Wild River

When he finally went back to work in 1956 on the Civil War-era epic, Rain Tree County, tragedy would ensue, as would a rift between Monty and the woman he referred to as his steady girl, Libby Holman.

Today, we will talk about how Montgomery Clift tried to put his life and career back together after the crash through films like The Young Lions, Lonely Hearts, Wild River, and finally, The Misfits, a famously cursed production in which he starred opposite an actress who was suffering from some of the same addictions, Marilyn Monroe.

Meanwhile, an increasingly suicidal Libby struggles to keep going as Monty slips away.

Her bestie, Jane Bowles, becomes fatally ill, and a new man enters her life, who at first seems like her last, best chance at a quote-unquote normal life.

Bosworth reports that producer Sam Siegel took a look at the dailies and wanted to replace Monty, who only stayed in the picture because Elizabeth said that he would only be fired over my dead body.

After Lonely Hearts and Suddenly Last Summer, Monty's star status had sunk considerably, and most in Hollywood thought he was a lost cause.

But Elia Kazan took a chance on him, offering Monty the lead in Kazan's pet project Wild River.

Monty would play a New Deal-era government employee who needs to convince an ancient matriarch to abandon her land before it is intentionally flooded as part of a dam project.

[laughs]

... of Elia Kazan's Wild River.

Wild River, Corrina, here at number seven.

So Wild River used to be a very obscure film.

It was really difficult to see for a long time.

I spent a lot of my 20s trying to see it, and then finally there was a new restoration that showed at Film Forum, and, and it was sort of one of the great repertory screenings of the decade for me.

Um, but, you know, I just think it works really well, and it's, you know, one of my favorite movies he was in, so.

All right.