George Eastman (Clift) is a drifter trying to work his way up in his uncle's business while having an affair with the plain and lonely Alice (Winters). But at a party at his uncle's he falls for the debutante Angela (Taylor). Alice finds out and threatens to reveal all about her being pregnant but Eastman responds by apparently drowning her. He is later arrested and put on trial for his life.

Based very loosely on Theodore Dreiser's novel An AmericanTragedy and a comment on social status and money, this was one of the pivotal roles in Monty's career. Hailed by the critics and the public alike, it marked the first time he worked with Taylor and was the start of a life-long friendship. She credited him with extracting a performance that was rated at the time as the best of her career.

To prepare for his role as a condemned man, Monty actually spent a night on death row at San Quentin prison in California.

I CONFESS(1953). Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: Anne Baxter, Karl Malden & O E Hasse.

I Confess was not one of Hitchcock's best films, coming as it did after a crisis of creativity on the part of the director. It features catholic priest Father Logan (Clift) who hears the confession of his own parish sexton Keller (Hasse) to the killing of lawyer Vilette. Little does Keller realise that Vilette was attempting to blackmail Logan's former girlfriend (Baxter). The police conclude that Logan is the guilty party and he goes on trial for his life - Keller knowing that the priest cannot break the confidentiality of the confessional.

Clift's cerebral approach to acting didn't go down too well with Hitch - a man who famously preferred pre-production to the actual chore of directing actors - but they got on surprisingly well away from the set. Of his performance, Variety said: "Clift's ability to project mood with restrained strength is a high spot of the film." And, indeed, the sheer frustration and anger generated by his predicament seems to burn out of him at times.

Perhaps the chief interest of the film is the way Hitchcock explores the subjects of catholicism, the confessional, sin and guilt - all of which were deeply ingrained in him as a child and which so fundamentally shaped the man and his attitudes to crime, women and sex.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY(1953). Dir: Fred Zinnemann. Starring: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra & Donna Reed.
Oscars:Picture, supporting actor (Sinatra), supporting actress(Reed), director, screenplay, cinematography, sound,editing. Oscar nominations: Actor (Clift, Lancaster),actress (Kerr), score, costumes.

Bugler Private Robert E Lee Prewitt (Clift) arrives at Hawaii'sFort Schofield on the eve of Pearl Harbour. A champion boxer, he is urged to fight for his unit but he refuses having once blinded a man in the ring. Meanwhile, his buddy Maggio (Sinatra) is beaten to thepoint of death in the stockade and Prewitt vows revenge on the brutal sergeant who assaulted him.

James Jones' novel was heavily censored for the screen, it's portrayal of brutality in the army and sex proving offensive to the production code and the army itself. But the film still proved a huge critical and commercial success. Monty, however, was not the first choice of Warners studio boss Harry Cohn for the role - he wanted Aldo Ray - and was only persuaded by the force of Zinnemann's arguments.

The role of Prewitt allowed Clift to develop the character for which he would become so identified in his career - that of the vulnerable, sensitive outsider. In love with the army, he finds himself rejected and beaten by it. It's a stunning performance, one of the best of his life, in a film filled with stand-out acting.

Monty learned to play the bugle to prepare himself for the role, even though he knew his playing would be dubbed by a professional in the finished film.

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"...and heroes don't come easy..."
Monty Got a Raw Deal, Automatic for the People, REM