If Monty's first film as an actor was Red River, the public
would see him first in Fred Zinnemann's tale of a young war
ophan and an American soldier The Search, which was filmed in
Germany and Switzerland. In the same year, 1948, Monty made the
front cover of Life magazine as one of a breed of new movie
actors. Others, featured inside, included Richard Widmark, Louis
Jourdan and Farley Granger. But it wasn't the only to feature
him - his great acting abilities and stunning good looks ensured
him plenty of coverage in the fan magazines and he was regularly
accosted to his dismay by groups of young female fans keen to
snatch a souvenir. But in a way he was oblivious to fame, to
being the prototype movie star. It was not something he
courted or wanted. Not for him the trappings of
stardom - the glamorous LA home, fashionable clothes and fancy
parties. Indeed, Monty would always live in New York and his
disdainful approach to Hollywood did nothing to endear him to
the film community or help his chances at the Oscar ceremonies.
Monty followed The Search with a costume drama based on the
Henry James novel Washington Square, The Heiress, with Olivia de
Havilland. Then came The Big Lift, a film based on the Berlin
airlift. It was while he was on location that he made perhaps
the biggest single mistake of his career - turning down the role
of the writer in Billy Wilder's excellent Sunset Boulevard.
Quite why, no-one is certain but many point to Libby Holman. By
now she had become a significant influence in his life, reading
scripts for him, rejecting those she thought unsuitable. It is
argued that Holman was worried about the parallels that could be
drawn between the ageing movie star and her relationship with
the young writer in Sunset Boulevard and her own relationship
with Monty. He claimed not to like the script and it would be
one of many roles he would reject in his lifetime (see Trivia).
Late in 1949 he began work on A Place in the Sun with co-star
Elizabeth Taylor. It was the start of a life-long friendship and
they would go on to make two further films together. Although
she was many years younger than Monty, Taylor recognised in him
something of herself. Both had had unconventional childhoods,
both still had something of the child in their adult make-up,
both were vulnerable. Bosworth claims that Taylor later tried to
win Monty's hand in marriage but she was surely not that naive.
His relationships now were principally with men and any wedding
could only have ended in disaster.
Monty took considerable time off from filming when A Place in the
Sun wrapped and spent a lot of it with Kevin and Augusta
McCarthy - part of it in Europe. By now, many of his friends
sensed there was something wrong in his life. The former
non-drinker had begun taking alcohol and pills in large
quantities and friend Jean Green described him as having a
"deadly serious, haunted" quality about him. He went in to
therapy but it appeared to do little good.
In 1952, he travelled to Quebec to make I
Confess for Alfred Hitchcock in which he played a priest
burdened with a terrible secret. The great director, noted for
his condescending attitude to actors, was vexed by Monty's
apparent Method approach to the role and by the presence of
Rostova. Donald Spoto suggests that Monty's relationship with
Hitchcock was better than many have painted, perhaps because the
sexually-repressed director was intrigued by Monty's colourful
private life. As for the Method, Monty can never be painted as a
true follower like Brando. His acting seemed to be a combination
of the head and the heart, something unique to him.
From north America, Monty travelled to Italy to make Terminal
Station - or Indiscretion of an American Wife - for the Italian
neo-realist Vittorio de Sica. It was shot mainly at night in a
Rome station and was an unhappy collaboration between the
director and Hollywood producer David O Selznick. Monty
supported de Sica in the clashes.
