Popular Culture Review Vol. 24, No. 1, Winter 2013 | Page 59

Montgomery Clift: An American Original A recent scholarly work titled, “The Passion of Montgomery Clift” emphasizes the near-religious fervor with which Clift’s fans describe their idol. Indeed, the author purports “...His fans describe him in terms approaching religious ecstasy” (Lawrence 1). Thus, it is no accident that the word “epiphany,” with its strong religious connotations, is used here. As pertains to the impact of Clift on cinema and society, however, the more secular defmition, “A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization” (freedictionary) of the word will be employed. This more mundane usage of the word is not meant to diminish Lawrence’s work on Clift as quasireligious icon; rather, its usage is more consistent with the profound sense of realism and originality Clift brought to his roles via his “...radically interiorized acting style” (Lawrence 7). This research is designed to solidify Clift’s role as the first “rebel male” in American cinema and evaluate the role he had on both cinema and culture in a global context. This will be established in the context of the forthcoming chapters: Chapter II, “Clift, Brando and Dean;” Chapter III, “Clift and the 1960s;” Chapter IV, “The Spirit of Clift in the Strängest of Places: Rocky Balboa and the Punk Rock Movement;” Chapter V, Conclusion: “The 1980s and Beyond—Cheap Stereotypes Need not Apply.” Montgomery Clift first burst onto the cinematic landscape in The Search, a critically-acclaimed, profoundly moving tale of Karel