Por um Pouco de Amor

Nathaniel West's "Lonelyhearts" is a haunting novella about how an idealistic young man is affected by his job as an advice-giving columnist for his town's newspaper. It was intelligently adapted for the stage in the mid-50's, and the film version plainly uses that adaptation as a reference point as much as the novel itself. In ways, the film expands on the play's success, opening it up to reveal an idealized 50's picture-postcard town on the surface before centering on the insensitivity lying just underneath. Writer/Producer Schary and Director Donohue are to be commended for the atmosphere they have successfully created. It is unfortunate that they did not have enough faith in the material to resist the temptation to give it a happy ending, an ending which really is not in keeping with the events which precede it.

It must have seemed like a great idea to cast Montgomery Clift in the lead role of Adam, and a few years earlier it would have been, but this compelling actor's personal demons had so impacted upon him by this time that it is impossible not to be distracted by his unhealthy state of being. His slurred speech, unsteady gait and jerky mannerisms are entirely at odds with this character, who is said to have never had a stronger drink than a coca-cola. He is too good of an actor not to have effective moments - he works beautifully with Onslow Stevens, who plays his father - but this is a performance that holds our attention largely for unintentional reasons. Maureen Stapleton is sensational in her film debut as a writer to the column who manipulates Adam, and her performance would be right at home in a more faithful and successful version of this novel. Otherwise, this is a well-intended film which fails both to adequately reflect the novel on which it is based and to succeed on it's own terms.

I liked the movie and the one thing about it that I didn't like was Monty. He was too old by at least 15 years for the part, the girl and the hurt. The hurt was a young man's hurt. Robert Ryan had the lock on the mature man's regret and Monty was supposed to be at the front end of the voyage but having been acting and living in bathos for all his life,he was too well seasoned. Instead of a boy whose dad had left him wounded and who was going to emerge from this transformed and transforming, he was Monty front and center and always. I loved Ms. Hart's Justy. Now there's a characterization who developed and a person who was and became. Ryan was once a boy, became a hard and then a bitter man and perhaps regained a bit of himself at the end. Ms. Loy, well-faded but true, a lodestar who was beyond much but hope, the inverse of Ms. Stapleton but in some ways more than that and the true core of the film in that she was a Lonelyheart even though she had material comfort. I'll admit it, I liked Monty in some of his roles but in this,he is terribly miscast. He might have pulled it off before we learned too much about him and his self-pity but alas, the part and the actor met too late. At bottom, his compassion for others here, as in in almost every other role, was just self-pity writ large.

In view of some of the comments categorizing this film as unsatisfying soap opera, it all depends on what you're looking for. If what you want are excellent performances from a superior cast, then this is your kind of movie. Robert Ryan gives his typical outstanding performance as an extremely cynical newspaper editor who inflicts his particular brand of misery to the full on his long-suffering wife, beautifully portrayed by Myrna Loy. Maureen Stapleton is electrifying in her movie debut and received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for her riveting performance. Montomgery Clift's fragility works to his advantage here as an advice columnist whose sensitivity runs a little too deep. The haunted eyes and pained expressions perfectly match what the character in this situation would realistically feel and express. Overall, a nicely done, well-photographed film that is sure to hold the attention and is definitely worth the time to find and view.

To display his acting prowess, you could not find two more different roles for this excellent actor. Knowing the sadness of his personal life will give you even more perspective into this movie. I am not a soap opera fan, so I can't say how close to sentimental melodrama this gets, but it is saved from 'B-ness' (as in B-movie) by the sensitivity that Montgomery Clift puts into this movie. Having seen Robert Ryan in many war movies, I was not as impressed by his dry, cynical newspaper editor role. Not as routine as John Wayne playing himself (or what he would have LIKED to be) throughout all his movies, but close.

The last scene was well written, as was much of the dialogue. I liked the real sturm-und-drang that Clift's girlfriend has to go through after his lies are confessed to her. To watch Jean Stapleton go from victim to witch was quite interesting, and the plot has some interesting twists.

The suffering in Montgomery Clift's eyes, as he portrays an 'Advice to the Lovelorn' writer who gets too close to his 'clients' was not all acting. An automobile accident left him permanently marred and brought about his early death several years after this movie was made.

You will not erase his haunted eyes from your brain soon. And don't think too long about the issues here: How close can we 'civilized human beings' get to another's suffering without being swept away by it? It will hurt your brain.

Montgomery Clift is a writer hired to be "Miss Lonelyhearts" for a newspaper in "Lonelyhearts," a 1958 film also starring Robert Ryan, Myrna Loy, Delores Hart, and Maureen Stapleton in her film debut.

About 30 years ago - yes, 30 - I saw the play "Miss Lonelyhearts" with none other than Kelsey Grammar, who had not yet gone to Hollywood. The play, as well as the book, are quite different from what ended up on the screen. In the film, the ending was changed to a more upbeat one.

This is a great film if you're contemplating suicide because this will take you right over the edge. It is relentlessly depressing with some pathetic characters and some unlikeable ones. Adam (Clift)is a man with a hidden past that he keeps even from his girlfriend (Delores Hart). All the viewer really knows at first is that he was raised in an orphanage and has a father in prison. The paper on which Adam works is owned by William Shrike, an abusive, cynical man (Ryan) who is horrible not only to his employees but to his wife (Myrna Loy) because of her infidelity 10 years before. This is a man who carries a grudge. When he meets Adam, he thinks his sincerity is fake and becomes determined to wear him down. His first step is to hire him as Miss Lonelyhearts. Adam becomes very bothered by the problems his readers send to him, especially because he can't help anyone. When Shrike dares him to meet one of the letter-writers, he does so. It's Maureen Stapleton, a needy woman with a crippled husband who can't make love to her.

The performances in this film are very good, but the film isn't. Clift apparently was very disappointed in it because it lacked none of the bite of the novel and none of the symbolism of Adam as a Christlike figure bearing the sins of others. Robert Ryan is very convincing as the hateful Shrike, and Myrna Loy is beautiful and sad as his wife. Stapleton received an Oscar nomination for her effective performance. An accomplished stage actress, Stapleton evokes the desperation of this lonely woman.

Montgomery Clift by this time was almost at a point where he was dependent upon the kindness of strangers. He was too much of a risk for Hollywood to be interested. Like so many people who are victims of horrible accidents, he had become addicted to painkillers and alcohol. If not for Elizabeth Taylor making a case for him, he would not have been cast in "Suddenly, Last Summer." As it was, Mankiewicz almost stopped shooting on the film. He is fragile and glassy-eyed here, in obvious pain, and his voice slurs. The fragility works well in this role as does the sensitivity he brings to the part. He still had a beautiful smile, which unfortunately he doesn't get to use much here.

It's always wonderful to see Montgomery Clift perform, even toward the end of his career. That interesting voice of his, the intelligence and sensitivity of his work, and the tenderness with which he approached a love scene were unmatched. His film career was relatively short, but he left a powerful legacy. "Lonelyhearts" is not a great film, but it stars Montgomery Clift, so it's worth seeing.