montgomery clift

Monty and Libby in Love (The Bisexuals, Part 6) /  by Karina Longworth

Montgomery Clift and Jennifer Jones in Terminal Station, 1953, Columbia Pictures

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Karina will be presenting films featured on this season of You Must Remember This at theaters across the country in October and November! See where she'll be and get your tickets on our Fall Tour 2026 page.

Check out our new merch for "The Bisexuals" including hats, shirts, and an exclusive fragrance designed to evoke Libby Holman's signature perfume, "Jungle Gardenia."

Monty’s arc as a tragic romantic figure continues with I Confess and Terminal Station – even as his relationship with Libby becomes all consuming, in the decadent party scene at her secluded estate. Meanwhile, Libby brings her act singing black folk music to Broadway, but her dreams of renewed stardom turn out to be one thing money can’t buy.

(00:00) Montgomery Clift’s Juggling Act

(07:54) Partner Swapping with Paul Bowles

(11:13) An American Tragedy vs. A Place in the Sun

(16:09) I Confess

(28:43) “Love relationships are ludicrous”

(36:20) “Everything seemed erotic”

(44:03) Blues, Ballads and Sin-Songs

(50:49) Oedipal Overtones

Jennifer Jones and husband David O. Selznick returning to Los Angeles in 1957. Montgomery Clift, who co-starred with Jones in Terminal Station referred to Selznick as “an interfering fuckface” when he wasn’t in earshot on the set of that film, which Selznick had re-cut into Indiscretions of an American Wife for its US release. Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection, UCLA Library

Poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess, 1953, Warner Bros. Pictures

Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.  

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:

Vacant Distillery - The Coil Winds

Reflections - River Lapse

Cranberry House - Bright Linen

Chris Zabriskie - Undercover Vampire Policeman

Desjardins - Stepback

Dime Store - Bossa Cova

Fabulist - Dream Caper

Piano Mover - Dolly and Pad

Evan Viola - Exposition A (Ambient)

Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in a still from A Place in the Sun, 1951, Paramount Pictures, directed by George Stevens



This episode was written, narrated, edited and produced by Karina Longworth.

Our editor this season is Evan Viola.

Research, production, and social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Special research assistance provided by Audrey Fox

You Must Remember This and “The Bisexuals” Logo design: Teddy Blanks.

Elizabeth Taylor in a 1953 MGM publicity photo.

Was Libby Holman the Real Norma Desmond? (The Bisexuals, Part 5) /  by Karina Longworth

Montgomery Clift and John Wayne in a still from Red River (1948), United Artists, directed by Howard Hawks

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Karina will be presenting films featured on this season of You Must Remember This at theaters across the country in October and November! See where she'll be and get your tickets on our Fall Tour 2026 page.

Check out our new merch for "The Bisexuals" including hats, shirts, and an exclusive fragrance designed to evoke Libby Holman's signature perfume, "Jungle Gardenia."

With Red River, Montgomery Clift becomes a new kind of movie star, projecting a new kind of sexuality – while still figuring out how he wants to express his own sexuality. Meanwhile, Libby becomes entangled with bisexual couple Jane and Paul Bowles, whose globetrotting becomes an inspiration to Libby’s teenage son, ending in tragedy. Plus: did Libby forbid Monty from starring in Sunset Boulevard because the story of a young man and a haunted older woman hit too close to home?

(00:00) Affair with Nick Ray and Influence on Key Largo

(09:42) Digging Deeper into Black Folk Music

(14:32) Jane and Paul Bowles

(25:00) The Tragedy of Libby’s Son, Topper

(32:15) Montgomery Clift’s Bisexuality

(40:34) Red River as Queer Melodrama

(48:53) The Heiress and Monty Reconnects with Libby

(57:48) Did Libby Bar Monty From Starring in Sunset Boulevard?

Poster for Key Largo (1948), Warner Bros. Pictures, directed by John Huston

This episode contains archival audio sourced from the Libby Holman collection at Boston University, digitized by Paul Adams.

Some preliminary transcriptions of audio interviews were produced with aTrain. These transcripts were checked and corrected by Karina Longworth and Brendan Whalen. More information about aTrain can be found here.

Please note: as an Amazon Associate, Karina earns from qualifying purchases. #ad

Montgomery Clift and Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949), Paramount Pictures, directed by William Wyler

Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.  

Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:

Cantor Street - Splints

Musique Libre de Droit Club - Easy Listening in Jazz

Reflections - River Lapse

Chris Zabriskie - Readers Do You Read

Kevin MacLeod - Blue Feather

Cantor Street - Empty Hall Monitor

Evan Viola - Red River

Rustland - Dusty Yard Runner

The Onyx - Romantic Start

Architect - Lunette Interlude

Bluegold Gardens - Crunchy Petal

Evan Viola - Exposition A (Ambient)


This episode was written, narrated, edited and produced by Karina Longworth.

Our editor this season is Evan Viola.

Research, production, and social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.

Special research assistance provided by Audrey Fox

You Must Remember This and “The Bisexuals” Logo design: Teddy Blanks.

Lobby card for Red River (1948), United Artists, directed by Howard Hawks

Flashback: LIZ <3 MONTY /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.and Spotify

This episode was originally released on October 28, 2014. Listen to help prep for the next episode of our new season, The Old Man is Still Alive.

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were best friends and co-stars in three films. The first, A Place in the Sun, is an undisputed classic which captures both stars at the peak of their talents and physical beauty. The shoot of the second, Raintree County, was interrupted by a horrible car accident in which Clift’s face was disfigured. This episode tracks Taylor’s relationship with the troubled Clift, from their first, studio-setup date through his untimely death — the result of what some have called “Hollywood’s slowest suicide.”

Show Notes!

Almost all biographical writing on Montgomery Clift seems to be indebted to Patricia Bosworth’s 1978 doorstop Montgomery Clift, which is the source of most of the quotes in this episode. Unfortunately, the countless Elizabeth Taylor biographies are mostly redundant, and the more recent they are, the more they seem to recycle old stories without new information or insight. My current favorite book about Taylor is Furious Love, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, which tracks her relationship with Richard Burton, and thus was only useful for a small portion of this podcast. In researching this episode I consulted How to Be a Movie Star by William J. Mann, Who’s Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor by Brenda Maddox, and Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir by Elizabeth Taylor, Bring in the Peacocks, or Memoirs of a Hollywood Producer by Hank Moonjean, and Who the Hell’s In It by Peter Bogdanovich.

There are pictures of Clift and Taylor on the sets of both A Place in the Sun (including the contact sheet featuring the photo at the top of this post) and Raintree County in my book, Hollywood Frame by Frame. 

Special thanks to Kent Kincannon, who played Montgomery Clift. 

At the end of this episode, there’s an excerpt from the Clash song “The Right Profile.” I don’t know much about the writing of the song, although I’ve read it was inspired by Bosworth’s biography, and the song essentially summarizes the book. For awhile, Julie Delpy was planning to direct a biopic about Strummer named after the song, although that looks like it has fallen apart. I’ve thought about doing an episode about Joe Strummer and/in Hollywood at some point in the future, but my sense from doing a small amount of research is that it might be a difficult subject, and that I would need to find an expert to help. Anyone know anyone?

Please note: as an Amazon Associate, Karina earns from qualifying purchases. #ad

Discography:

“American” by Lana Del Rey

“Burning Desire” by Lana Del Rey

“Au coin de la rue” by Marco Raaphorst

“I Only Have Eyes For You” performed by The Flamingos

“I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor” by Chris Zabriskie

“Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod

“Out of the Skies, Under the Earth” by Chris Zabriskie

“Wonder Cycle” by Chris Zabriskie

“Off to Osaka” by Kevin MacLeod

“Dance of the Stargazer” performed by U.S. Army Blues

“Prelude No. 21” by Chris Zabriskie

“I Trust a Littler of Kittens Still Keeps The Colloseum” by Joan of Arc

“For Better or Worse” by Kai Engel

“Exlibris” by Kosta T

“Melancholy Aftersounds” by Kai Engel

“The Wrong Way” by Jahzzar

“Gymnopedie No. 2” by Eric Satie, performed by Kevin MacLeod

“The Right Profile” by The Clash

TALES OF CELEBRITY DRUNKENNESS 2014 {YMRT #26:} /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

In our first annual end-of-year clip show, we’ll listen to some of the booziest excerpts from the 25 episodes of You Must Remember This released thus far. Highlights include day drinking with Judy Garland; the irresistible antics of Kay Francis; the drunk driving arrest that wrecked Frances Farmer’s career, plus stories about Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and more. Also: a zone-out-for-a-second-and-you’ll-miss-it mention of the topic of our first show of 2015!

Discography

“Say You Will” by Kanye West

“Preludes for Piano” by George Gershwin

“Buddy Stay Off That Wine” by Betty Hall Jones

This episode includes clips from the following episodes:

#2: Frank Sinatra in Outer Space

#4: (The Printing of) the Legend of Frances Farmer

#5: The Lives, Deaths and Afterlives of Judy Garland

#10: Kay Francis, Pretty Poison (Follies of 1938)

#13: Bogart, Before Bacall

#14: Bacall, After Bogart

#20: Liz <3 Monty

For soundtrack information for each of those excerpted episodes, please go to the show link.

YMRT #20: LIZ <3 MONTY /  by Karina Longworth

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts.

Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were best friends and co-stars in three films. The first, A Place in the Sun, is an undisputed classic which captures both stars at the peak of their talents and physical beauty. The shoot of the second, Raintree County, was interrupted by a horrible car accident in which Clift’s face was disfigured. This episode tracks Taylor’s relationship with the troubled Clift, from their first, studio-setup date through his untimely death — the result of what some have called “Hollywood’s slowest suicide.”

Show Notes!

Almost all biographical writing on Montgomery Clift seems to be indebted to Patricia Bosworth’s 1978 doorstop Montgomery Clift, which is the source of most of the quotes in this episode. Unfortunately, the countless Elizabeth Taylor biographies are mostly redundant, and the more recent they are, the more they seem to recycle old stories without new information or insight. My current favorite book about Taylor is Furious Love, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, which tracks her relationship with Richard Burton, and thus was only useful for a small portion of this podcast. In researching this episode I consultedHow to Be a Movie Star by William J. Mann, Who’s Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor by Brenda Maddox, and Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir by Elizabeth Taylor, Bring in the Peacocks, or Memoirs of a Hollywood Producer by Hank Moonjean, and Who the Hell’s In It by Peter Bogdanovich.

There are pictures of Clift and Taylor on the sets of both A Place in the Sun (including the contact sheet featuring the photo at the top of this post) and Raintree County in my book, Hollywood Frame by Frame. 

Special thanks to Kent Kincannon, who played Montgomery Clift. 

At the end of this episode, there’s an excerpt from the Clash song “The Right Profile.” I don’t know much about the writing of the song, although I’ve read it was inspired by Bosworth’s biography, and the song essentially summarizes the book. For awhile, Julie Delpy was planning to direct a biopic about Strummer named after the song, although that looks like it has fallen apart. I’ve thought about doing an episode about Joe Strummer and/in Hollywood at some point in the future, but my sense from doing a small amount of research is that it might be a difficult subject, and that I would need to find an expert to help. Anyone know anyone?

Discography:

“American” by Lana Del Rey

“Burning Desire” by Lana Del Rey

“Au coin de la rue” by Marco Raaphorst

“I Only Have Eyes For You” performed by The Flamingos

“I Am A Man Who Will Fight For Your Honor” by Chris Zabriskie

“Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod

“Out of the Skies, Under the Earth” by Chris Zabriskie

“Wonder Cycle” by Chris Zabriskie

“Off to Osaka” by Kevin MacLeod

“Dance of the Stargazer” performed by U.S. Army Blues

“Prelude No. 21” by Chris Zabriskie

“I Trust a Littler of Kittens Still Keeps The Colloseum” by Joan of Arc

“For Better or Worse” by Kai Engel

“Exlibris” by Kosta T

“Melancholy Aftersounds” by Kai Engel

“The Wrong Way” by Jahzzar

“Gymnopedie No. 2” by Eric Satie, performed by Kevin MacLeod

“The Right Profile” by The Clash