The Passion of Montgomery Clift

Abstract

Montgomery Clift was one of postwar Hollywood's heart-throbs, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful men of his generation until he was disfigured in 1956 by a car accident that made his subsequent screen appearances painful viewing. Infamously queer, he cut an intense, ambiguous and enigmatic figure in the US film industry from the late 1940s until his death in 1966 at the age of forty-five. His story is fascinating, dramatic, and ultimately one of disappointment. His myth is one of tragedy: a beautiful youth with a glorious career cut down by a tragic accident as well as by his own fatal psychological flaws. Amy Lawrence's The Passion of Montgomery Clift enhances his mythic reputation while simultaneously refuting key aspects of the established mythology. This is not a biography but rather a study of a career, a star image and a body of work, and an investigation into how these were created. It is written by a self-confessed fan, whose mother was also a fan back in the 1950s. As a result, this study combines the hyperbole of the fan with the kind of painstakingly detailed investigation that only a true devotee would bother to undertake. It also probes deeply into this fandom, exploring the statements of Clift's admirers in a bid to understand more fully his appeal, both in his own time and posthumously. Given an emphasis here on the religiosity of Clift's image, his association with sanctity and martyrdom (hence the ‘passion’ of the title), this level of devotion, bordering on worship, seems rather appropriate, despite the conventional requirement of objectivity for an academic study.