Montgomery Clift

Born: 1920-10-17

Edward Montgomery “Monty” Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor of the Golden Age, known for often playing sensitive or conflicted outcast characters with realistic emotional depth and anxieties. Clift, Marlon Brando and James Dean are the trio typically associated with the new wave of film acting, with Clift being the oldest and first to make his stage and screen debuts. Starting at age 14, he was a breakout talent on Broadway throughout 1935-1945. He finally accepted one of many Hollywood offers: starring in the Western “Red River” which was filmed in 1946 but delayed release for 2 years. Fred Zinnemann’s “The Search” preceded “Red River” as his first film in 1948 and first Academy Award nomination. Clift’s next major films were “The Heiress” (1949) and “A Place in the Sun” (1951), cementing his romantic lead status. At the time, audiences had rarely seen a type of masculinity softened with Clift’s vulnerability. Hollywood had also never seen a young actor control his career and instant stardom the way Clift did in the late 1940’s: notoriously selective, refusing the standard seven-year studio contracts and rewriting scripts to preserve his artistic freedom. In 1953, Zinnemann again directed Clift to an Academy Award nomination in war drama “From Here to Eternity.” After suffering a near-fatal car accident during “Raintree County” (1957) he starred in acclaimed 1960’s films "Wild River,” "The Misfits” and “Judgment at Nuremberg” for which he earned a fourth and final Academy Award nomination for his 12-minute scene. Despite a 4-year hiatus and mounting health problems, Clift was eager to make a comeback in "Reflections in a Golden Eye,” secured by the insurance and insistence of co-star Elizabeth Taylor, but he tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 45 just weeks before shooting began.


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Judgment at Nuremberg

as Rudolph Petersen
Released: 1961-12-18

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military...

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From Here to Eternity

as Pvt. Robert E. Lee 'Prew' Prewitt
Released: 1953-08-28

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his...

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The Young Lions

as Noah Ackerman
Released: 1958-04-02

The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.

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A Place in the Sun

as George Eastman
Released: 1951-06-12

A young social climber wins the heart of a beautiful heiress but his former girlfriend's...

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The Misfits

as Perce Howland
Released: 1961-02-01

While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber ends up meeting aging...

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Indiscretion of an American Wife

as Giovanni Doria
Released: 1953-04-02

While on vacation in Rome, married American Mary Forbes becomes entangled in an affair with an...

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Red River

as Matthew Garth
Released: 1948-08-26

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle...

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I Confess

as Fr. Michael William Logan
Released: 1953-02-13

Unable, due to the seal of the confessional, to be forthcoming with information that would serve...

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The Heiress

as Morris Townsend
Released: 1949-10-06

In 1840s New York, the uneventful and boring days of the daughter of a wealthy doctor come to an...

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Suddenly, Last Summer

as Dr. Cukrowicz
Released: 1959-12-22

The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine....

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Wild River

as Chuck Glover
Released: 1960-05-26

A young bureaucrat for the Tennessee Valley Authority goes to rural Tennessee to oversee the...

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Freud: The Secret Passion

as Sigmund Freud
Released: 1962-12-12

An examination of Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud's career when he began to treat patients...

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The Search

as Ralph Stevenson
Released: 1948-03-26

In postwar Germany, a displaced Czech boy, separated from his family during wartime, is...

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Marlon Brando: An Actor Named Desire

as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Released: 2014-09-20

In his early days as an actor, Marlon Brando (1924-2004) was a shy young man with theatrical...

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Raintree County

as John Wickliff Shawnessy
Released: 1957-12-20

In 1859, idealist John Wickliff Shawnessey, a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is...

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The Big Lift

as Sgt. 1st Class Danny MacCullough
Released: 1950-04-26

The Berlin Air Lift from the point of view of two Air Force NCOs who navigate romance in a...

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Listen to Me Marlon

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2015-07-29

With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including...

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George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1985-03-03

Biography of the legendary filmmaker directed by his son.

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Making Montgomery Clift

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2018-09-23

Classic film star and queer icon Montgomery Clift’s legacy has long been a story of tragedy and...

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Rat Pack

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2022-01-11

In the 1950s, a small group of artists monopolized the attention of the cameras and the public....

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Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths

as (archive footage)
Released: 1990-01-01

Welcome behind the closed doors of a Hollywood that only a select few will ever get to see -- a...

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The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1997-11-01

A film scrapbook, images, phrases from our past, hiding their meanings behind veils. Let's lift...

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Hitchcock's Confession: A Look at I Confess

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2004-09-07

Documentary short focusing on the making of Alfred Hitchcock's 1953 film I Confess.

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Lonelyhearts

as Adam White
Released: 1959-03-04

Burdened by a family secret, Adam White lands a job as a newspaper advice columnist. Little does...

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The Defector

as Professor James Bower
Released: 1966-10-19

An American scientist is sent by the CIA to East Germany to retrieve a secret microfilm from a...

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Edith Head: The Paramount Years

as (archive footage)
Released: 2002-11-26

A tribute to the legendary costume designer Edith Head during her years providing costumes for...

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Making 'The Misfits'

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2002-10-02

A behind-the-scenes and in-depth look at the making of John Huston's The Misfits (1961).

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Sir John Mills' Moving Memories

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2000-08-01

A film biography with a difference, Sir John Mills' Moving Memories charts the life of one of...

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Montgomery Clift

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1983-01-01

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with...

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Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage

as Dr. Cukrowicz (archive footage)
Released: 1994-12-19

A study of Tennessee Williams's life and work as a whole, ranging from his youth in Mississippi...

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The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1973-01-01

A documentary filmography of Howard Hawks, including lengthy footage of Hawks himself discussing...

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George Stevens and His Place In The Sun

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2001-08-14

This short documentary takes a look at director George Stevens' making of the classic 1951 film...

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Operation Raintree

as Self
Released: 1957-08-31

MGM short that looks at the behind the scenes production of Raintree County.

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Montgomery Clift: The Hidden Star

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1987-10-07

One of Hollywood's brightest stars is eclipsed by drink, drugs and self-doubt.

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What's My Line?

as Self - Mystery Guest
First aired: 1950-02-02

Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...

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The Ed Sullivan Show

as Self
First aired: 1948-06-20

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...

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The David Susskind Show

as Self
First aired: 1959-01-18

The David Susskind Show is an American television talk show hosted by David Susskind. The...

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