Montgomery Clift: An American Original
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dweeb, cocky blonde guy, desperate virgin, stoner or loner weirdo (stereotypes
cleverly portrayed in Not Another Teen Movie, 2001/ As actor Bill Gunn (ibid)
said of Clift: “He just w as” That is, Clift embodies the complexities that reside
within us all. The appeal of Clift was largely in the fact that those alienated by
their culture feit as if he got them. Clift accomplished something unthinkable in
a classic teen movie: he made the sensitive, brooding, loner “cool.”
Paradoxically, the more effortless, realistic and free of cliche Clift’s screen
characterizations were, the more we realize how difficult it is to “act” in that
way. The far easier route to acting is to reside in the neatly-compartmentalized
role Hollywood has prescribed for you. For example, while one could interject
themselves into the starring cast of the TV show, “Friends” with relative ease, it
seems unlikely that anyone could say to themselves, “Yeah, I could have played
that role in The Search just as well as Clift.”
Recent works by Stern, Lawrence, and McGurk have once again elevated
Clift’s Status as a cinematic genius, rebel icon and catalyst for cultural change. It
is hoped that this study will build upon those recent contributions and provide a
further foundation for deeper exploration of the body of work provided by
Montgomery Clift. While there has been a substantial amount of work focused
primarily on Clift’s personal life (LaGuardia, 1977; Bosworth, 1978; Hoskyns,
1992, Leonard, 1997; Capua, 2002 and Lancaster, 2005) and somewhat more
limited, but very fine, research that has focused more on his Professional
contributions (Morella and Epstein, 1971; Kass, 1978; Lippe, 1989; McCann,
1993; Stern, 2007; Lawrence, 2010 and McGurk, 2010), it would be edifying to
see more scholarly work focusing on in-depth analyses of Clift’s films. This is
the one area in the life of Clift that remains insufficiently examined.
Northwest Nazarene University
David Chaplin
Works Cited
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Bosworth, Patricia. Montgomery Clift: A Biography. New York: Harcourt Brace
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Capua, Michelangelo. Montgomery Clift: A Biography. Jefferson, N.C.:
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