Mr. Clift came into my life through Red River. Our family had recently gotten into classic films, and my son was interested in watching some John Wayne flicks. We checked our local library, and one of the DVD's they had was Red River. I had never even heard of Montgomery Clift prior to then, and I had no idea what to expect. Wow! My first viewing of him nearly took my breath away. I found him to be about the most handsome man I had ever seen (even in the scenes where he needed a shave)---ranking right up there with Rock Hudson and Tyrone Power. But he wasn't just a beautiful face---on the contrary, he was terrific in his role and more than held his own with the formidable Duke. Completely smitten, I went on a quest to see more of Clift's works, which brought several 4 and 5-star films into my life, including my all-time favorite Hitchcock film (I Confess) and my all-time favorite movie period (A Place in the Sun).
Sadly, Mr. Clift's life ended much too soon, and his film career consisted of only 17 titles. I have seen 16 of them, and I expect to catch that final one fairly soon---it's been in some sort of "wait" status in my Classic Flix queue for several months now, so, surely, my time ought to be arising soon. However, there is a bittersweetness to catching this final film (and given that it is The Defector, it really is Monty's final film); yes, I will have watched the entire filmography of this extremely talented and very beloved actor, but once I've seen that film, I'm done. There will never be another Monty Clift film to discover, and that is a very sad thought indeed.
In March of last year, I took part in a blogging event which paid homage to stars who left us too soon (before the age of 50), and Mr. Clift was the star I chose to honor. It is my most-visited blog post (with over 5,000 page views) and the one of which I am the most proud. I feel that if Monty was able to read that post, he would feel honored and loved. I am not going to restate here all that I wrote in that post, but I'd love to have you read my from-the-heart tribute. (HERE)
So, here's to you, Mr. Montgomery Clift, on your 93rd birthday. You were a completely fantastic actor who always gave a brilliant performance. I completely adore you and will always count you among my beloveds and all-time favorite actors.