Montgomery Clift: An American Original
A recent scholarly work titled, “The Passion of Montgomery Clift”
emphasizes the near-religious fervor with which Clift’s fans describe their idol.
Indeed, the author purports “...His fans describe him in terms approaching
religious ecstasy” (Lawrence 1). Thus, it is no accident that the word
“epiphany,” with its strong religious connotations, is used here. As pertains to
the impact of Clift on cinema and society, however, the more secular defmition,
“A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive
realization” (freedictionary) of the word will be employed. This more mundane
usage of the word is not meant to diminish Lawrence’s work on Clift as quasireligious icon; rather, its usage is more consistent with the profound sense of
realism and originality Clift brought to his roles via his “...radically interiorized
acting style” (Lawrence 7).
This research is designed to solidify Clift’s role as the first “rebel male”
in American cinema and evaluate the role he had on both cinema and culture in
a global context. This will be established in the context of the forthcoming
chapters: Chapter II, “Clift, Brando and Dean;” Chapter III, “Clift and the
1960s;” Chapter IV, “The Spirit of Clift in the Strängest of Places: Rocky
Balboa and the Punk Rock Movement;” Chapter V, Conclusion: “The 1980s and
Beyond—Cheap Stereotypes Need not Apply.”
Montgomery Clift first burst onto the cinematic landscape in The
Search, a critically-acclaimed, profoundly moving tale of Karel