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Clift” by Craig Bennett and “Just like Montgomery Clift” by Doug Powell.
There was even a U.S. based, progressive-electronica-rock band named
“Montgomery Clift” who plied their trade in the early 2000s. While Vicious predates these musical contributions, his visual presence, awkwardness around
women, brooding vulnerability, individualism and domination by the women in
his life, clearly evoke Clift. The negative influence Nancy Spungen had on
Vicious is well-documented, but he was also significantly controlled by his
mother, a fellow heroin junkie and purported to be the one who administered the
final lethal dose to Vicious (Final 24. www.biography.com. 2007).
Clift was victimized by his Mother’s attempts at joining high society.
As Nigel Watson States of Clift’s Mother, “She had aristocratic pretensions for
her children that sound amusing, but in reality it made her children prisoners of
her single-minded Obsession.” Although his appeal was narrower in scope, Sid
Vicious must also be acknowledged as a rebel icon. Like Clift, with his dark
good looks and slender build, Vicious looked the part of object of desire to the
opposite sex, but clearly wasn’t. Clift portrayed doom and nihilism both onscreen and in real life much the same way Sid Vicious did. They both failed to
“get the girl” and live happily ever after. There was an undercurrent of tragedy
apparent in both of their personas. David Hochman writes about Clift,
“Exorcising his personal demons onscreen made Clift Hollywood’s first darkside-of-the-moon actor (paving the way for everyone ffom Marlon Brando to
Jennifer Jason Leigh).” Vicious differs significantly ffom Clift, however, in
three fundamental ways: 1). in his emphasis of style over substance; 2) lack of
serious commitment to his craft and 3). In his lack of innate artistic capabilities.
That is, whereas Vicious’ identity had to be conceived by his manager,
publicists and the desires of the disenffanchised and nihilistic fans of punk rock,
Clift’s true identity shone through his Celluloid persona as the result of his
dedication to Method Acting. As Lawrence States, “When playing a part, fans
feit, Clift was most authentically himself’ (56). Steve Cohan develops
Lawrence’s argument further: “For Clift, the qualities of integrity and intensity
make ‘acting’ and ‘being himself equivalent terms” (225). The coalescence of
off-screen and on-screen identities embodied in Clift stand in stark contrast to
the brash, rüde, reckless and violent image of Sid Vicious vis-ä-vis his alter-ego
(the shy, polite, goofy and tenderhearted Mama’s Boy, John Simon Ritchie).
V. Conclusion: The 1980s and Beyond: Cheap Stereotypes Need n