Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1957)

was a highly unstable profession. This it might be, Monty agreed, but he loved it. Besides which he had special needs. Needs developed by his love-starved family life and encouraged by his consequent lack of communication with other children. As a youngster Monty never had any special friends. A girl who knew him in Florida says, “He kept to himself. He was always polite, but there was something brooding about him that held others at a distance.” In the theatre Clift found some of the emotional satisfaction he needed. He could establish contact with his audience and receive warmth, affection and approval without giving anything of himself emotionally to another person. Even today Monty remains withdrawn. Elizabeth Taylor, calling him “my closest friend” in one breath, admits in the next that she is not certain she understands him. Norman Mailer, the novelist, says, “Monty is one of the few people I’ve known for years of whom I can say, ‘I don’t know him at all.’ ” From Florida the Clifts moved to Connecticut. That was in 1935. Young Monty began going to New York, looking for acting jobs. Thomas Mitchell, the veteran character actor, was planning to try out a show called “Fly Away Home” in summer stock. Clift read for the part and was hired. His parents gave their reluctant approval, then kept a close watch on him. His mother accompanied him to the theatre, waited until he had done his nightly stint, then took him home. Such close supervision often causes conflicts in a youthful, impressionistic mind. On the one hand, there is a need for love and attention; on the other there is a growing need for independence. A companionship between parent and child that is too close inhibits the natural development of maturity. These conflicts in Clift explain in part his inability to form a permanent, lasting relationship with any woman approximately his own age. There have been girls in his life, but none has remained long. Judy Balaban (now Mrs. Jay Kanter), daughter of a motion picture company executive, was seen with him frequently for several months, and was said to have been in love with him. It was more a schoolgirl crush than anything else. But Clift could not reciprocate. Today, Mrs. Kanter does not like to talk about the involvement. The most important woman in Clift’s life has been Elizabeth Taylor. She went about with him before and after her marriages to Nicky Hilton and Michael Wilding. A former M-G-M press agent recalls meeting her once at Idlewild Airport in New York, with a limousine and chauffeur. She refused to drive back to the city in the studio car, preferring to ride in Clift’s. But although Monty is as close to Miss Taylor as he is to any other woman, he I evidently was unable to permit his friend; ship to develop into love. “Monty is like a schoolboy who worships from afar,” one friend says. “In Hollywood, around the time he was finishing ‘Raintree,’ he had one of his crushes on Jean Simmons. But Jean is happily mar1 ried. You see, Monty only permits himself to get involved with women with whom no real relationship, no marriage, is posI sible.” Libby Holman, a singer who is nearly fifteen years older than Clift, is his most constant companion. ij “He’s very happy when he’s with Libby,” one of Clift’s friends says. “Pos; sibly because he’s found in her the l mother he was looking for and never found in his own mother.” Clift snorts at this explanation. All he f will say, however, is, “Libby is one of my The gentle touch of Hinds I HilldS h°ney an d almond fragrance cream Try Hinds* special kindness for jnsi 10 days. Soothe it caressingly over your hands . . . feel the petal-soft refreshing touch of this silken hand lotion. Hinds puts its own protective Flora tex* veil between you, wind, weather and work. Your hands will feel the difference — or your money back. “Like flowers, it contains a special protective ingredient — Floratex A PRODUCT OF LEt P ALSO CAN AD. 85