![]() Clare suffers from fits and Anna cares for Clare between her time at work and time seeing her boyfriend. If The Search and Red Riversignalled Clift's arrival, William Wyler film's major success at the time (it won the most Oscars in its year) and its enduring classic status today, serve as yet another sign in the shift of acting styles that would mold many of the classics of the 1950s and 1960s that we love today - some of them, starring our beloved Monty.Devoted sisters Clare ( Candis Nergaard) and Anna (Jayne Wisener) live together. ![]() Monty squirming while watching his own performance in The Heiress - a fascinating photoshoot byJ.R. He went beyond the archetypes of the romantic lead or the gaslighting male, retaining mystery. Wile The Heiress is rightfully considered the Livvie show, Clift's own performance is undervalued. That distaste didn’t translate to the screen. He reportedly didn’t stay long at the premiere, and there was no love lost between him and his co-star Olivia de Havilland. In the film, because Clift was so sympathetic, people were horrified when he jilted her.”Īs with Red River, Monty didn’t particularly care for his performance in the film nor the whole piece itself. In the play, he was so obviously a villain. " I don’t agree with the critics who said that Montgomery Clift was too nice and pleasant to play the fortune hunter Morris Townsend. Response to Monty's performance was mixed but Wyler always defended him: ![]() She also aces those very difficult scenes and it’s a sparring of different acting styles that make the final act of the film even more compelling. And, when he comes back, Monty thrives as both him and Olivia’s character have gone through some very rough changes. While the film plays with that enigma, what with the character being introduced with his back to the audience and head out of the frame, for example, it’s Clift’s work that does the trick of making us fall for and then hate Morris as he leaves Catherine. The Heiress is a gothic film, anchored in the mystery of Morris and how much of his interest in Catherine is her and how much is her fortune. It’s not a Romeo and Juliet-type tale of star crossed lovers. ![]() Monty, of course, plays Morris, the object of Catherine’s affection. The film centers on Olivia as she plays Catherine, a socially awkward girl who finally falls in love, only to be threatened with disownment by her father (Ralph Richardson), who believes the guy is a good old gold digger. Going for less stylized choices and powering through raw emotions, Monty paved the way for Marlon Brando and James Dean, who would both take the film industry by storm in the following decade with performances as poignant as the ones Clift delivered in his short, but iconic body of early work.īut, back to The Heiress. It was the combination of a very particular brand of acting and heartthrob looks that made Clift a star, and that mix is undoubtedly present in The Heiress.Ĭemented in Hollywood history as the film that garnered Olivia de Havilland a second well-deserved Oscar, The Heiress also arguably introduced Monty as the romantic (or not) lead.Īfter his first appearances in The Search and Red River, it was clear that he had something his peers didn’t. Just one year into the Hollywood industry, he was tapped to co-star in a period drama by William Wyler, who was still riding the waves of the second of his three best directing Oscars, for 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives. Montgomery Clift achieved greatness early in his career. ![]()
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