As Husbands Go (1933)
Monty's first acting performance was in a Rachel Crothers comedy, an amateur production staged by a company based near his then home in Sarasota, Florida. It's the story of two women - one married - who travel to Europe, find lovers and return home with them in tow to face the consequences.

Fly Away Home (1935)
Dorothy Bennett and Irving White's comedy was staged in the summer of 1934 at the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, before opening at the 48th St Theatre in New York in January 1935. A woman invites her ex-husband to her wedding, where he finds the four children he last saw a dozen years earlier have grown anarchic and intemperate. Monty played the young Harmer, a precocious child.

Jubilee (1935)
A musical comedy by Cole Porter and Moss Hart, Jubilee was the story of a royal family deposed in a coup and forced to go incognito among their subjects. Clift played Prince Peter in the massively-hyped production at the Imperial Theatre, New York. It closed after 169 performances soon after star Mary Boland left the show.

Yr Obedient Husband (1938)
Horace Jackson's comedy set in 18th century London died after eight performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York, following a critical mauling. It was the story of essayist Richard Steele (Fredric March) who extols clean living but fails to live up to his own code of conduct. Clift, now capable of playing young men instead of children, played Lord Finch and, in the midst of the bad reviews, was praised. "Clift plays with a surprisingly successful suggestion of shyness" - New York Herald Tribune.

Eye on the Sparrow (1938)
Maxwell Selser's comedy lasted a hopeless six performances at the Vanderbilt Theatre in New York and no-one escaped the bad notices. A woman returns from her travels to find her children Philip (Clift) and Nancy have sold everything to pay the bills. Philip becomes a Communist and Nancy tries to find a wealthy husband before mum Barbara discovers two ways to make money.

The Wind and The Rain (1938)
A summer stock production of Merton Hodge's comedy at the Millbrook Theatre, Millbrook, New York, in which Clift plays a young man who plans marriage to his childhood sweetheart but falls in love with another woman.

Dame Nature (1938)
French playwright Andre Birabeau's comedy concerns 16-year-old Andre (Clift) and a 15-year-old girl who find, to their confusion, that they are to be parents. They begin preparing for the big day - and then their parents discover their secret. Dame Nature opened at the Booth Theatre in New York, launching the Theatre Guild's 21st season, and lasted just 48 performances. Some blamed the outbreak of war in Europe for the failure of this somewhat frivolous story. Clift, however, was praised for his handling of an "enormously difficult characterisation".

The Mother (1939)
A timely play written by the Czech Karel Capek, it featured acting legend Nazimova as The Mother - a woman who has lost her husband and all but one of her sons to a series of tragedies. When her country is invaded, their ghosts return to urge a reluctant Nazimova to send surviving son Tony (Clift) off to war. The critics were cool and it closed after a month at the Lyceum Theatre, New York.

There Shall Be No Night (1940)
Robert E Sherwood's topical play first put Monty in touch with stage stars Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. He played a Finnish pacifist, she his American wife, on the eve of the Russian invasion of Finland. Their son Erik (Clift) doesn't share his father's views and sets out to defend his homeland with his young girlfriend. The play opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York and then toured extensively, during which Clift became very close to Lunt and Fontanne. They looked on him as a son, he stayed with them regularly and Monty began copying his mentor's voice. But their relationship cooled as the years passed - mainly thanks to Clift's drinking problem.

Out of the Frying Pan (1941)
A summer stock production of a comedy by Francis Swann, it played at the County Theatre, Suffern, New York. It features six actors who try to convince a producer of their talent.

Mexican Mural (1942)
Directed by Robert Lewis, this experimental play in "four panels" by Ramon Naya was scheduled for a brief run at the Chanin Auditorium in New York. Set in Vera Cruz, Mexico, Monty played a young man keen to escape his humdrum life there. Reaction was mixed but for Clift it was, in a way, a pivotal experience. It introduced him to some of the key people of his adult life. The production was bankrolled by Libby Holman - who played a peasant woman in the play - and the cast featured Kevin McCarthy and Mira Rostova.

The Skin of Our Teeth (1942)
Thornton Wilder's experimental comedy at the Plymouth Theatre in New York was an ambitious attempt to tell the story of man through the lives of a couple - played by Fredric March and Florence Eldridge - who have been married for 5000 years. The play also starred Tallulah Bankhead and was directed by Elia Kazan, who would later work with Monty on Wild River. Clift - who became firm friends with Wilder - played the couple's mischievous teenage son. The show, which earned mixed reviews and was notable for the stormy relationships between principle cast members and Kazan, ran for about a year but Monty left half way through the run claiming that the dysentery he had picked up in Mexico several years earlier had returned.

Our Town (1944)
A revival of Thornton Wilder's classic play features a young woman who marries the dim George Gibbs (Monty), dies and returns as a ghost to learn some truths about life and death. The play was scheduled for a brief run at the New York City Centre of Music and Drama. The New York Times said: "Montgomery Clift plays George Gibbs and he does it very well indeed...The current revival is a good one."

The Searching Wind (1944)
Another play with a war-related theme, this time written by Lillian Hellman. Monty played Samuel Hazen, whose diplomat father appeased the fascists in Europe in the years leading to the outbreak of World War Two while at the same time having an affair with his wife's friend. At the conclusion, Samuel launches a stinging attack on his father's complacency. The play ran at the Fulton Theatre in New York for almost a year and earned good notices. The Herald Tribune said: "Clift brings a fierce intensity to the part of the disabled grandson which is the very stuff of fine acting."

Foxhole in the Parlour (1945)
Monty - by now perhaps the leading young actor on Broadway - earned rave reviews for his performance as shell-shocked war veteran Patterson in Elsa Shelley's topical work but it ran for just 45 performances at the Booth Theatre. Patterson has returned home after a stay in an asylum and has to fight to readjust to civilian life - a cause not helped by a sister who wants to have him committed. He later makes an impassioned plea for peace by composing a speech for a US senator.

You Touched Me! (1945)
An early collaboration between Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham, the play was based on a D H Lawrence story and only earned a Booth Theatre production because of the success of Williams' The Glass Menagerie. Monty played a Canadian air force officer who returns home to his adopted father (Edmund Gwenn) and finds love in the arms of a repressed young woman. The play earned tepid reviews although critics admired the work of Gwenn and Clift - who later purchased the film rights and wrote a screenplay with Kevin McCarthy. The film was never made.

The Seagull (1954)
You Touched Me! signalled the end of Monty's Broadway career but he returned to the stage with this version of Chekhov's masterpiece, which lasted 40 performances at the Phoenix Theatre in New York. Monty, Kevin McCarthy and Mira Rostova had wanted to work together again for some time and chose The Seagull with a new translation by Rostova. But it was troubled from the start - with a lack of rehearsal time and clear direction. Monty was disappointed with Mira's performance as Nina - a clear piece of miscasting - and was himself drinking heavily. Notices were mixed - Rostova was roasted, Monty's Treplev got off lighter - and it proved a disappointing conclusion to Monty's otherwise distinguished career on the stage.