Book Review: Monty - A Biography

 This is an excellent straightforward biography of Montgomery Clift by Robert LaGuardia.  It neither a whitewash nor a hit piece,  LaGuardia more or less in the words of Howard Cosell "Tells it like it is (was)".  

I read the book after seeing a 1963 Youtube interview of Monty by some guy called Hy Gardner, who I assume  had a NYC talk show.  Its a fascinating interview, and Clift comes off as highly intelligent, literate, and even tempered.  But that was Monty's "public face".  Per LaGuardia, in private Clift was mostly functional alcoholic and pill-popper, who needed a small group of devoted friends  to mother him and help him out.  Other interesting things:

• I'd assumed that Clift's drug/alcohol problem occured after his May 1956 car crash.  Wrong. LaGuardia shows that Clift was abusing vodka/downers as early as 1951, and alarming his friends by passing out or being inchorent. Friends (including Brando) staged interventions and tried to get Monty help in curbing the alcoholism, but to no avail. Monty LIKED to drink.  Unfortunately, his ability to control the drug/alcohol abuse and their side effects decreased as he got older. Memory loss became a big issue, and Monty had trouble remembering lines or getting the  shakes. This, and the craziness in public, is what led to Hollywood labeling him "uninsurable". 

• Like other Hollywood stars,  Monty was taken advantage of by quack pyschitrists, grifting financial advisors, and backstabbing agents.  I wonder how Clift's life would've been like if he'd left NYC and relocated to London in 1951. 

• The cliche that Monty's problems were caused by "homophobia" are untrue.  LaGuardia shows that Monty had a healthy sex life and several live-in partners.  The Hollywood press protected him, just like all the other Gay leading men.   His various female friendships were taken as evidence he was straight.  Living in NYC,  Monty could do what he liked without any fear of exposure.  Hy Gardner, who knew the truth, hilariously asks Monty about his love affairs with various women.

• Unlike Brando, Monty really liked being an actor and had an artisitic/writers temperment. He liked the stage, and had a desire to write. In fact,  he had friendships with many writers including Wilder, Capote, Willams, and Vidal.  He was friendly toward Brando but also disliked Brando's domineering attitude. 

• Monty turned down the leading roles in the following movies:  East of Eden,  On the Waterfront, War and Peace,  Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Suddenly, and Sunet Blvd.  James Dean and Paul Newman were extremely lucky that Monty wasn't a  workaholic.