I know it won’t happen, but I need a rep prologue that just says “I’m a girl kisser, xoxo Taylor”

Montgomery Clift: the untold story of Hollywood's misunderstood star

In a new documentary, myths and assumptions about the Oscar-nominated heartthrob who struggled with his sexuality are replaced with the little-known truth

Jim Farber

 Mon 29 Oct 2018 08.00 GMT

or over 30 years, scripts have floated around Hollywood promising to tell the story of Montgomery Clift, one of the most innovative and handsome actors in history. Tellingly, they’re always pitched under working titles like ‘Beautiful Loser’ and' ‘Tragic Beauty’. Guided by the key biographies of Clift, they reliably parrot a narrative which paints the actor as a startlingly attractive and prodigiously gifted man who, according to one notably overheated tabloid TV show “became a drug-addicted alcoholic living in a self-imposed hell because he had a secret he couldn’t live with”.

That “secret” – that Clift was gay during an impossible era (the 1930s through the 60s) – led many interpreters to conclude that the actor must have led a life riddled with fear and shame. It hardly helped lend nuance to that reading that Clift was a well-known and long-time abuser of pain killers and alcohol, actions which likely sped his death from a heart attack at 45 in 1966. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the star’s substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern.

The movie, which plays at the LGBTQ movie festival NewFest in New York, refutes scores of oft-repeated assumptions about Clift’s life, from his motivations as an actor, to his relationship with his mother to the characterization of his later years. It also stresses Clift’s crucial role in changing the power balance between actors and studio chiefs in Hollywood, as well as the advancements he brought to film acting. More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen.

To help build their case, the film-makers had rare access to the actor’s archives, as well as to the family’s story, courtesy of a special connection: the doc was co-directed by the star’s nephew, Robert Clift, and his wife, Hillary Demmon. “For us, it seemed there was this big difference between what people thought about Monty in the public sphere and what people that knew him would say,” said Clift. “I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference.”

A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. For somewhat mysterious reasons, Robert Clift’s father Brooks taped endless conversations with his famous brother, as well as with their mother and other figures relevant to the story. (The director himself never met his famous uncle, having been born eight years after his death). In one tape made by his father in the 1960s, we hear the star’s mother tell him, with untroubled candor, that “Monty was a homosexual early. I think he was 12 or 13.”

https://youtu.be/4vD1dsBm5K8

“It’s obviously a non-issue for her,” co-director Demmon said. “That’s not what people would expect from a mother in that period.”

Then again, nothing about Clift’s life was expected. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. While he never excelled at school, his extraordinary abilities as an actor showed early. By 15, Clift made his Broadway debut in Cole Porter’s Jubilee. Over the next 10 years, he earned prominent roles in plays by Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder, opposite stars like Fredrick March and Tallulah Bankhead. Hollywood repeatedly came courting, but he put off offers for nearly a decade, even turning down roles in classic films like East of Eden and the co-lead in Sunset Boulevard.

Taped interviews with his brother reveal that the actor felt those roles weren’t quite right for him and he didn’t want to make the wrong first impression. He also didn’t want to sign a contract with a studio, then the only viable way into the business. “He didn’t want the studios to dictate the kinds of roles he would play,” his nephew said. “He wanted to be a free agent, and he did it successfully. The old Hollywood system was breaking apart and he was a major part of that.”

{John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in Red River}

The first role Clift took, opposite John Wayne in Red River in 1948, offered a stark contrast in masculine presentations. Clift detested Wayne’s antiquated male constraints. He also detested the man. “Monty brought a different masculinity to the screen,” said Demmon. “Here was someone who was vulnerable and sensitive - and who actually listened to women.”

He wasn’t the only one who challenged such norms at the time. Contemporaries like James Dean and Marlon Brando also did. Like them, Clift was comfortable with the full contours, and consequences, of his beauty, playing “the object” in a way previously preserved for female stars. He also helped bring a more natural acting style to film. “That’s why his work doesn’t feel dated,” Demmon said.

He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. “He wasn’t solely an actor,” she said. “He had a holistic view.”

A fellow actor asserts that Clift was equally confident in his sexuality. Jack Larson, famous for playing Jimmy Olsen in the hit 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman, recalled how Clift gave him a full mouth kiss the first time they casually met. “He was not worried [about being gay],” Larson asserts in the film.

Another confidant said “his personal life didn’t bother him”.

{Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun}

Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. A seeming exception was one in his final years with a man named Lorenzo who had been hired to help him. “They went to London to see Laurence Olivier together, ate together, sat in front of the fire together,” Clift said. “Lorenzo came into the picture when Monty was at his lowest. He got him going again. He still drank, but not as heavily. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.”

Clift asserts that the actor’s use of alcohol and prescription drugs stemmed, primarily, from a near-fatal car accident in 1956. He used them to numb his physical pain. The accident changed his appearance, and many biographers assumed Clift felt ruined by it and, so, drank more. But the documentary notes Clift made as many movies after the accident as before, and that those projects included some of his most acclaimed performances. Ex-lover Larson said in the film that Clift actually preferred his work after the accident to his performances before.

Many of the myths surrounding Clift sprang from two biographies: a salacious one by Robert Laguardia and another flawed work by Patricia Bosworth, titled A Life. The film-makers interviewed Bosworth extensively for the movie, but they contrast her words with old taped conversations she had with the actor’s brother. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. While she sounds apologetic, the changes were never made.

As to why Bosworth drew on the gay-self-hate narrative, and why that view took hold, the directors blame the homophobia of the time the book was written, in the 1970s. “The view then about queer people was that they would be inherently conflicted or tormented about their sexuality,” said Demmon. “If you have a story that tracks along that line, that will feel true to people. Which gives that narrative a lot of traction. Now we’re at a historical point in mainstream queer discourse where that story seems less viable.”

Though the film aims to update, and to fairly contextualize, the actor’s story, the directors stress that they don’t want to simply swap one image of Montgomery Clift for another. “We’re not trying to give a definitive version of who Monty was,” added Clift. “Part of honoring someone is being open to that person not being just one, reductive thing.”

source: theguardian

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF MY MUSES: SEXUALITY

ALEX MAHONE (Prison Break) - Bicurious. Secret agent. He is primarily into women and refuses to admit that he’s ever found men attractive - but it has happened before. Rare, but it has.  ANGELUS (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) - Pansexual. Vampire. He generally tries to stay away from romance and sex because of various reasons, but he can and does find everyone of all genders (and some different species; humanoid ones anyway) attractive. ASH HARVELLE (Supernatural) - Gay. Genius. Only really into men; he can find women attractive but has never really been properly romantically or sexually attracted to them. They’re pretty but he definitely bats for the other team. AUDREY JENSEN (Scream) - Bicurious. Aspiring filmmaker. Leans primarily toward women, but is down to play with both teams.  BALTHAZAR (Supernatural) - Pansexual. Archangel. He’s just out to have a good time and he doesn’t give a fuck who it’s with.  BILLY HARGROVE (Stranger Things) - Bicurious. Punk. Has only ever messed around with women and refuses to admit that he has an attraction toward men, having buried it deep, deep down. He may as well be straight since it’ll take someone extremely special to let him drag that other side of him out - and even then it’ll almost certainly be a hate-based anger-fueled energy-expelling one-sided relationship. BOAZ PRIESTLEY (Ten Inch Hero) - Mostly straight. Sub sandwich shop employee. Would be down to mess around with the right guy but up to this point has only ever been interested in women. BOB NEWBY (Stranger Things) - Straight. He’s only ever really had feelings for one man before and never really acted on them, if only because he was always so devoted to Joyce. He hasn’t had a crush on a man since then, and doesn’t really have an interest. There’s always the possibility but he, like Priestley, identifies as straight. BOBBY SINGER (Supernatural) - Straight through and through. Monster hunter. The only time he’s ever done something with a man, it wasn’t exactly of his own free will. Has no interest in men and probably never will. BUCK VU (The OA) - Gay primarily. Transmasculine high schooler. With the right girl, he might be attracted to them, but thus far he has only been attracted to men. He doesn’t really like a label though; if anyone asks him who he’s attracted to, his usual response is just a shrug. He goes where life takes him. CAIN (Supernatural) - Aromantic bicurious. Demon. Cain has been interested sexually in women primarily before as well as a few men, but as a rule tries to avoid any sort of romantic involvement, due to the fact that as a demon, it is simply too dangerous for them - his thoughts when he’s trying to reform - or he simply doesn’t want to fall in love due to how it is a weakness - his thoughts during his time as an active demon. CASTIEL (Supernatural) - Panromantic asexual. Angel. He can be attracted to any gender, but mostly just doesn’t care much either way. CECIL PALMER (Welcome To Night Vale) - Gay. Radio host. Has never really been attracted romantically to women, only men, and, well, once he met Carlos, that changed to only one man. (AUs do not count.) CHARLES “HAYWIRE” PATOSHIK (Prison Break) - Bisexual. Mathematician-turned-criminal. Has always fancied men and women; nothing fancy or iffy about it. He just did. CHARLES WESTMORELAND (Prison Break) - Straight. Con artist who got caught and spent thirty years in prison.  CHUCK SHURLEY (Supernatural) - Asexual panromantic. Writer/prophet. He has the capacity to fall for any gender - although to date it has only really been women - but is rarely interested in the sexual aspect.  CROWLEY (Supernatural) - Panromantic. Demon. Into everyone at all times for all of eternity. DALLAS “DALLY” WINSTON (The Outsiders) - Closeted bisexual. Punk. Is definitely into men but only really shows his interest in women.  DAMIAN LAVEY (Monster Prom) - Pansexual. Demon. Will get it on with anyone and anything, no questions asked. But ask him anything about love and he might lose it. He isn’t exactly a ‘romance’ type of guy without a l o t of work. DAVID “DAVY SCOTT (Dinotopia) - Asexual heteroromantic. Sky Rider. He’s more into knowledge and exploring than anything sexual, but he does fall in love pretty easily, mostly with women.  DAVID HENDRIX (Gridlocked) - Mostly straight. SWAT. He’s only ever really been with women, but he is willing to admit to himself at least that he might be into men somewhere down the road. He’s met some pretty damn attractive men on the force before, after all. DEAN WINCHESTER (Supernatural) - Straight. Monster hunter. This one is tricky - I see Dean as 110% straight and rarely refuse to waver on it in fandom due to how toxic certain shippers can be. THAT SAID. If you as a roleplayer see some sort of possible romantic future for your guy and Dean, I’m willing to talk through it and make it a possibility. Chemistry is key for me, but until I run into a roleplayer I can get chemistry with Dean for, I play him (and see him in fandom) as completely straight. DEATH (Supernatural) - Aromantic asexual. Death. There is no interest in anything but junk food and the law of death for this guy. DIPPER PINES (Gravity Falls) - Questioning. Aspiring writer and explorer of the mysterious. He’s 12. He doesn’t know what the hell his sexuality is right now and is more concerned with figuring out the mysteries of Gravity Falls. He could swing any which way.  DRAKE (Blade: Trinity) - Pansexual. Vampire. He’s all about pleasure. He doesn’t care much where he gets it from as long as he gets it. DUSTFINGER (Inkheart) - Pansexual. Fire dancer. He has the capacity to be interested in men and he was a few times back in the day, but he ended up marrying Roxanne, and he’s definitively monogamous. In AUs / before he was married, however, Dustfinger can swing any which way. He has a lot of love to give, once you crack through his shell. ELEVEN (Doctor Who) - Asexual panromantic. The Doctor. He can and will love anyone of any gender or consenting species, but has no interest in sex. Too much to do, too much to see, too many things that need to be fixed! No time to mess around in bed. He will if his partner can get him to calm down long enough, but it isn’t something he has any interest in. ELI (Xena: Warrior Princess) - Asexual panromantic. Prophet/angel. He loves so many people and has so much love to give, it would kill him not to show it. He’s not overly interested in the sexual aspect of things; if it makes his partner happy, he’ll indulge, but it’s not something he really cares about. Romantic love, however, he has so much of. Romantic, platonic, familial, if you can think of a type of love outside of sexual, he has so so much of it. FERNANDO SUCRE (Prison Break) - Bisexual. Criminal. He’s mostly into women but if the right men come along, he isn’t really picky. Sure, he has a lot of internalised homophobia but he generally buries it. Definitely the type to keep his attraction toward you a secret though so if you want a public relationship, it’s best not to hold your breath with him. GABRIEL (Supernatural) - Pansexual. Archangel. If you’re breathing and capable of consent, much like Jack Harkness, he’s into you. He’s a very simple man with simple pleasures and no discrimination. And unlike the previous muse, he can be VERY public about it. Very much into grandiose shows of affection. GABRIEL GRAY/SYLAR (Heroes) - Pansexual. Watchmaker. Honestly, he has never labeled himself and never will. If you’re pretty, he’s interested, easy as that. GARY KING (The World’s End) - Aromantic pansexual. Professional drunk. Really into having fun and getting pleasure but romance and love both scares him and is something he can’t really commit to. GEORGE SANDS (Being Human) - Bicurious. Hospital porter and werewolf. Mostly into women but also into men if he is willing to admit it to himself. He’s a soft bean who just wants to be loved. IANTO JONES (Torchwood) - Pansexual. Torchwood agent. Nothing special to say here, he’s into anyone regardless of who they are, so long as they have a good heart. He doesn’t lean one way or the other in particular, and he isn’t overly secretive about his sexuality. JACK HARKNESS (Doctor Who/Torchwood) - Pansexual. Torchwood agent and time traveler. Everyone knows Jack. He’s been around the block a few thousand times. All the times in the world, all the places... all the pretty people... JIM HOPPER (Stranger Things) - Straight. Sheriff. He has had feelings for one man before but it was a long time ago and he put it behind him long ago. Feelings for that person might very well rekindle someday, but outside of that person, he identifies as straight. JOHN ABRUZZI (Prison Break) - Straight. Mafia boss. Nothing much to say here, he has no interest in men, never has, probably never will. He’s not beneath pretending to be into men to get something he wants, but outside of that, he has no interest. JOHN BENDER (The Breakfast Club) - Bicurious. Punk. He’s a high schooler (with several young adult verses), and he’s got a pretty big sex drive. He’ll go for whoever shows interest. But like with several other muses, he will never admit to having feelings for men and if anyone dares suggest he does - even other guys he’s messing with - he’ll punch them. JOHN CONSTANTINE (Constantine) - Pansexual. Demonologist. Whoever you are, whatever you look like, whatever species you are, he’ll probably shag you. He’s a hedonist at heart. JOHN HART (Torchwood) - Pansexual. Rogue Time Agent. See above. Absolute hedonist and his pleasure comes first and foremost to anything else in his life. JOHN MITCHELL (Being Human) - Pansexual. Vampire. He doesn’t care much who’s who, beauty is beauty, regardless of what’s in the pants. JONAH CHUCHIP (Boys In The Trees) - Gay. High schooler. He’s into men and most of the other kids at his high school don’t let him hear the end of it/never let him hear the end of it. JOSH CRAYTON (Welcome To Night Vale) - Pansexual. Shapeshifter. He primarily leans toward men but that’s just a preference. Of course, as a shapeshifter, he isn’t necessarily limited to normal humans either. LJ BURROWS (Prison Break) - Mostly straight. High schooler. He has had interest in men before but is mostly interested in women - especially since two or so of the times he has been interested in men, it has been a toxic relationship meant as a means of self-destruction that became something more serious. Can be interested in men, but leans mostly toward females. LUCIFER (Lucifer) - Pansexual. The devil. Need I say more? LUCIFER (Supernatural) - Pansexual. The devil. Same as above. LUKE SEACORD (The Loft) - Bisexual. A professional disaster. Leans more toward women, but has the capacity to be into men. Keeps almost all of his sexual interests and escapades a secret, because he’s got a lot going on. A lot. MAD SWEENEY (American Gods) - Pansexual. Leprechaun. Much like so many of my other muses, he’s a hedonist, and he’ll take pleasure where he can find it.  MALCOLM MERLYN (Arrow) - Bisexual. Vigilante/businessman. He has a leaning toward women, but if a man has the proper amount of smarts, power, and skill, he might be willing to look past the similarities in his own gender and theirs to have some fun. MARK COHEN (RENT) - Asexual panromantic. Filmmaker. Mark isn’t really much into sex, but he does fall in love quite easily, and he doesn’t discriminate between genders. OWEN HARPER (Torchwood) - Pansexual. Torchwood agent. He leans more toward women, but he’s not going to turn down a good shag. Pretty people are pretty people. NINE (Doctor Who) - Asexual panromantic. The Doctor. Nine, much like his other incarnations, has too much on his mind to think about or worry about sex. He’ll take part if his partner is into it but otherwise ignores any aspects of a sexual relationship. Romantic, he’s all about. He’s a cheesy sap when it comes to love.  RICKY LINDERMAN (My Bodyguard) - Bisexual (more really pansexual but at the time, he only really knew the term ‘bisexual). Mechanic/high schooler (just graduated). Ricky has messed around with both men and women, anyone who would have him. Sometimes it was out of feelings, other times it was out of necessity. Either way, he doesn’t have much of a preference for genders. RUMPLESTILTSKIN/MR. GOLD (Once Upon A Time) - Pansexual. Trickster. He has a leaning toward women but really doesn’t give a fuck. He’s more interested in magick anyway. His family and his magick are all that matter for the most part. RUPERT GILES (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) - Bicurious. Watcher and librarian. Giles is mostly into women, but once or twice - mostly in his youth - he had a few flings with men. He never made a big deal out of them, and rarely brings them up, as it’s been so long. There’s a possibility that he’ll be involved with a man again but mostly he falls for women. SALIM (American Gods) - Gay. Taxi driver. He has been with women before, but more out of feeling he had to and not because he wanted to be. Definitely into men. Bonus points if they’re magickal beings from ancient mythos. SAM WINCHESTER (Supernatural) - Bicurious. Hunter. He’s mostly into women but if the right man came along, he would probably give them a try.  SAMUEL SULLIVAN (Heroes) - Aromantic pansexual. Carnie. He’s mostly indifferent to romance and love, but definitely into sexual relations. As far as who with, he’s a carnival leader. He doesn’t exactly have an affinity for being prudish or picky about... well, anything. SCOTT HOWL (Monster Prom) - Pansexual. Werewolf. He is usually too busy thinking about sports or food to consider sex, but he’s definitely not adverse to it. As for who with - it doesn’t matter much to him as long as they’re nice to him. SHADOW MOON (American Gods) - Pansexual. Jack of all trades. He leans more toward women but again, it doesn’t really matter in the long run. Of course, you have to get to him when he’s not head over heels for his wife.  SPIKE (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) - Pansexual. Vampire. Spike is an absolute hedonist and can’t and won’t be stopped from having fun with whoever he damn well pleases. STANFORD PINES (Gravity Falls) - Asexual heteroromantic. Author. Doesn’t really have much interest in sex whatsoever, but has occasionally fallen for women - but not many, considering how long he’s been alive. (With the right chemistry, I could play him against a man, but in general, I see him as asexual and borderline aromantic.) STEVE HARRINGTON (Stranger Things) - Bisexual. Babysitter. He’s primarily into women, but much like Billy Hargrove, he’s buried his attraction toward men for the most part and remains strictly closeted. SULLY (Supernatural) - Asexual panromantic. Zanna/imaginary friend. He can fall in love with almost anyone, but mostly, all of his love is familial or platonic. He has never had a romantic partner, and isn’t too desperate for one. (He isn’t aromantic; he just is indifferent to the idea of a partner unless it happens out of the blue.)  TEN (Doctor Who) - Asexual panromantic. The Doctor. Much like Nine and Eleven, he has no real interest in sex unless his partner does. Gender and species is not relevant to any of the Doctor’s incarnations, and Ten is no different. THEODORE “T-BAG” BAGWELL (Prison Break) - Pansexual. Criminal. He’s a downright horrible person and any ‘relationship’ he ever enters into is bound to be toxic, since he’s an abusive fuck. But he doesn’t discriminate between gender. TOM MCNAIR (Being Human) - Questioning. Werewolf. He just isn’t sure what his sexuality is and is at the moment just exploring it. TRUCKER (Ten Inch Hero) - Straight. Hippie/sandwich shop owner. He had a few flings with men back in the day, but that was a long time ago and since then he has only ever really been with women. And only ever really been in love with one woman.  VERONICA DONOVAN (Prison Break) - Pansexual. Lawyer. She’s mostly closeted to herself and has only been in relationships with men, but she has always found women attractive, and wishes she had enough guts to admit it to... well, anyone. Especially the women she likes.