Monty @ 100: Unexpected ending with "The Defector"
Sunday, October 18, 2020 at 7:00PM by Nathaniel R
Sadly, we now reach the finale of the Montgomery Clift filmography. The shroud of sadness and tragedy that hung over Clift's second act in motion pictures (Raintree County through Freud) have often obscured the quality of some of the films. Despite the broken souls and grim reaper feeling exuded by The Misfits and Judgment at Nuremberg in particular -- it's part of their subject matter, after all -- Clift's acting prowess was actually on the rise again.
His declining health and addictions interfered. After Freud there was another four year intermission from the silver screen as there'd been just after From Here to Eternity. With 1966's The Defector the curtain raised again and filming went smoothly for a change. But no third act came. Both Clift (then 45) and his director Raoul Lévy (then just 44) died that year, Clift of a heart attack shortly before the movie's release and Levy, shortly after, by his own hand...
While offscreen calamity can sometimes inform a movie's mystique and even quality (see The Misfits), that's not the norm. The Defector isn't a particularly special movie but neither is it a true dud. It falls in the vast majority of decent pictures in other words, many of which are forgotten unless there's an enduring name brand (director or star) involved.
The espionage thriller is about an American physicist Professor Bower (Montgomery Clift) sent to Germany by a CIA man (Roddy McDowall, who pulled double duty off-screen serving as Monty's moral support.) Bower is there to retrieve a secret microfilm from a Soviet scientist that Clift's character knows by reputation, having previously translated his work.
McDowall, Krüger, and Clift in "The Defector"
Then rising star Hardy Krüger (still with us today at 92 years of age), hot off a Golden Globe nomination and controversy (he refused the nomination!) for The Flight of the Phoenix, plays a German man who stands in Monty's way. Sort of. The duo have an affinity of sorts though that's best left to the plot unfolding should you watch it. This is a thriller that's mostly cold war tense gentlemanly conversations though very real violence lurks in either the imagination or the occassional dead body. The picture veers towards more traditional thrills in the last half hour in which Monty, doing all his own stunts, escapes.
You can't make me a schizophrenic. At least not today. I still know what's real and what's not.
For now.
Unfortunately for Monty the lead role isn't the interesting one. We're told repeatedly that "he won't break!" but we're basically asked to take it for granted, probably due to audience familiarity with the Clift's persona since he often played men who other men couldn't break even if they were willing to break his body. His most interesting scene is when he is trapped in a hotel room that's actually a mental prison designed to make the inhabitant lose touch with reality (fun set design and sound work).
Bower gets a mandatory love interest in a sympathetic German nurse (Marcha Méril) and both actors handle their scenes together well but the relationship is essentially a practical rather than romantic one (which they both recognize) as he attempts to escape Germany.
I have to leave.
The only real excitement, character-arc and screen relationship-wise, is in Hardy Krüger's very capable hands as he tries to win Clift over.
Today the picture is mostly a curio, important only because it's Clift's last picture and, even more niche, his only film with longtime friend and former lover Roddy McDowall who, like Liz, was loyal to the end. McDowall said, as Robert Guardia's book "Monty", recalls...
'All we could do was hold Monty's hand until the end.'
Two photos of Clift from the mid 50s taken by Roddy McDowall
The Defector was not meant to be Clift's swan song. He'd only taken the job to prove he was fit for work again. But what feature is ever intended to be the last for a non-retired actor? The famously troubled actor died on July 23rd, 1966, a month after shooting had wrapped.
Clift was set to start filming Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) the very next month. Monty was reportedly excited about sharing the screen with Elizabeth Taylor again, his definitive co-star and beloved friend, for a fourth time. She had once again come to his rescue, putting her salary on the line as collateral since Clift was then uninsurable. But it was not to be. Clift's fan / friend / rival Marlon Brando replaced him in the picture as they'd often been been obsessed over for similar reasons and considered for the same parts.
It's always devastating to reach the end when the end comes too soon. And in Clift's phenomenal early promise but tragic trajectory, a Hollywood Icarus reaching glory only to descend in flames, it's impossible not to wonder what might have been. What if his personal demons had not proved unconquerable? What if society had been more accepting of LGBTQ people? What if he'd had the opportunity for a late career artistic revival like Brando had?
Clift, McDowall, and Taylor in March of 1964
But even at the peak of his stardom, when he should have been elated, Clift felt mortally wounded, as if his fate was predetermined. Consider this oft-told anecdote:
Soon after the shooting of “From Here to Eternity” was concluded (1953), Monty was interviewed by Hedda Hopper at the Brown Derby restaurant. She asked him: “In one sentence, what is the story of your life?” He replied: “I've been knifed.”
100 years after his birth and 54 after his death, the actor's artistry still shines and will survive thanks to a handful of classics. Not every star is lucky eenough to get so many of them. Despite his very unhappy life, that's some kind of posthumous happy ending, however bittersweet.
Next: a digestif to wrap up, the documentary Making Montgomery Clift
Reader Comments (9)
A very sad epitaph,the films ok,great to see the scenery but I just felt sad watching it.
My father took me to the theater to see this little known film. He had an obsession with Clift, they were the same age. Movies were our one, and only common interest. Every weekend we'd see films that deepened my appreciation for cultures beyond my small southern town. When Clift died, I could tell he took it differently than other actor's passages.
I agree the film is only average but certainly not a disaster and though it is a shame the curtain came down for Monty shortly after this many stars have had far worse swan songs.
LOVED the entire series! It would be great to see others for stars with similarly brief filmographies.
Judy Holliday's centenary is next year, so memorable it seems incredible she only made eight features. Then of course Judy Garland's is in 2022. My girl Linda Darnell is the following year, I know its too much to hope she gets this treatment but hopefully she might receive something similar to the lovely tribute Susan Hayward got a few years ago.
Looking forward to the wrap-up.
Well, that wasn't so bad. I had been led to believe that The Defector as MC's lest film would really depress me, which would probably have been the case if my first viewing would have taken place at the height of my obsession. But that was a long time ago, and spending two weeks with the rest of his filmography has been good preparation for this. So thanks, TFE team.
He does looks haggard (that word again), especially when you see him next to McDowall and Krüger, who were both only eight years younger than MC. But he does all that physical stuff at the end of the film, so he clearly wasn't totally frail.
Somehow fitting that his last moments on screen are in West Germany, just like the first time audiences saw him in The Search...
This has been such a fantastic series. Thanks everyone.
Thanks once again to everyone for this wonderful wonderful series. I ended up liking this film quite a bit, and it was great to see Clift in another leading role. That last section really got me racing, as I wondered what was to become of his character. I really liked Krüger as well. I’ve always heard about McDowell but never really seen any of his films, so it was interesting to see him here. He’s another actor who I should try and watch a couple of his films to see how he came to prominence. I ended up watching the “Making Montgomery Clift” documentary right after, so it did make me appreciate his latter films even more. I had also borrowed that Patricia Bosworth biography from the library to read after this series, but now I’m cautious about it’s truths and skewed viewpoint after watching the documentary.
Thank you for yet another enthralling series on this site. I'm so continually impressed by the work put forth here and the dedication to film in all its forms -- visual, aural, social commentary, escapism and just pure enjoyment of the human spirit. You've brought me (and I assume countless others) through the pandemic with flying colors. From the bottom of my heart and the corners of my soul -- Thank You, to each and every one of the contributors.
Beautiful writing, Nathaniel. I never even heard of this film before, and now I want to see it. But even more importantly, I know how much you adore Monty. It comes shining through every phrase and syllable. His lasting legacy is something only Hollywood could conceive. All the best.
Fantastic series, good job!!!