| . | 07/14/2008
The Rarest of Birds: Based On the Life and Works of Montgomery Clift
By: John Hoglund
W. Somerset Maugham once said, “It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved... ”
In the recent John Lisbon Woods production of “The Rarest of Birds,” which he conceived, wrote and directed at The Wings Theatre Company, the audience was taken on an emotional juggernaut that turned into a hybrid of the best and the worst of times lifted from the life of one of the screen's great matinee idols of the 1950's and 60's.
Iconic celebrity worship is a venerable American tradition. It has had many frenzied peaks over the last 100 years or so from stage, opera, cinema and rock and roll. From Sarah Bernhardt to Laurette Taylor to Laurence Olivier to Orson Welles right up to Elvis and (ahem) Miley Cyrus. There's always been a flavor of the month. There's always a base of enthusiastic fans who embrace such idols with unbridled passion and little restraint. Montgomery Clift was one such idol. But, all is not as it seems to the celebrity starved public. How many of pop-culture heroes suffer the angst of assorted demons that lay beneath their public persona? The answers are elusive, veiled in secrecy and often misconstrued by hyperbole and gossip. Such was the case for more than a decade in the person of Clift, the handsome actor who came to the public's awareness in 1948 with his screen debut opposite John Wayne in Howard Hawk's respected western “Red River.” Such was the strength of his film character and the breadth of his acting fused with an intense on-screen magnetism (opposite a renowned cast,) that he soon became the new golden boy of Hollywood and achieved fame and fortune in several highly acclaimed films including, “From Here To Eternity” and “The Heiress.” Sadly, he would enjoy little of this success. His ongoing, torturous relationship perfecting his craft and his insidious demons outweighed any joy in success and, ultimately, caused him more agony than ecstasy.
In this modest production in a basement theater, Mr. Wood's well researched vehicle, “The Rarest of Birds,” unfolded as a one man play starring Omar Prince as Clift. With minimal props: three chairs, a small table, and some bright lighting, the story of a life in disarray unraveled.
The year is 1962 and Clift has been locked in his dressing room by legendary director John Huston during the filming of the movie, “Freud,” his next to last picture. Here, on the brink of madness and in a semi-drug, alcohol induced stupor he unleashes a maelstrom of distorted demons as he talks to himself out loud, exposes an imaginary Sigmund Freud and generally rips his soul out trying to find his way back to a semblance of sanity as he just sinks even deeper into despair.
The play and dialogue are tightly structured in erratic, spit-fire non sequiturs that, at times, lose the moment as some of the shouting and rambling gets lost in more bantering and histrionics than necessary. Woods' direction might have allowed for more balanced pacing in spots. Less is always more. Jumping from one mad scene to another makes an audience have to work a bit harder than necessary following what has just happened as they are hit with the next volcanic eruption of psychosis.
To his credit, Prince manages to strip Clift's character bare with pitiless candor and a heartfelt honesty that is palpable as he drifts in and out of madness with snippets of the real person through this pathetic mess whose career and personal life are in shambles. As he jumps in and out of time and his own caricature, creating multiple vignettes, this tragedy moves with a remorseless beat and pride that becomes as hypnotic as its subject matter.
“After “Red River, I rose faster than anyone in the history of Hollywood,” he spews as recalling his early glory days. It's as though he envisioned his life on the brink of oblivion on a daily basis. What unfolds borders on both horrifying and piercingly pathetic as he relives facets of his life that, at once, fascinate and repel between his incessant pill popping, shooting demerol and swigs of alcohol from a weathered thermos. Yet, throughout, Prince also brilliantly exposes Clift's emotional psyche in a way that reveals a person in search of the acceptance and affection he was denied in his rearing. Too, he throws in a wink of the eye humor in just the right spots.Mr. Prince manages to carry off this burning intensity and icy madness in the throws of insanity with sublime dignity and intelligence. But, to an even greater degree, he is able to convey the vulnerability that was Clift's calling card. And, he does this with ease and conviction turning in a memorable performance worthy of a more advanced production.
Along the way, Clift's tumultuous state of affairs caused by a million demons from his insufferable, dominating mother to his closeness with Elizabeth Taylor, who was in love with him, and assorted celebrities including Marilyn Monroe who famously quipped, “ You're the only person I know more screwed up than me!” Groping to accept his homosexuality amid ladies throwing themselves at him and other dichotomies that added to his pain and the clutter that was his tormented soul, he fanatically goes beyond method acting to actually living the character he was portraying. Consequently, he lived his professional life in a constant state of horrific angst. At no time does Prince cross the boundaries into parody and he never loses the essence of Clift's haunting, complex personality. Rather, he creates a believable personal accounting of a creative genius possessed by that genius.
At times, the script juxtaposes Clift as a monologist and quasi-emcee sporadically explaining things to the audience and talking out loud to the imaginary Dr. Freud or other voices in his head. At other times, the protagonist lectures the audience in an ad lib fashion. Throughout, his rantings, he always returns to a sensitive, albeit madding shadow of a man possessed of greatness and bent on destroying it through his possession. A priest might have helped as he intones, “I want to be exorcised of it!” The accolades and awards and Oscar nominations only fueled his frustrations with Hollywood and the perfection of his craft to a maniacal degree. He becomes a victim to his own obsession with perfection and stopping at nothing in search of his inner truth.
The behind the scenes anecdotes fascinate particularly tid-bits about the making of “From Here To Eternity” and his strained relationship with Frank Sinatra; (“I know I was good ... I had other nominations. But I really wanted to win that one!”) His near fatal accident during the filming of “Raintree County” (with Taylor) changed his life as his handsome face became distorted and was almost crushed. He would be filmed from special angles thereafter. Too, he once enraged Clark Gable (a known homophobe) on the set of his last picture, “The Misfits.” Yet, like other peers, he was also in awe, “That faggot's a hell of an actor.” After that initial success with “Red River” he turned down the leads from all of Hollywood including those in “Shane” and “Sunset Boulevard.” He notes that “Elizabeth Taylor was the only woman that turned me on.” But he didn't want to hurt her so he rejected her pleas to marry her after she gave him an ultimatum.
Omar Prince has depth as well as star quality and managed to lay his character bare, warts and all, with pitiless candor that was at times wrenchingly sympathetic. While the book is not perfect it remains a thoroughly interesting work in progress that reads between the covers of this gifted actor's life as a result of Mr. Prince's riveting performance. While not without flaws, especially in description of Clift's bouts of dysentery and diarrhea and other bodily functions, Woods has generally directed “The Rarest of Birds” with credibility and insight that is worthy. In complicated monologues he handily catches the sense of a beautiful if wounded bird who is, at once, fascinating and repulsive. In the end, it makes for good drama about a fragile genius whose demons won in the end when he died at age 45.
“The Rarest of Birds” will next be presented at The Island Repertory Theatre Company in Cherry Grove on Fire Island on July 22 and 23. For information, call: (631) 597 9439
It will also be presented at The Parker Theatre at The Algonquin Theatre, 123 East 24th Street on August 17, 18, 19 and 20.
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