Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In praise of Bosworth's Clift, 28 Jul 1999
By A Customer
Patricia Bosworth has written one of the great movie star biographies with her examination of the life and career of Montgomery Clift. Clift was the troubled actor who emerged in the post WW2 era when movie audiences were ready for a new type of star. His first movie was the western Red River in which he co-starred with John Wayne and this meeting of the old style movie hero with the new introverted acting style is nicely illustrated in Bosworth's book. It is fair to say that a direct lineage from modern stars such as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro can be traced back through Brando and James Dean to Clift. The strength of this book though lies in the use of biographical detail. There is much to sensationalize here, dysfunctional family, homosexuality, drugs, drink, bizarre behaviour and relationships with the biggest stars of the era, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Marylin Monroe, Marlon Brando etc., but Bosworth manages to describe Clift's childhood and personal life in enormous detail while using it to help the reader to better understand the subject. The section on the 1956 car accident which disfigured Clift and hastened his decline is particularly moving and the frankness and sympathy with which Bosworth treats Clift's relationship with his Mother, his troubled sexuality and his drink and drugs problems leads to book which is neither a Goldmanesque expose nor a mere fan paean. Ultimately it is a book about how relationships, family, the past etc., can screw you up and it brings to life a complex, flawed, brilliant and unhappy individual.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Devasting Read, Highly Recommended, 12 Sep 2008
Being a big fan of Monty's work and after viewing numerous TV documentaries on him, I decided to read his biography which was often quoted as being 'one of the best celebrity biographies ever written'. Knowing his basic bio and the films he starred in, it was a joy to read through the book, discovering Monty's take on his roles, his private life and who he was as a person rather than an actor. The anecdotes and stories told by his friends range from the hilarious to the downright depressing.
He lead an awfully tragic life, some details of which were more sensational than the films he acted in. The story of the latter part of his life, after the car crash which disfigured him, was sometimes painful to read. He seemed intent on destroying himself through drugs, drinks and having relationships with the wrong kind of people. Throughout it all though, he was completely committed to his craft, sometimes saying that it was the only thing which kept him alive. Such a shame that now he is not as well known as actors such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, both of which copied his style throughout their career. A truly interesting and humbling look at celebrity, the cinema world and of course, Montgomery Clift.
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2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
this guy inspired the clash, 8 Jun 2000
The book that inspired the writing of 'The Right Profile' on the Clash's epoch-shattering LP, 'London Calling'. On the strength of such evidence alone - without even reading a word - what self-respecting man can resist the temptation to buy this little fella? It happens to be a top read. In a day of anodine, rehab-bore celebrities, it comes as wondrous relief to discover that flawed celebs really are the best.
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