, you know, you need four things to be a fighter. You need strength, speed, endurance and heart. Yeah. And the dude is not that strong. I don't know if he's that fast, but, you know, he just stays in the game and he's going to try to get up and to the point. I love that when I'm Dean, Martin's like, Why are you doing this? And my the shrugs. And he's like, I like the fight. Yeah, yeah. Like that's it's like. It's like the fight and then this leads to the the final fight scene, which is if you're a fan of Monty, if you've seen the Young Lions, it's one of the best scenes he was ever in, in which he kind of gets the upper hand. And as he's beating this guy when he shouldn't be able to beat him, just start screaming at the top of his lungs. Don't fall. Don't fall like he's beating the guy, but he doesn't want to like him to go down or hurt him. It's so I can't we can't describe it with the same intensity unless he delivers it. But Jesus Christ, it's just chills every time. I mean, every time. I don't know if he screams that loud in any other movie. Like really, really losing. Yeah. And you're like, Oh My God, talk about that blurring line between actor, between character. Yeah. Well, and what you're seeing throughout all of this is you're just seeing a character that's basically defining himself before our eyes without saying anything. Yeah, he's got those lines where, you know, like, I make this, I have no family. But in what we're watching, we understood and this guy on a very, very like personal and visceral level because we just see it like he's not he's telling us he's showing us that, well, I'm going to I'm going to do this the honorable way. And Dean Martin is the one who asks. And there's like, stop doing that. Yeah, just stop it. Yeah. And it's sometimes sometimes Noah responds to him, sometimes he doesn't. Yeah. And and you can see the frustration on Dean Martin's face, but it, you know, it's just a way that this character just starts to reveal himself to all of us. It's so noble. Yeah. And also, what I liked about this is, like, Monty was I was saying earlier in a lot of his movies, he gets into a lot of fights, a lot of flight from Here to Eternity, Red River, and he gets his ass kicked in this one when he usually doesn't, right? It usually hold his own, usually holds his own. And it's believable when he does. And then in this one is believable when he doesn't. Yeah, and it's very cool of a movie to have your character get his ass kicked three times. And then just so happens on that last one gets the upper hand, he gets after him and this isn't going to lead to anything. So that's Dean Martin's whole point like this isn't going too well. What is the point of this? It's not going to lead to anywhere, but it kind of does what it kind of does because as as as is often the case for bullies, soon as you stand up to them or show that you have a little heart, they kind of come to respect him. And then interestingly enough, once they get into the shit, into the war, those bullies who are beating the shit out of poor Noah suddenly turn into cowards on the battlefield and Noah's the one risking his life to save them. Funny, funny how that turns out. And that whole entire sequence is that's. That's really bravery personified. Yeah, that is. That is a very, very specific man who has lot of conviction and loyalty, and he. And he's doing what he has to do right. Or what he feels is the right thing to do. The very righteous in that way. And it's crazy like you watch a movie from 1958 like this and I just forgot like that. This was not a situation where I'm seeing something dated. No. Well, movie looks great too. Like you did find good like renders of this like it if you can find it. It looks really good shot. Very well. Yeah. Yeah. It's. It's it's absolutely a breathtaking performance from him. Yeah. And similar to the search, I do want to call out that even though this is 1958 still, like, really shocking that they show the inside of those concentration camps like they're just going for a walk and kind of stumble on it and you're like, Oh, well, now we're actually inside one of the places and the why the film is tricky to talk about is because Monty's so good in it. But yeah, like if you watch the whole thing from start to finish, it's a bit of a slog because of the Brando's stuff. But again, there's a great 85 minute moving here starring Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin. I'm telling you, just fast forward to Brando. So yeah, so good. One final selling point that I have for the young lines is that I kind of get like Joaquin Phenix master vibes of when he's like, waiting outside the window for the girl knocks it down. Yeah, like I get that because they have to part like in front of a window in their bedroom and everything. I don't know. I've never made that connection until watching it for this viewing. But I went, I wonder if this was something to watch. Like I felt a very strong connection. I wonder if it's if Joaquin Phenix voluntary character of the Master is basically. No, no, but like, Oh, yes, completely fucked up. Yeah. Like if they could have made the Young Lions in 2012 this is what. No, it would have been. Yeah. This woman No. Would have been like on the beach. Like not noble at all. Just a complete pervert. Yeah. Drinking, drinking that hooch. Same year, 1958. Now he's in lonely hearts. Yeah. Another movie that I had never heard of until I watched all of his films in 2020. Never heard of this movie. It's not really well known. It's directed by Vincent J. Donoghue. Here Clift is playing Adam White, the man who's to Isn't he allergic to alcohol? It's like, Oh, God, it's so funny to see him talk about that early on. But he has so many good costars in this movie. Robert Ryan, who I love just playing an asshole of assholes and you know, Lonelyhearts is based on a pretty famous, pretty well-known book, and it was made into like stage plays. I think even other adaptations of it and it's a great fucking book. I've read it. You have Miss Lonelyhearts? Miss Lonelyhearts? Yeah. I didn't know that. Nathaniel West. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. I didn't know this has. Well, then tell me what you thought of the movie as it compares to the book. It's actually quite similar. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the book's always going to be better, and it's been a while since read the book, so I think more of the movie was jogging my memory. Right? But I remember thinking as I was watching it, think this is great. Like this is where Monty was at looks wise. Yeah, he looked a little bit older then this character. Yeah. This character's very young. Like, very like. Like, like 20, 21, right? Like, just. Just brand new to the adult world. That being said, Monty kills it. He does? Yeah. He's so good in this. He's so good. The the Well, really let me just set up what it's about. I mean, he's just a guy who needs job and he goes into he meets a woman at a bar, a local like, watering hole, and her husband runs a paper. Robert Ryan runs the paper. She's like, you know, if you wait around with me, you can maybe you'll get to meet him. And then we get to meet Robert Ryan, and he just treats his wife like shit. And then and Monty right away takes offense to that. So you're like, Oh, this is interesting. And he's adamant. It's very like easy going, very quickly. But he does not like when Robert Ryan goes in on his own wife. And it's it's really, really cool to see that. But basically Monty just wants a job and Robert Ryan offers him this. What's so funny is that another one of his like, newspapermen is like begging him for this job of responding to these letters that people write in these lonely hearts letters, and that becomes Adams job, Monty's job. You are going to respond. We're going to give you a column, has to be X amount of words every week, and you're going to respond to these letters. And it's not something that he really wants to do, but then he kind of finds his groove with it and starts doing it. And Robert Ryan is like the most cynical asshole in the world in this movie. And Adam Weitzel has a little bit of like romance and system to it. And basically it comes down to Robert Ryan's like, I dare You just wants to go meet with one of these people writing the letter and see how it goes. See that this world is not full of not full of optimism, that everyone is essentially full of shit and miserable. And that's kind of that's the crux of the movie. And it just starts. Yeah, and that's basically it. But I mean, this is the character in the way Marty plays him is it's the most wholesome character I think Monty has ever played. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Because he's so well-intentioned is he's good. He's a good man. He's got a he's a good that I wrote that down. He's a good man. He his girlfriend or fiancee I'm not sure if they're married, but he like she she's got a whole family. Right. Right. And he lives there, loves those kids like, oh what do they really like? It when when, when Monty kisses her in the way that he speaks? He is full of so much love. Yeah, Like that is just like he just loves her. And so, like, what's great to watch is that when he's getting, like, these Miss Lonelyhearts letters, they're from people who are really damaged and really going through something. They need help. Yeah, he just wants to help, but he can't because, well, one, he's not being allowed to by Robert Ryan's character. But also we're at a time where therapy is not something of a thing because even mentions it. Yeah, he goes, you need psychological help and for some of these things and and he's and Robert Ryan even like denies he goes well we're not we're not recommending that off the bat And the question what do you want me to do with these people like it's a very, very moral dilemma I think this is a really great, really well-written script. There's a lot of really good you know, this is all this stuff is things. When you think about writing, you write something and then you realize that some lines are so good, but people just don't talk like that. Yeah, sure, sure. And you almost have to kill them because you're like, Well, this is such a thematic line. Yeah, and it's so well-written, but no one just comes out and says stuff like, No one's that quick, no one's that quick. Yet this a great example of movies, of a movie where the characters say some of these lines, but they're earned. Yeah. And I wrote a few of them down. I mean, Robert Ryan is so like cynical and hyper articulate, like the shit that comes out of his mouth and they all sell it. Well, they all sell it. But I want to hear some of your favorite. Well, he's got one where? Okay. So I think I would love to know if John Cassavetes was inspired or influenced at all for faces by the the scene between Robert Ryan and his wife in their home. Oh, that's very famous. Yeah. There's definitely a connection there because they're in movies like this. We're not talking about right. Like she she is cheated on him. He cheated on her first, but you know, and she brings that up. Yeah. Like and he goes, oh, is this payback. Right. Exactly. Very right. And he's holding it over her head that she cheated on him. Yeah. When asshole an and, and she says something and goes well what's a normal sentence for adultery. And he ends this scene with it and I'm like, oh yeah. Oh God damn, there's one scene in the middle. I think it's one of my favorite scenes of the whole entire movie where Monty goes to see his father in prison and he's. He tells everyone he's an orphan. Yes, That's what he tells people. So then when he lands here and you're like, Oh, what's going on? And then the dad recounts, You know why he's in prison. Whoa. And it's real shit. Real, real fucking shit. It's So I do have a note. It was kind of funny because Marty's like, Please don't recount it. Your dad goes, The dream always starts. Yeah, He starts going about. It's like, Oh, God, I got to hear this again. Yeah, yeah, it's real shit. It's. It's as real as it gets. So real that it makes me wonder, like, how is Adam White? Stay so positive? And I do think it could be the most, like, positive character he plays. Yeah. Yeah. That's why his fight to do like he's got the world telling him to to not be hopeful right And the whole entire thing is that at one point he succumbs to it. Well he goes and meet someone. Maureen Stapleton, her first movie, she was nominated for an Oscar and she has this story. You know, she wrote him a letter, but she's very faithful to her husband. But her husband was injured and has been impotent for seven years. And she can't leave him because. She loves him, but she also has needs. And that's what she's explaining to Marty. And it's you know, one of the reasons why I like this movie so much is that not everything is black and white. Not yes, not every not everything everyone is telling you is true. Yes. And maybe there is some validity to Robert Ryan's cynicism, but just not that much that this all comes down to the final scene. It's all really beautifully in the final scene when cynicism, romance, everything comes to a head, there's gun involved, and it's just great. It's great there's a really quick going back to the prisons. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There like the actor who plays that father's fucking fantastic. You tell like he wants something in his punishment. We can tell. Like that character is looking at his son who's holding like, no remorse. Yeah, but it's almost like he wants it. Yeah, like he. Like he's, like, go on in. Like, let me tell you again so you can tell me I'm a shitty father. I'm a bad person, whatever it is. And, and, and and Monty just makes the choice of just saying these words. Father, I couldn't hate you. I have any judgment. And when you hear what his father did and for Monty to like, say that in mean with such gentleness, with the way that he says it. Yeah. You can tell Like that's his truth. That's absolutely his truth. It's just a great actors choice of Monty. Monty just makes the best fucking choices to truly own that level of non judgment. It's just amazing. Fucking good. I fucking love it. Well, yeah. We got to keep in mind that Adam White doesn't. And then a few things don't go his way. Like the meeting with the dad. Yes. It's tough going out, meeting with someone who wrote this letter that turns out to be tough. So he gets, like, pissed, doesn't drink, and then got that one. When he walks into that harsh closeup, he's so out of focus and he walks in. You see those? Shut up before they fight. Like, Oh my God, it's perfect. I really, really, I really love this movie. And another, another reason I like this so much because no one talks about this. Yeah. So it's I mean, it's on Blu ray, like I don't know if it's on streaming a lot, but this is a really good movie of a famous novel, and I really, really want people to go check this out. It's scary. It is very daring. Very daring. Yeah. Like it does give me Cassavetes vibes watching it just because, like, it it's talking and dealing with things that were not talked about or done in movies from 5858. Yeah. I mean, that's even before Cassavetes came onto the scene, right? I think in researching it, like I think it wasn't received that well, maybe because it pushed for how it was like tense and dark. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, good stuff, Lonelyhearts. It's another one. I'm really happy you liked. Yeah, I that was one of my absolute favorite experiences as a movie was watching that one. Here we go. Let's get into it. Yeah, here we go. Suddenly last summer, 1959, directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz, famous director written by Tennessee Williams. Here I come here. Montgomery Clift is playing Doctor John Kerkovich. This is another one where there's a lot to unpack about the movie and about what was going on in the making of the movie. So how do you even start? We'll start, I guess, again with a plot line. So this doctor, John, is one of the earliest practitioners of lobotomies. It's like should be a last resort for someone who's really really struggling with mental health and like, yeah, the last of resort. Even though he's good at it, he's trying to talk people out of it constantly, like, Oh, how about therapy? How about this? So he's so good. This he gets the attention of Katharine Hepburn, whose entrance in this movie coming down that elevator is so incredible. You can tell that Monty is just so, so taken with her. Oh, I love that Her niece by marriage is played by Elizabeth Taylor. And what Hepburn thinks is that Elizabeth has lost her mind over the death of Hepburn's son, who is also Elizabeth Taylor's best friend. And since this has happened suddenly last summer, she's just slowly lost her mind and she needs Dr. John to perform a lobotomy on her very badly. And if he does that, the hospital he works for, which is in dire straits financially, will get a large sum of money from Katharine Hepburn, who's wealthy. So Monty's boss loves this. You got to do it. Who cares? Just do the job. Do about it. You need the money. You need the money. It's like, No, no, I don't. I need to go meet her. I need to go talk to her and see what all this is about. So that's really the setup. Again, I say he's the third lead here. I would say this is Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor's movie. They are both incredible in it and he is really kind of reserved, too. Well, okay. I don't know how much of this was written or how much of this just had to be because of what was going on on set. But he's just kind of for a lot of it kind of in the back or things are explained, people are explaining to him and you know, it's based on a Tennessee Williams play. So there's big set pieces in place just in like, you know, just one room or so. But. Well, yeah, we'll start there. We'll start just with the movie itself. Yeah, well I what I think was great about this movie was that again, when you're talking about a good translation of play to cinema. Yeah, yeah. This works. It does. It does. Even when you've got long set pieces, I think they were blocked correctly. Right. I think the writing really stood out and yeah, you've really got to powerhouse performances here in Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor that really carry the words of of Tennessee Williams and the emotional life of this story, which is pretty fucking gruesome. I mean, considering this was 1959 and we spent so much of our place in the sun part a 1951 movie talking about like careful language, and you couldn't show this stuff or talk about this. This movie goes there goes takes about an hour and 20 minutes for you to realize what kind movie you're watching and that this this guy Sebastian that everyone's talking about and you know, was the son of Katharine Hepburn. You really get to figure out again what movie you're watching. And wow, it's it's heavy for 59. It's really heavy. It's done. The first time I saw this, I didn't know they could talk about this shit. It's crazy. And but truth be told, we're doing the now let's do it. We got to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is not Monte's best. It's not Monte's best. Not. It's. Hmm. He was an extremely bad shape. Yeah, He made this movie arguably the worst shape of any movie he was in. And that I would argue that more so than any other performance, this is where you can see not only the effects of the accent. I'm not even talking physically. I'm talking like it's clear the dude was hammered. The whole time he was making this like and he was he was completely and utterly drunk or on pills or both. He just doesn't look he doesn't look fully present. I mean, I'm saying all this, I would still give his performance in this like a really hot, really high grade or notices like, I love him in it. It is a weak performance from my favorite actor in actually a really good movie. Like it's it's a really good movie. It's really good. Again, this is what I said earlier. Like, how much was the script or how much was what Mankiewicz was working with? Just by like kind of putting him in the background and just asking like, simple questions. He's really us in the movie, but he has to ask the questions and keep the plot driving forward. But, you know, we got the role because of his dear friend Elizabeth Taylor, who really, you know, he needed work and she got it for him. And it was it was tough. I'll talk a little bit more about it because there are while there are stories, but in typical Mountie fashion, he pissed off a lot of people on set. The people he didn't piss off were Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. Katharine Hepburn. I mean, come on. She was very protective of Marty. This is a woman who lived with Spencer Tracy for decades. Spencer Tracy? Who? The Spencer Tracy, you know, by all accounts, was not how the real guy was. You know, he had his own stuff and she could if she can live with Spencer Tracy and make that work, she could handle she could handle Monty Clift for one shoot. And she became apparently like very much a mother figure to him. And I really, really liked that on set. But you can feel it. Yeah. Yeah, you can. Absolutely you can. In a lot of ways, it feels like for the majority of the scenes, because Monte is basically every scene, to be honest. Yeah, Yeah. Because he is our anchor, right for the, the reveal how all of this is going to play out and it's all between Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn's characters and they kind of act circles around him. Yeah Sure they do. They do. But it's not like he's bad. But yeah, so I don't mean it like that. It's just very, very clear that like he he's he's they're he's they're but the performances we get from Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor it's so good I, I was floored by in this performance I mean this might be the best performance of her that we're talking about today. And that's crazy. That's how crazy how much I love a place. And son, she's incredible. I mean, the last 25 minutes are hers. That's when we get this long Tennessee Williams monologue and all is revealed and you're like, shit. And she just nails it. Well, okay, let's let's okay, we're going to talk about it. Do it. I am a huge advocate for monologues in movies. I can because I think they're so incredibly challenging. This is one of the longest ones, very long. And they do a lot here to play with the form. So that way we're not just left watching an actor talk. Yeah. Mankiewicz Absolutely plays with it and it helps. Yeah, yeah. I don't think it also takes away from her performance at all, right? But it cooks and it is a little challenging, like, I like it is like I even knew right before it started, I was like, I think we're in for a long, long one reveal of how this went. And we are. Yeah, but the ones I'm watching and I'm like, Fuck Elizabeth Taylor Sheets, nails it. So good. That's a very tough assignment. Oh, yes. Like you're going to carry about 15 minutes of screen time. Yeah. Of just talking. Yep. And never once did I check out because of her. And I mean, that's fucking. That's a fucking huge compliment. Yeah, it is. I love her. And they were both nominated for it. Oh, fuck. One. Oh, God. Actually, this is. This is terrible. This crazy to say I believe it was. Let me look it up. Yeah. They were both nominated for the Oscar. I would have given it to Elizabeth Taylor before I saw Simon. Signora in the film room at the top in which she is really, really good in. And I get that she wanted that. Yeah, because that was after my Monte Clift, you know, after I watched all of his movies. Next assignment in COVID was to watch every single performance that has ever won an Oscar. So I watched them all. I watched all the best directors I had already seen all the best pictures in all the screenplays. And you're a man. That's what I know. And that's why I didn't even taking that long fucking nuts. And that's why it's really cool for stuff like that, because I'm I had seen something last summer and I go, I mean, this might be my favorite Katharine Hepburn performance and maybe my favorite of Elizabeth Taylor. Virginia Woolf is like, You don't get better than that. But then I watch room at the top and. I'm like, Who's really good? Dammit? It's a tough one. All right. That's all I can tell you. She had worthy a worthy opponent, right? Absolutely. It it was not just like a gift to someone. It was very, very worthy. Yeah. Award to her. I did think Monte's best scenes in this movie. Well, I really. She really like the opening of the movie with. Him. I do, too. I think that's actually that was a where he's performing surgery in this hospital on the fucking lights can't even Yeah literally because they don't have any money his his reactions with his eyes to that are excellent and he's wearing a mask. Right. And and then what he says about it is very good but then I think also his every, every scene he's in with Elizabeth Taylor is amazing. Like he's actually really good in it. Yeah. But particularly the one where at the very end right before the monologue. Yeah. He gives her basically a some type of sedative to help relax her too, so she can tell the truth the way that he is present with her. Yeah. This is the most present he is in the whole movie. Yeah, Very fair. And that's when you really see, like, their real life stuff. That's exactly. So that's what I mean about why I love their chemistry is because even apparently in his where he was at. Yeah. In his life like even in this scene it's there. Yeah. Yeah. She's just a fucking revelation. What a I get it, man I get I get the Elizabeth Taylor phenomenon. Yeah. If you've only seen, like, some of her most well-known movies, like, say, you've only seen Butterfield eight, which you won her Oscar for and Cleopatra, those are not good representations of her work and not you go you do place in the sun suddenly last summer. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? You're like, Who the hell is this? This is not I mean, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Cat on a Hot Tin roof. Absolutely. She definitely lives up. She deserves her status as an icon. Absolutely. Yes, she does. And she's so beautiful. Oh, she really is just like, devastatingly gorgeous, like And in this movie, I think she might actually be some of her praise because she's wearing much, much makeup. Right. Not done right when that opening scene of her in her prison cell. Not right. So but yeah, I was like, yep, yeah. Damn, girl, jump flying off the screen. Flying off. So I'm going to do a few behind the scenes story of this, behind the scenes stories of this movie. Get to move on. Yeah. And trust me, I do not talk about this, like, Hollywood lore stuff unless I can really, like, back it up in getting, you know, there's a great Blu ray of this, just a ton of special features. So I bought that, watched it. Gary Raymond, who's in it, was a costar in the movie. He is interviewed and he said Montgomery Clift was the most charming man I've ever met. And he said Tennessee Williams, a phrase that I think described Clift perfectly because Clift was so charming, but he had the charm of the defeated. Oh, what a brilliant way to say. Like he was just a defeated man and had this charm. So, like, really good guy. Everyone who was making the movie, at least everyone who is, you know, represented on this Blu ray, just the the just is about the same. Like great actor, very charming, deeply, deeply troubled. Like, very, very troubled. I brought up the drunkenness thing because apparently it was so bad. Like, not only did they have to cut around his drunkenness for the final film, they had to cut around it for the dailies that they showed producers because they said if we showed dailies of him just wasted like this, they're going to tell me to fire him. And so, yeah, they were there was a lot going on, but apparently there was so much going on that Joseph Mankiewicz, very famous director, directed all about a very, very famous, great career. The movie Mank is about his brother's older brother, Herman. He did not have a good time with Monte and was an asshole to him. Like in front of everyone would degrade him, berate him, all this stuff to the point where this just insane Katharine Hepburn looks like no other and was just it would get in these huge arguments about how dare you treat in this way. So apparently and this has to be true because it's so many places, but apparently Katharine Hepburn was done and she was done. She was wrapped. She went up to Joseph Feldman. You know, there's applause. And she went to Jezebel. Mankiewicz She said, It's my work Donen's picture. He said, Yes, it is. Thank you very much. And she spit in his fucking face. Nice bit. And it's she's a bowl for Marty, all for Monty and that I mean, I found that story so many places, so it just, you know, has to be true. But yeah, that was, you know, another reason I'm talking about the substance abuse on this set is specifically because of the next movie we're going to talk about, which I think plays right into it. Yeah, I think this is truly a remarkable thing. Well, that's a really cool story. Yeah. Yeah. And I love Katharine Hepburn. Why she's always been I've heard so many stories about her. She just seems like like I believe that story because she stood up for herself and other people her whole entire life and career. When I'm imagining life was not easy for a woman like, Oh my God, for women. But with a star power like her, she'd seen and done it all. Like, I mean, so she knows the worst of the worst and she knows the best of the best and. Always kept a real level of classiness throughout her life. Big fan of her. But to be able to kind of go in this Marnie Clift journey, to be able to go. Exactly. And I did see these ones in chronological order of something last summer to Wild River. Yeah. Holy Shit. Yes. Wild River Difference next year, 1960, directed by Elia Kazan, who people may know better for Streetcar Named Desire on the Waterfront, one of the most famous directors of all time, Elia Kazan. He was interested in hiring Marty for this. Marty is Chuck Glover. He comes plays Chuck Glover in the film. This is going to be a different sort of Hollywood movie, a different sort of Kazan movie. It's mostly all location there. It's big scale. There's no soundstages, no studio. But in order for Montgomery Clift to be in this film, he had to be dead sober, not dead sober while they shot dead sober the entire time. The film filming because he's in like damn near every scene he carries the whole. Yeah. And this was this was kind of common of, like, the hardcore boozers back in old Hollywood. It not rare for them to just, you know, they were boozers. That's how they lived. But then when a big role came, they would dry out and they would dry out like old school, like go 40 days, 50 days and just teetotal, like literally not touching the stuff. And then as soon as they wrapped, they just started getting hammered again. Yeah, that's exactly what Monty did here. And when you if you watch Suddenly Last Summer and then put on Wild River immediately after the difference just in his face and his acting is really like startling to the point where I text, you know, I was like, Oh my God, you can just tell how clear and wide eyed he is. Yeah, I think that all helps make this one of the best performances he did in one of the best movies he was. And again, no one talks about this movie Wild River, Elia Kazan's favorite film that he directed. Do the people need to see this movie? Oh, you know what else I missed? Range Free County was, his first film in color. I should have mentioned that this is his second. Yeah. And this thing because we've only seen crappy versions of Raintree County. I own the Wild River Blu ray, the Cinemascope. Oh my God. It is gorgeous. Gorgeous. But yeah, let's get into it. Yeah. This movie, this is one of my absolute favorite movies of his entire career. Yeah, same here. I love this movie, but just kind of piggybacking off of just his clarity. Yeah, you're right. It's remarkable. It's as soon as you see him on screen. Yes. The night day difference. And it's not to say that in like these other performances, like you can't tell that he's drunk. No, it's. Yeah, I don't want to make too big of a thing about. Yeah. He's not like slurring. He's not falling. It's just if you're obsessed with him like I am and like you've become and you watch all of the performances in very quick succession, you can tell there's just. There's just a slight difference. I Think it's in the presence. And this one is just, wow, is he presence? So focus. And this movie just fucking rocks. Yeah like so good. This is it feels like Chinatown sometimes. It feels. Was the movie your blood? There will be blood when he's going in like it. You know, when he's trying to buy everyone's land and going and you know, when he goes, you know, do you have bread? Do you have potatoes from that all the way to the banshee track? When he's talking like I'd like to, I'd like to have a word. It's basically river. Is that for like 2 hours. Yeah. And I can describe a little bit about what it's about cause I know a lot of people haven't seen this one either. Oh, yeah. Essentially, it's kind of based on true ish like events. It takes place in 1937. And again, Monte's playing a guy named Chuck Glover, and he works in DC and he is now the head of the Tennessee Valley Authority's land purchasing office. So he has to go to Tennessee. And basically what this was is that like around this time they were building these dams, these hydroelectric dams, and once these got set up, all these like kind of old school houses just out there on the Wild River, on these little tiny islands where people have lived really like forever, hundreds of years. They're literally going to be underwater. Like once this land goes up, it's going to happen. Yeah. And this land has already been purchased by the TVA. So even though you've lived here forever, you may. But probably don't own a lease on this land. Your family may have been here for 200 years, but sorry you got to get the hell out before this dam comes and you do not have a choice. You don't. Now, there's one woman Joe Van Fleet who is so good, so good. She's Ella Garth, and she just will not give up. Like leaving. She's like, I'm not leaving. I have my people here who work me, I, my family here. I'm not leaving. So then it becomes like, what I love about this performance also is that he doesn't go in. There is like some hardass, you know, you get the sense that everyone else has. And he goes, I'm just going to go talk to her like I can't go. I can't know anything unless I go talk to her and maybe I just want to get her to leave. And that's that's really what the movie's about. Like, can I get this woman in this family to leave an obvious you know, the woman has a sons who don't like him much because they don't want to leave. And that's just and then, of course, there's a love interest that comes involved. Hodge, played by Lee Remick, who's oh, my God, she's so good. One of his best chemistry ever had. Yeah, but that's, you know, that's where we start in this thing is just shot in gorgeous color. All of his scenes with Jo Van Fleet, all of his scenes with Lee Remick are, Oh, my God, It makes it this is one of the most fun movies of his to watch me. Also, Bruce Dern's first film, I will say, who is he in here? He's one of the assholes and he's one of the s he's one of the assholes at the end who's with the group. But then he's like, You can't do that. You can't hit a woman, you can't eat a woman, and then you don't know him. Well, he's like that guy, not that good, but he's like, Whoa, whoa, you just crossed the line. You can't a woman. So he's one of the men who actually gets knocked out by. Oh, wow. Yeah. You'll recognize and be Don't hit a woman. Not that guy, but yes, this is all obviously because like no one in this Tennessee town likes the big man from the city coming in and tell him what to do. Even though Chuck is carrying himself with a lot humility and a lot of understanding, he's trying to get to understand these people, not just like, get the hell out of here now. He's taken our women, now he's doing this. So, yeah, tensions rise. You know what? I you know what going to give this movie what I I've mentioned this a few times that you know I have a certain way that I describe certain movies. No perfect notes perfect or it is this is a this is a nick dose of what are you watching? Note Perfect movie. I love it. I truly believe that it is. I do not think there is one second of this movie that is not there is no point and there's no bad scene. No, there isn't one bad performance. I don't have too much, honestly, outside of just how much I how good I think it is. Yeah, it's it's one of those like again, this is one this is a movie I had never even heard of before. I started reading to Cliff three years ago and. I go, Wow. Like, it's and I've never heard of this. And then I watch it and I don't I, you know, didn't really have high hopes. Like, it's about a guy trying to convince people to leave land because a dam is. Sounds great. Yeah, sounds sounds great. Sounds like a detective is going to, you know, look into the water crisis in L.A., and that becomes Chinatown. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it is kind of like a sleuth Chinatown in that way, which you mentioned. And it just when you watch this, you can see influences that this had on other movies in the Heat of the Night, which was made seven years later. That final like Showdown Me of that a lot, just a lot going on in it. And then also, God, if you can get a hold of this Blu ray, his eyes have never looked bluer. Yeah, I mean, he's just some of the you know, the focus and the clarity helps with that, too. Yeah. The the colors in this movie are so specific, so they're so vivid, but it's just it's just the color palette of the movie. Yeah, it's very autumn. It might be one of the most autumn looking movies I've ever seen. And, you know, and I'm not really a fan of the I Know you are. You love the Technicolor look of movies from the sixties. Yeah. Yeah, I, I oftentimes get turned off by it. I just feel like it feels very dated to a very specific point, which it was. That's exactly why I love it, because it was such a place in time of like, this is it, you know, it really made those colors pop in a way that and but this is an exception for me. Like this is one where I'm like, God, I could look at this movie all day. It's it's a gorgeous looking movie. There's there's a couple of lines that I, I think this movie contains the best proposal. Oh, I have that right down to. Yeah. In the dirt or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. So good like, will you marry me? Yes. And it just cuts to the next day of the wedding ceremony, and they got married quick. And he says, because that book is like, part of the beauty of this movie is Li Li remix fights. Yes. She knows he loves her. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. He's just denying it, right? Is denying himself he's not not budging on it. And she calls him out. Yeah, for all the fucking reason she pleads her case. I wrote this last scene, and I'm, like, she's fucking going for it, right? And she's leaving no stone unturned when it comes to a woman dealing with a stubborn man about this stuff. Yeah. And then finally, like, in the most chaotic, like, life and death circumstances, he basically just goes, All right, Yeah, Yeah, exactly. But he says, I'll regret it. I'm sure you'll regret it. But get your hat. Let's go. Let's do it. Oh, God, I love it. And he really sells the and he sells it. It's almost romantic. Yeah, that's like. It's crazy. Oh, my God. Yeah, I read that, too. I love it. Oh, and there's one line. There's just the writing of the movie that I just love, where someone asked him a question and he just all goes under the general heading of progress. Yeah, Yeah, that's a good fucking line. I also like their they're little meet cute when you know he's clearly an educated man and she's an educated person and she just says, I haven't talked to someone in so long. Yeah. Like I haven't talked to someone who I can just have like an honest, fun conversation with about not just like this land or whatever it is. Yeah, I love it. Their chemistry is great. Again, they're like, final scene, the wave. Oh, it's just so perfect. It's so good. His scene in the hotel room with that asshole. Yeah, asshole. The main dude. What if. What a fucking great scene that is. I have that written here that like again, we're going back to this physical confidence that even though he may not be able to win in a physical fight, this is small. He just does not back down. You all frame strong heart. Yes, always. And that's I think that's a very, very common theme. Yeah. For him in all this was whether he's playing guys who can handle themselves or can there's not too many movies where Monte his character's back down right. And if they do it's there's a real good reason. Yeah real good one. And it's a very poignant and powerful one and he very rarely he never played a bad guy I don't really think not really definite played an asshole like, yeah, little station is an asshole, but not like just a hardcore villain. He was never Robert Ryan in Lonely. No, it wasn't like that. No. Eventually we would have got something like that down the line. Yeah, of course. That's what makes it sad. Also a fun commentary by a film critic on this wild river Blu ray. Got to learn some fun things from it. Kazan wanted Brando for the lead, but he always wanted Brando for everything. That's what this guy said. Brando did never responded. It was funny. Apparently Clifton Kazan worked on a Broadway production of a play called Skin of Our Teeth in 1941, so that's how they had a bit of a working relationship. That acting coach I told you about Maria over. She made it one whole day on Kazan set, and Kazan was like, Get the hell out of here, but still went back every day to the trailer and was, you know, breaking things down for her. And then of a really funny story is that Clift did stay sober the entire time. And apparently he showed up on the final day, even though he didn't have much to do was like standing in the background and he was completely and utterly wrecked, just crash. And he went up to Kazan. And Kazan was like, Marty, you've done it. It's okay just go, go sleep it off, go rest. But it really shows you like I mean, he just made it up until like, just that last day. Yeah. I mean, that demon that he would have been fighting against. But again, Elia Kazan, on more than one occasion called this his favorite film that he directed. So that should be a selling point. That's a huge selling point. Absolutely. Me move right to one of my favorites I've talked about on this podcast a lot, The Misfits. Yes. 1961, directed by the great John Houston. Here we have the understated and kindhearted Pierce Howard. This is a movie written by Arthur Miller. Based on his book, he kind of wrote it for his wife at the time, Marilyn Monroe. And, you know, the making of this movie was hard for everyone. It was Clark Gable. Last film was Marilyn Monroe's last film. It was very close to being Monte's last film. And it was it was a tough film to make for her think. And I know it kind of seems like it's in part ruined her marriage to him. It's kind of crazy. Like she he wrote this great role for her. But wow, I mean, I don't even know where to start with this Again. I talked about this one a lot. It's just like a good it's like an old Hollywood revisionist Western, because I think because it takes place like in 1961, there's no reason for it to take for us to think it takes place any earlier than that. And it's really what is actually really like the fourth lead who's about like Clark Gable and Eli Wallach, who are friends. They out of nowhere Meet Marilyn Monroe and her friend Thelma Ritter, the four of them kind of band up. And it's like, yeah, come, come out, stay at our house, and we'll just like, hang out. That's kind of all it is. And then very loose kind of connection and a of plot in this movie. And we're kind of getting to know it's like, okay, it's a love triangle now it's Clark Gable and Eli Wallach both going for Marilyn Monroe. And then they decide, like, we're going to go out and, you know, rustle up some mustangs and do that. But before we do, like, let's go to the rodeo. Let's try to find someone to rustle up these mustangs. So we're 45 minutes into the movie when Montgomery Clift appears just sitting in front of a phone booth is Pierce Howard and one of my favorite intros, His first scene in this movie, talking to his mom on that telephone was one of my favorite scenes he's ever had. But now we're going to venture into an aspect of his career where he's like, he's just not playing star often anymore. And that's that seemed to be a very conscious effort. But this is this is always been one of my favorite performances of his. I know you just watched it for the first time, so let's talk about it. I loved it. I loved him and I love the movie. I Really loved the movie. I was kind of blown away by for actually a number of reasons I do want to talk about. But I think the first thing I wanted I was Arthur Miller. Yes, the writing of this movie is just fantastic. Like it's it's all the characters brought it to life. But I was really floored it. And I and I love movies that move like this. Oh, yeah, But you're right. There's not really a plot like there is a general sort of idea. And it's vague too. Like we don't really know what's really happening here. But these people are just doing things and these relationships are forming. Some of it's clear, some of it's not, but it's all good. And just watching Marilyn Monroe give like a really good performance, that's my favorite verse. But if we're really going to bring it back to Monte Franklin, right, good. Oh, one of my favorite parts. So they pick yeah, they pick them up and they're like, you know, come to the rodeo with us. And he goes, Well, I don't have $10 to put up for. So if you put up the $10 and give me a little bottle of whiskey, I'll do the rodeo and then I'll do your will wrangle out some mustangs tomorrow. And God, there's just no one like you got to. You know, when we meet him in that phone call, he's dead sober. Oh, well, you know, his character's dead sober. And then when we get in the car in that bottle being passed around, you just see it like no one can play drunk. Like he can see it. Come on. And then. Yeah, Franklin, go. And they roll up to that rodeo I made you, like, pay attention. I was like, All right, listen to this. There is rolling up and they're passing the bottle and he's like, yelling out of the car. And then he spots this guy. He just goes, Oh, look, there's Franklin boy. He hate his wife that he left. And he goes, Hey, Frank, good health, your wife. And then when he gets back in the car, it's the hardest we ever see. Montgomery Clift laughs. Oh, it's like, great. Oh, my God. It's just the funniest line. I have no idea if that was written, if he just made it up. It is hysterical. He he's such a like, again, like the choices that makes are are so great. Like the again, we're talking about humor. Like what he finds funny. Yeah. You know and this is a character that actually has a lot of levity. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He does not take life too seriously. And because he doesn't take his body seriously, this guy is going out there getting. Yeah, like, and it's all good and he's got some money partying. Yeah. LAUGHTER Yeah, but let's bring it back to that phone call. Oh, right in the beginning. Or his, his performance. Yeah, that's a I'm obsessed with phone calls. I think that's why I kind of put one in my short. There I go. Which is very funny, because he says mom in the phone and I'm like, Oh, my God, that's that's too that's too good. That phone call, if you just look at the dialog right there and the trails that it takes, Monty colored every single one of those parts of that phone call. Yes. And we never meet his mom that he's talking, so we never even go back to it. But we understand this guy by just the colors that he's chosen to paint with by having this phone call. I think that's an all time or phone call. It is. That's that's a truly, truly great phone call for a scene forwards. Nothing. No, you just were just getting to know him. If you pay attention and, like, rewatch and study, like, I have a lot. You're learning a lot about him. Yes, you are. I mean, and then I can't help but notice the parallels to his real life when he just goes, you know, there's a pause and he's like, Oh, yeah, my face is fine. You never even notice the damage. And yeah, what are we talking about? The accident like this is I mean, was there anyone even else, the other line, like while they were filming the movie, or is he just performing this like an empty? It's crazy. Like the pauses. He's like, You say hi. So then say to them, and then, you know, he misses his stepdad. Yeah. Okay, fine. Well, I didn't marry him. You did. So say hi to him if you want. Oh, God, it's so good. You hear, like, the. He really wanted to send her a gift. You know, I want to send you a gift, but I'm coming out of my boots. And like the shame, he keeps closing the door when he's like, Yeah. And then he's embarrassed. The sound goes out a little bit. Oh, it's so great. And even more. Yeah. And you're watching Marilyn Monroe, like, really observe this guy, right? That's so good. I can't imagine there was a voice on the other end. I don't think so. So that just makes it even better that he's, like, reacting to nothing. Yeah, And it's just go so well. And then as as the movie goes on, like his performance and what seems to matter to him and you know, the goodness of him comes out very ensemble piece and it all works. And Eli Wallach really gets a shit end of the stick. I mean, he does. He's really good in the movie. He's really good. Yeah. I mean, everyone's really good in it, but like, even the way when they're, you know, Marilyn Rowe gets a hold of that, like, paddleboat and she's like, doing the bar and they're all making money. And, you know, how many times can she hit it? And that guy starts, you know, spanking her. Oh, yeah, Like wallet goes to try to fight him. Monte's not even there. And then he comes up out of nowhere. He's drunk and he goes right to the guy who is doing the spanking, and he goes, Oh, you look horrified. Yes, Like, so excited. He's like, And he's the skinniest guy in the room. But he would love to just throw down like, no problem. They go to the rodeo. He gets a massive concussion. Yeah. Yes. His head is all bandaged to shit. And then, of course, after they go out drinking, they're getting hammered and then we arrive. Oh, very quickly. Just one of my all time favorite Marty scenes. And my interest is right up there. Yeah, Yeah. Sitting in Marilyn Monroe's lap, just putting his head in her lap. He does that and up until this point, you know, how could a man meet a woman like Marilyn Monroe and not be interested, which he is right away? Because everyone would be. But as getting ready for the rodeo, you know, he goes up to Clark Gable, whose character's name is gay, and he's like, you know, I wouldn't want to move in on you. Yeah. He's like, Well, I would mind if you did it. And then from on, there's no sexual awkwardness between Pierce and Marilyn Monroe that's reserved for Eli Wallach and Clark Gable. So when this happens, you know, they're drunk. He just puts his head in her lap. Very platonic. Yeah. They just start talking about their lives and everything. And it is one of my favorite scenes they ever did. I've mentioned most people know that Marilyn Monroe, tough to work with. She had a lot of demons. Also had the coach on set would be late. So is Montgomery Clift. Apparently they shot the scene very quickly and it went off pretty much without a hitch and I think you can tell I think they seem so natural together. They do. They really got great chemists again, great chemistry again. And as I've said many, many times before, it was after the making of this movie that Marilyn Monroe was interviewed about it. She said, Montgomery Clift is the only person I've ever met who's in worse shape than I am, and that is one hell of a statement. It really well, but I said, I mean, oh my God, it's just one of my favorite. And we're not like, there's no screaming, there's no shouting, there's no big emotion. It's just a guy with his head in some woman's lap, just like talking about his life. And I love it. It's it's really one of my favorite scenes from him that he's ever done. Ever. Yeah. It's it's it's it's remarkable. It's so good. I really like that movie. Yeah. Five minute long scenes. Just talking about being alone. His father dying when he was young. Mother marrying a new guy who we know he already doesn't like. I love it. I love it. I love it. He wakes up drunk, like in the car a few hours later and he doesn't remember, like, why the bandages? Yeah. Yeah. So you won't let this on my head without telling me? You leave me at a disadvantage. You love it. Believe me, I love the way when he's drunk, he gets, like, breathless. Yeah, and he get, like, high pitched up and then. Yeah, don't want to really say where the movie goes. I think it's just better explored. But this is one of my absolute favorite movies we're talking about today and I can not recommended highly enough. Yeah, I agree. Completely agree. Oh, all right. Well, now we go to the other 1961 movie. Jesus. I mean, my dad sold this really well on the place in the part when he was listing his favorite Monty Clift performances, Judgment in Nuremberg, 1961, directed by Stanley Kramer playing Rudolph Petersen. It's about a three hour movie, and he's playing Rudolph Petersen for 17 consecutive minutes. Yep. Comes in at about the 50 minute mark. And when he leaves, he's not mentioned again. He's not on screen again. This is a tough performance talk about because we could almost like put it on like a commentary for it because it's 17 minutes. But it is well, actually, I've seen it a bunch. Why don't you do it? Because you just watch it for the first time. I've thought a lot about, okay, I believe you. I'm going to use one of my favorite words that you use. Okay. I am not trying to be hyperbolic. Yes. When I say this because, I'm really I'm really trying to think about if I mean what I'm about to say. And I really think I do. I think this scene is the best on camera acting I've ever seen. A half suck, man. I love it. I you can't tonight. I mean, I'm getting I'm getting emotional thinking about it because, you know, you're given this character and you have to make them come to life. And this guy just sits down in a chair. And in the course of 17 minutes we go, we have a straight up beginning, middle and end. Oh, yeah and every single moment of this scene is so lived in, I don't think I can give better example of what good acting is, right? Because we're just talking about a scene, one scene I so I did not watch this whole movie. Okay. This running late on my trying to get all these in. But you had kind of told me that like if you get to the whole movie, great. If you don't, all you need is Monty you because that's all he's in that set. It's not like they're referencing him constantly before and after he's on screen. It's just it's literally like a cameo scene stealer. If anyone's really interested in what I'm saying about maybe try it my way and then watch the whole entire movie is YouTube because. Yeah, because that's what I did. Yeah. Yeah. And so all I knew about this movie and I might even be wrong this was a three hour movie of a bunch of trials going on about Nazi war crimes. Yeah. I mean, one trial in particular where a bunch of, like Nazi, criminals are, you know, on trial for their war crimes. Yes. Burt Lancaster is the head Nazi. This is the sixties. They cast weird people. Yes. Just with like, a German accent. But yes. And the whole thing is a courtroom drama. But then, because Spencer Tracy is the judge, it will also like, after long courtroom scenes, show his personal life of like meeting people and kind of hanging out with people. And, you know, it's a good movie. It's a classic movie. It is, But we're just talking about Marty Clifton. Yeah, So I didn't know any of that is true, that this was what was. And so when Monte's scene comes on, you just watch him in his physicality, walk up to this stand. Yeah, the way he puts on his headphones, the way he sits, the way he finds this is what I mean by this is the greatest acting on camera scene of every scene is because everything is a choice. And it's it it lets you know immediately who he is. And then the way the writing and the performance all reveal what's happened to him. Yeah, not knowing any of that. And then the way that it ends, like I'm serious. I can't I can't think of a more well-done piece of business than this. My dad's going to love hearing you say that. He's going to like. I really can't. I am speechless. It's the way that he's trying to explain himself. The humor. Again, going back to the humor, there is a moment where he announces his occupation and he's a he's a baker's helper. Yeah. And he has this moment where he's so proud of himself. And you can see that this there's a joy that he must get out being this baker's help, right. That comes out of him. His arms go off to the side and he's a baker's helper. Yeah, Yeah. And I know exactly how he feels about his job. When he talks about his family, he lights up. He. He's got a very positive view on his family. These are all tiny little details that he went through and combed through and made specific. You know, when all of a sudden now the mood is changed because this prosecutor has now brought up information and hits him with it. Yeah. And then there's your I think your favorite moment of this scene is because I don't want to say anything about it. But basically, yeah, the prosecutor forces him to prove something. Well, yeah, it's the I believe it's the prosecuting the prosecuting attorney is the one like on his side. So he's the one who does it first and is asking him all these kind of softball questions. Yeah. Family. Yeah. And if you notice, you may not you may wonder, like, why these are really simple questions for an adult man. What do you do? And he seems proud in his answers. And Monte's like, Yeah, he's saying it with confidence in this. But then it's the defense attorneys. Defense. Yeah. Who won the Who won that? Who won the Oscar for best actor? Maximilian Schell. He's really good in it. He gets asked the tougher questions. Yeah, I mean, yeah, we are. We're toeing the line. It's tricky balance because I just want people to watch this with no contact. With no contact. But the softball questions were soft and they're all like current stuff. But when this attorney has to dive more of his past and more of like, Why are you now the way that you are? Rudolph was not ready for this. And it's like no one prepared this guy, no one prepare this witness. Because what I will say is that Rudolph, pretty quickly, you can discern like he's not all there, He's a little slow. There's not there's something missing. We don't really know why. And then this defense attorney just like hones in on that and asks him the simplest question in the world, I don't it gives him the simplest prompt. He just says, use these three words a sentence. I'm not even going to say the words because they make like it be so easy to use in a sentence. And instead of answering that simple question, he just goes on this torture diatribe and he it you know, he loses the thread. And what what the prosecutors needed to prove what they needed Rudolph's help for. He's really not able to that. And he comes off as nuts and insane. And because he's insane, no one should listen to what he has to say. It's incredibly sad. It's very sad not knowing any of it like and seeing the way it all happens. I my jaw was just dropped and I felt I just felt every single breath he took in moment that he that he made that I've really that's just that's just the best. That's the best I've ever seen. I mean, even when they announce, like he's going to come in like you don't you may not know that like Monty Clift is playing Rudolph Peterson. So they say Rudolph Peterson, they like open that door in the back. And he, like, still takes like a visit to like walk in a frame than he does. And he looks like a little confused and oh, my God. I mean, my dad said this is the biggest crime in Oscar history, not giving him this award. I'm and Judy Garland. I mean, I have to agree because, like I'm saying this like, I think this is the greatest acting I've ever seen. And and because now that we talk about this a little bit on their pod, where, you know, there's certain performances where it's like, okay, an actor shows up for one scene and then they're nominated for an Academy Award, like, Oh, are we really going to do that? Well, Angela Bassett just did it with them kind of forever. I mean, essentially, essentially kind of like. And Michelle Williams, Manchester, even though she's in a few scenes. No, but really, it's that one big moment. Yeah. Beatrice Straight won an Oscar for network for one big scene. Yeah. And but this is one this is one this is one should have done it. I mean, it's it's an undeniable scene. Yeah. There's no way that you can watch this scene. And I'd be like, Holy fuck. Right? Like, that's, that's as good as it's ever going to get. Yeah. I mean we unfortunately that was the West Side Story wave that won almost everything at once. Supporting actor George Chakiris and supporting actress. And that's just the way it went. But God, it would have been great if he if he took this. I love him so much in this. Well, high praise from you. I just love it. Yeah, that's my phrase. I could get it. And then this. I don't know how much is worth going into this. A lot has been written about, you know, I have always heard that he was in rough shape when he made this. He Couldn't really remember a lot of lines. There are conflicting stories about that. But whatever he was bringing in, whether he was drunk, whether he wasn't, it's just all torture and pain on that guy's face. I don't even know. Yeah. And and then yeah, because there is a lot like in the documentary of making Montgomery Clift that alludes to a lot of that. But then there's also some speculation that like just directors didn't like him. Yeah, yeah, for various reasons. And so just kind of start saying stuff, Right, Right. Because there is some proof. Well, at least a script that Monty made for himself, right? It's like it's a really beat for beat. Like he's saying his lines right. The way that he wrote them, you know, even if he was fucked up and the editor made that, I mean. Well, that's the thing is like, I don't really know how much you can really edit around because you wouldn't be able to edit around that scene. It's all him. Yes. And they're on him and it's not short takes like there are. Yeah. Going around the back of your head and it does that a few times. So it's not like you can cut to, you know in a courtroom you have a lot of cutting opportunities. Yeah. That lawyer, that person, that fucking Nazi on the stand, but they hold on him for really for long takes should have won the damn Oscar. Okay, we only have two left. It's 1962. John Houston has been wanting to make his biopic about Sigmund Freud for a very long time. He had a good time working with Monty on The Misfits. Now, apparently, there's probably a reason a lot of people haven't heard of this movie or seen it. It's actually not a terrible movie. It actually has like some really trippy, like LSD ish dream sequences that are really cool. It's certainly not as good as The Misfits. I wouldn't call it one of John Best films. I don't think he would either. The it's a biopic about Sigmund Freud. Marty Play Sigmund Freud. Okay, So that's what the movie's about. Not really much else to like kind of talk about plot wise. John Huston apparently just made Monte's Life a living hell while making this. Evidently, this is another one that had a commentary on the DVD that I bought and I was learning a lot of new things, apparently like in shortly into filming, maybe even in pre-production. But I think they were already filming. John Huston just walked into a bedroom and saw Monty in bed with his male lover. And, you know, John Huston didn't knock or anything. He wasn't expecting to find this. And apparently he was just repulsed because, you know, it's the sixties and he's an old guy and it's John Huston and all that stuff. And he would just kind of pester him a lot. And that's not something that Montgomery Clift needed at this time of his life. That's always the legacy I had heard about the now the movie itself, some selling points like it has a great Jerry Goldsmith score, which is cool, like really early. Clift is really game to play Freud. I watch this. I can't really speculate if he was messed up or not. I don't have that information. Houston set up all these absurd rules. This is like the old school directory, like his star. So basically Houston's like, If you want to be in this movie, Monty, you're not allowed to be gay on set. Meaning like act gay at all, whatever the fuck that means. He wasn't allowed to engage in homosexual acts while he made the film, like, at all, period. It wasn't allowed to be drunk. He wasn't allowed to take pills. And apparently Houston was trying to sort of like a version therapy. Like he didn't actually think Monty was going to do all this. And, you know, he just wanted to assert control over it. And apparently all that attempt to assert just spun Monty out. Then he drank more and more drugs and he I don't know about sleeping around, but it really was not a good time. It was not a good time to the point where the studio behind the movie, after the movie was made sued Montgomery Clift and said he was late so much that he caused us so many delays like he was late. He didn't show up. And this dude actually countersued and said, no, John Houston made that set a living hell. So how was I supposed to work under those conditions? Marty wins the suit, the settlement of which was never revealed. But honestly, I see that. And I go, You just gave this chronic alcoholic huge chunk of money without having to do much. So of course, he's just going to spend four years, you know, pissing it away, which is essentially what he did. And it's very, very sad. But I'm not trying to put like Freud ruined his life. John Houston ruined his life. His I just think this helped, you know, kind of derail it a little quicker. But, you know, even though it's not the best movie, when it was said and done, Houston actually liked Clift's performance and thought it was really intense and really great. And we're not done talking about John Huston, actually, where he's going to be brought up later. But one final thing in terms of costars, Susannah York and Monty got along very well. She's the female lead in this, and that was usually the case of his female costars. Okay. So apparently they would rehearse their lines together ad nauseum, get them book perfect. At the end of every shoot, they would show up on set. And Houston had just written like completely different dialog. And he did that to Monty Clift. Like, yeah, he's like he spent months like getting used to this dialog. So that's why, you know, apparently not unlike Katharine Hepburn, Susannah York just hit and pushed John Huston over because he was making fun of Monty so much and they kind of just started like a physical confrontation with them on the set. So good on you. Yeah, I don't have much to say about Freud, but I was glad I'd only seen it once and I was glad I bought the DVD. Listen to the commentary. I definitely have a newfound appreciation for it, but it really sounds like one of those things where this, you know, egomaniacal, who's a really good director, just kind of felt the need to bully his star for a shoot. And it sucks. That sucks. But it does take he does take four years off. It's a pretty long gap. And then by way of bringing up his last film, The Defector, which was released in 1966, directed by Raul Levi. Here Clift is playing Professor James Bower. And what I want to say about this, actually, I'm not going to talk about the defector first because some time had passed and Houston is getting ready to make another film. You know, Freud is in 62. He's teeing up another movie called Reflections in a Goldeneye, and it was going to be released in 1967, apparently because of how poorly he treated Clift on the set of that movie. John Huston apparently felt very bad and he wanted to make a movie his next movie was about a closeted homosexual soldier who is married to Elizabeth Taylor and like trying to figure it out. And he felt bad about his treatment for Clift. He felt bad about his stance on gay people. So he offered so it didn't offer to him. But Elizabeth Taylor was like, I'll do your movie. Monty's my co-lead, and I will no exceptions. They couldn't even get insurance to cover Monty. So she, like Elizabeth Taylor, offered to put up some of the money and John Houston was on board. It was going to be kind of a mea culpa, was going to be an apology. Big movie, big deal. He takes some convincing Monty, takes some convincing from Liz from John Houston. And he begged Lizabeth. Yeah, Thanks, Dad. I've been. He's not here. That's why I've been calling her Liz so much. God was shot. He got so, so worked up. I loved it. I know, but reflections in a Goldeneye is going to be a big movie. He knows this. He's worked with John Huston twice, so he he is looking for a role, almost any role just to dip his foot back into the acting landscape. The defector comes his way. This has always been a sentimental favorite for me because it's his last movie. But, you know, the movie has obvious flaws, like it really does. He genuinely seems game throughout it. He's in good spirits and, you know, like the first time he meets up with a friend, he kind of jumps up on him. It's just really fun. He's very light. It's one of those light kind of movies. He doesn't look like he's in good shape. Yeah, just doesn't. He doesn't look like he's in good shape. He looks like he's frankly kind of on his way out, even though he was game. Like, there's no reports that he was tough to work with on that set. Yes. Some tough stunts to do. He like climb up stuff. He has to go in like some motor river and he insisted on doing all those himself, which I really like the basically like the plot of the movie is that he's trying to find like you know this defector and bring him back and all this stuff. It's one of those like Soviet thrillers of the sixties, all that, but he is going and he's trying to find this person and he gets invited into a hotel room like this is where you'll be staying your whole time in this country. And they drop him in the hotel room and basically takes him about 5 minutes to realize this room. The door does not open. It's been sealed shut. There are no windows. And people just basically the people like fuck with him for like you don't know how long it could be days, could be weeks. So what happens is, like this really tripped out like sixties sequence of this dude locked in a room losing his mind. It's basically like they're studying him. So it's basically like a torture chamber and they're not doing anything. But like, you know, he'll try to pick up the phone and it's room service, like he can order room service. They'll off food, but that's it. They won't answer any other questions. This is a really trippy scene. He seems totally on board with it. It's like has no idea where he is sometimes. And then, you know, once it's done and they let him out, he doesn't even seem like that faces. I can't say that that was an experience. Okay. But it just yeah, it's so good. So I know you haven't seen this one. Yeah, I had that one. This one. I've seen clips it. Yeah. I think those clips I've seen have been from that. Yeah. Yeah. That's the best scene in the series in that room. And then when he's like on the run at the end it actually has like a really good ending. So I do like this movie if for no other reason that it is his last like is a sentimental favorite, I do want everyone to see it for that reason. It is not the best movie he was in. No one would say that, but he's really got that looseness to him here. He's very agile, despite looking like way older or beyond years. He's very good in it. He's very good. But they make the defector. It's wrapped before The movie is released on July 22nd, 1966, just a few months after he made the defector, Monty Clift, was preparing for his next role in John Huston's reflections in Goldeneye.

And at 6: 2:58:46

30 a.m., Monty's Private Nurse Lorenzo James went to wake Monte up in his bedroom in the bedroom of his New York City townhouse. Monte did not respond. James broke in and found Montgomery Clift dead in his bed. An autopsy confirmed that he had died in his sleep from a heart attack. He was 45 years old. That's it. 40. And that is it. That's all we got from Montgomery Clift. We have 17 incredible performances from 1948 to 1966. I love him so much. What an all timer, iconic screen legend who just lived a tortured, tortured life that called out to him. But I will always love him and I will always love the like you said, the lore surrounding him. Yeah, I mean, it's there and you can dive into it as much you want. I think you're almost sort of I think the Yeah, there is an intrigue about him that just does want to make, you know about, you know, this person and it seems like no one ever will. It's like that's the whole thing about him is that I mean, unless you were even one of his closest friends, there is always something that you couldn't reach. Yeah, Yeah. And but you can reach his work. And one of the things that I really liked about him in researching him is that he really, really cared about the work that really, even with all of the troubles that he had at the end of the day, he was about that. Yeah. And it shows in the performances that he gave and the idea if you don't know who he is or you've only seen a couple of things like the work will speak for itself. Yeah, please just go put some of this on because I mean, another reason why I love him, because he's in so many of these movies and doing so many of these performances where I'm like, I didn't even know they could do this shit in the fifties. In the 40 000, some of these movies is crazy. Really, really crazy. Okay, little bit of further reading here. Already talked about reflections in a Goldeneye. Not to be mean. Again, you feel like taking a lot of shots at him today, but the person who stepped in to play that part the Montgomery Clift was supposed to play is Marlon Brando. Oh, man, he's not. Goodness is not good in this movie at all. Like Elizabeth Taylor's good bye. You know, as a conflicted, closeted homosexual soldier, I can tell you, an actor been perfect. Play somebody. Clift would have been absolutely perfect. BRANDO It's just another one where you're like, it's that pre Godfather role where it doesn't work and it's not even like kind of like young lines. Like he kind of bogs the movie down and I can't even really recommend the movie fully. I can only recommended in that scene. Monte And it would have been incredible. It just would have been great. See, in 1963, he did an in-depth interview with Hyde Gardner, and you can actually find that on YouTube. So it's in like seven parts, but it's really the only big long interview that I've ever been able to find of him. So I just recommend people go and check that out. He's very honest about his work, about his accident, about the troubles of that he had on Freud. He had just wrapped. So it's very good. And, you know, it's one of those old school like they're sitting there smoking cigarets like talking. It's like it's that type of thing. But really, really good interview and you're going to get to know a little bit more of him because again, 1963 is not he's not in the best shape. Yeah, it was cool to see those quality Monte Clift rankings. Five, 432, one. You can go back and forth. I mean, I mean, it's tough. This is so hard and I almost don't even man, I'm back and forth on this one and I just don't want him to do. And I'll tell people, you know, I'll tell people I did I've done Monte Clift rankings. This will be we're we're just going to do top five and this has been my third time. The first time I did it was on my blog, which in 2020, which I did not reference for the place in the Sun pod. My my list was kind of the same, but not officially. It wasn't exactly the same. And for this, I actually didn't even go back and listen to the place the sun part. So I think they're the same. But this is how this what I'm saying, this stuff can change, but I send mine all five of these performances. I said, Bullshit, No question. It's just I can't believe I'm leaving some of them out. But they can only be five. Yeah, it's six right now. I'm not going to lie. Oh, you have six. I can't decide. It's going to be a last minute call. I've. I don't even know how to do this. Do you want to do top six? Yeah. I mean, we can, we can do that. I've, I've tied for number two. I have a tied for number two because I just cannot decide and I hopefully I can justify the tie. All right. Or you go first with 505 The Misfits. Ooh I mean, hey, at least it's on their ears. Howard. That one is definitely going to make my list. It's a little higher than five. Yeah, it's five. It's. Well, one where it's like. I think it's the reason why I love it so much is because we've never seen Monte like that. Right? Right. With Wild River, there came like a wave between 1960 and 1961 with what could have been like just one of the best resurgences in his career because he was forth some of the best work and then the Misfits as a part of it. So I really, really love that performance. I love seeing how fun he was in it, and I think he looks so good. He does. He does, Yes. Very filled out and he looks great. Yeah. So I'm going to stick with that one. All right. Number Five misfits. I love it. Number five, for me, it's tough to put it in. Number five, it's a search. And I fucking love the search. I love that movie. Love him in it. But yeah, that's that's my number five. All right, All right. I got you Number four. From you, From here to eternity. Very good. Very good. That is also on my list. Little higher than four. But I love it. I mean, it's just. Oh, my God. Please Go watch that movie. Yeah, Go see this. Go watch it. Oh, God. Number four for me, Noah Young Lions. I love him. That's the one. That's. I know that. That's the one that. Honestly, if I going to take one out because I still have to tying for number two, which isn't technically fair, I guess I would I have to have the search on here. I have to have it because this is first I that's just me. I, I, I love him. And that the Young lions is definitely the least seen movie on my top five Monty here. But I don't know knowing that it's one of his favorite. Yeah. Helps I know that's that's why I can't believe it's not my I know it's killing me. It was the idea of the Misfits and that was it. All right, so my number three. Number three, it's my number three is the search. Oh, very good, very good. Very high up. I think just in terms of context of seeing a performance like that in 1948. Yeah. Unseen, unseen. It really, truly, truly. Oh, very good. My number three From Here to Eternity. Prue. Oh, God, I love him. 11 hour number two. Not a number two. I didn't think this would happen. A place in the sun. Wow. I know what number ones. Yeah. Wow, that's crazy. That's. I mean, it's just. Yeah, so good. I get it. Yeah, I get it. It's fine. Well, number two and number two, right now, I have the 61 double feature. I have the Misfits in Judgment at Nuremberg. And I don't know how to like. I guess if someone was like, No, you can only pick five. I guess I'm knocking out the young lions. And so I could do that. I could do the search from here to eternity. The Misfits Judgment at Nuremberg. My number one is the place. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I can. You know, everyone knows that. We probably know what your number one is, but. But only after just watching and having and thinking very harshly about everything I talked about. It has to be judgment in Nuremberg. There's you're not going to find I mean, if I'm making a list of like the best one scene performances, that's got to be right up there at number one. I can't think of anything else. I can't think of anything else like that is now like my barometer. Like if anyone asks me, like, can you give me an example of, like, really good acting. There it is, you know? And they are real easy. 17 minutes. Yeah. Here you go. Watch this. And like, that's it. The buck stops here. Yeah, Yeah, It's. It's that fucking good. All right, so I'll go. I'll go through mine really quick and I'll take out the tie. So mine would be the search from here to eternity. The misfits judgment at Nuremberg Place in the Sun. And so that's changed a little because I think The Misfits was my number two on the place in the sun pod. But yeah, diving even more into this Nuremberg performance Christ. And so to recap, mine would be The Misfits From Here to Eternity, The Search A Place in the Sun Judgment at Nuremberg. You know what's funny is that when I just redid my list, we had the exact same five movies just in a different order. What was your dad's? Do you remember offhand? Oh, maybe. Maybe not even offhand, but just in order. But just with the five where I know he had a well, obviously place in the sun was one judgment. Nuremberg was to I believe the search for him was for snow and missing. What else did you have Raintree County Yeah, he did have an injury and I believe that was five, yeah. Raintree County And it was the. Harris It was, it was Harris That one. Yeah, he loves that one. And you and Monty just great in that. But yeah, he really does. So Yeah, that's, I mean, there's no real wrong answers here. Like even it wasn't in the best movies. He was always good, but, well, we're revered up right here for longest part ever territory. I love Do I love it? Ever. But what are you watching? Could be anything you want. Well, I'm doubling down. I am, too. I'm too weird to do our classic. One, two, three. We say the same time. There's no way you're doing the one I am. But there's always absolutely the way I'm doing it. The way you. Okay, 3 to 1. And after we say one, we say it. All right. Three, two, one. Why? River? Yeah, yeah, Yes, yes. Go watch it, people. It is so good. I do not blame you if you have not seen it. I had not seen it. You had not seen it recently. Go watch it. I'm confident telling you you can blind buy the Blu ray and be like, Holy shit, this thing is. Oh my God, it just looks so good. Yeah, that that's one, like I put right at the top, like from Here to Eternity. People know about that movie. Yeah, that's picture. If you haven't seen it, you know about it. Wild River, 1960, Elia Kazan. And somehow flew under the radar. I don't know. Go watch this movie. A Nick Dose exclusive. What are you watching? Note Perfect movie Wild River. Go see it. I think I've only three that I have for that category. What are the other ones? I know a few that you said it about. Maybe. I said about maybe. But I know for a fact that mentioned on the pod where I've always said seven. That's I don't know if you said about seven on the part, but you definitely said about hell or high water. Hell or high water. And seven are the only two that I concretely know for a fact that I feel. No, I'm sure there's more, but I know those two come to mind. Oh, great. Well, I mean, this is the wild rivers up there. Wild rivers. So good. Also guest starring Barbara Loden, who would go on to direct wander and be married to Elia Kazan. And she plays the woman in the office right when they walk in. That's fun. We're both big fans of Wanda montgomery Clift. Holy shit, we've been waiting. I've been, you know, since we started the part. I've been waiting to do this. And this was just great. SAT here in L.A. looking out over the blinding lights. Montgomery Clift We miss you, Monty. What could have. What could have been? We will never know. But what we have these 17 roles. I will never forget them. I honestly sometimes we do pods, especially. We do like a whole actor. I go, I don't know the next time I watch a movie by them because it's like, you know, I just, Oh, yeah, deep, deep dive. Ready to watch one of these right now. Case in point, you there were still some you had to see and we just had them on yesterday. I'm sitting there watching with you and I just watch these damn things. Love you, Monty. This is a lot of fun. It's great. Oh, this is great. That's it. Let us know your Monty thoughts. If you're watching them for the first time or reinvestigating them. I'm on Letterboxd. I'm on there. You can let me know. I have literally reviewed every single Clift movie because I'm reviewing every movie that I watch in 2023, and I had to rewatch all these. So some people are catching on. I got a few comments like, Oh, multiple had come and gone letterbox, find us on Twitter, find us on Instagram. It is w aiw underscore podcast for all of those. But as always, thank you so much for listening and happy watching. Hey everyone. Thanks again for listening. You can watch my films and read my movie blog at Alex Withrow dot com Nicholas Dose Dotcom is where you can find all of Nick's film work. Send us mailbag questions at What Are You Watching podcast gmail.com or find us on Twitter at w aiw underscore podcast. I finally got Nick to watch one of the best movies ever made. Next time we are breaking down Spike Lee's epic masterpiece, Malcolm X. Stay tuned.