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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.

Interesting newspaper tale with Montgomery Clift as interesting as ever, even though he'd had his car accident which changed his face. One of the best actors ever (along with Brando). He was great for the last 10 years of his life after his tragedy. Maureen Stapleton was heartbreakingly ignorant. Robert Ryan tough as nails. Myrna Loy beautiful and sensitive in a strange marriage and Mike Kellin adds authenticity. A great book by Nathaniel West who wrote DAY OF THE LOCUST.

I know this film bombed in '58..who cares? Too hip for the room. Definitely in the top ten of that year and Clift added another great character, even though he must have been in pain. Best performance = Maureen Stapleton (nominated).

I have been a Clift fan for years reading his biographies and having seen all of his films numerous times. The only exception was the 1958 film Lonelyhearts; for some reason I couldn't locate a DVD and had missed it when shown on TCM. I finally caught up with it on the network this week and all what I heard about the film to my perspective was misdirected. I had read/heard it was a soap opera, meandering and somewhat lifeless. As I saw this movie almost a week ago I can't help in not thinking about it from time to time. To me this was a moving film with amazing performances topped by Stapleton, Ryan and of course Clift. Monty Clift...what a gift of an actor who in this role after his major auto accident plays his character with such intensity and emotion. Incredible. There are scenes where you can see the emotion in his eyes that are so moving and the thought processes of the impact of his actions are so simple but awe inspiring and transparent. He was truly an artist and the shame of it was because of all the pain and ups and downs in his personal life we never got to see his full potential. The amazing Robert Ryan is incredible as well as he plays a cynical character with variation and depth that you have to marvel at the dexterity he uses in communicating the pain and mistrust of anyone he comes into contact with. Great actor. Maureen Stapleton is brilliant with her longing for connecting to something she is missing in her life and right when you begin to feel sympathy she changes on a dime. Brilliant! The only reason I gave it an 8 was the structure of the script and the backstory of Clift's character was a bit weak and rushed. Never the less...very good film that is a near not to be missed because of the performances. Must see for Clift fans.

Dore Schary introduced modest films noirs into MGM's technicolor pantheon, and he wrote and produced this late (1957) entry. While Nathanael West's satire was exhilaratingly brutal, just about everything about this movie seems weary and faint-hearted. Montgomery Clift, fresh from the accident which just about scuttled his career, is the cub reporter shoved into the Miss Lonelyhearts column; he's so passive and tentative -- sometimes so hard to understand -- that it's not clear whether it's method acting or the aftermath of his car smashup. Robert Ryan, usually a stalwart of these mean S.O.B. roles, delivers the lines written for the cynical editor but you have the sense he was interested only in his paycheck. Myrna Loy is trashed as Ryan's long-suffering wife, emotionally abused because of some breach of marital fidelity in the distant past. (Why doesn't she just hurl her Cinzano in his face and stalk out?) But the film starts to smoulder when Maureen Stapleton arrives (she received an Academy Award nomination for this, her debut). As Edna Doyle, frustrated wife who starts an affair with Clift, she's unforgettable without ever lurching into one-dimensional parody. She's both sympathetic and repulsive, vindictive yet confused, victim and avenger. Too bad this movie was made at a time when they thought all Nathanael West's teeth had to be pulled for public consumption; the movie vanishes with a whimper. But West is hard to film; John Schlesinger's Day of the Locust, some 20 years later, didn't do a much better job.

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.

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.

... because of its cynicism and brutal honesty portrayed by the characters. However, at the end of it, I felt the men and women who worked on the film put forth a very good product. The underlying moral tones in the film got a little preachy to me, but it was from 1958, and adultery was still pretty big deal back then.

Montgomery Clift has the lead in this one, and while he does his usual good work, I thought his delivery of lines was quite similar to the way he played characters in "Judgment at Nuremburg", "A Place in the Sun", and "From Here to Eternity"--it seemed halted or deliberately tentative. If that's what the role called for, then he did well. If not, well, it just seemed hackneyed (to me anyway). I much rather like Clift in roles like he had in "The Search".

Robert Ryan was verbally sadistic in this one, and I thought he gave a fine performance, although admittedly, I haven't seen too many of his films. Myrna Loy played his wife and had a really emotional scene with Ryan in their apartment...and I absolutely loved it...it's not something you see from her all the time! Jackie Coogan and Dolores Hart provide good supporting roles, as does Maureen Stapleton as a sensuous psycho! Too bad for moviegoers that Hart answered a higher calling. I thought she was really good in this.

The first time I saw this film I was repelled by terrible way people treated each other, and saw no point in it. After reading some reviews I watched it again and made more sense of it. The Lonely hearts column gets letters from people with all kinds of troubles, but most of the newspaper staff make fun of then. They do not realize they have unresolved problems too. One reporter whines incessantly about not getting the assignment he wanted, unaware that attitude will never get him anywhere. Shrike had his expectations dashed after a sports injury, then his wife got drunk and had a one night stand. Despite his own infidelities he continues to emotionally abuse her. Adam made contact with Shrike though his wife and breaking him becomes part of Shrikes way of hurting his wife. Pat Doyle has a war injury and can't perform as a husband, so he beats his wife because she seeks action elsewhere. Adams own father is in prison for killing his wife and her lover. These 3 couples all had problems, but instead of trying to solve them or even just break up they chose actions that prolong the hurt and make it worse. All three men literally feel their manhood was threatened.

Despite being too old for the role of young writer, Clift's frailty makes him believable .It'snot surprising his character is breaking down under all the suffering in the Lonelyhearts letters. Physicians have a higher rate of suicide than the general public, and psychiatrists the highest. Theres a limit to how much suffering you can deal with. Justy gets all the credit for saving Adam, but she wouldn't have been able to do that if it were not for her father.

This is a man who has lost his wife and has to raise three children on his own. He doesn't take to booze or sex with random women or complain about the burden or loss. He gets up everyday, gets his boys off to school goes to work, comes home and mows the lawn and takes the whole family out to the movies. Then he tells his daughter if she really Loves Adam to forgive him his lies and go live her life. Thats real manhood. That scene could come off as soap opera, but Frank Overton has the ability to underplay scenes where there is strong emotion, coming across as real and heartfelt. Although Ryan and Stapleton are very effective in their roles, this restrained one is much more difficult.

Only later did I find out how much art had imitated life. When Frank Overton was 14 his father died, and his mother who had been the mayor's wife and a member of the Board of Education became just a widow raising 3 boys on her own and an employee of the school district.

Disappointed to learn that the newspaper vacancy he has landed involves writing relationship advice for a 'Miss Lonelyhearts' column, a young journalist starts to doubt his own effectiveness as a writer in this sobering drama starring Montgomery Clift. The film opens on a memorable note with a dynamite first scene in which Clift is made to impromptu audition for the job by Robert Ryan - a cynical newspaper editor who later reveals that he is only interested in employing Clift to break his spirit. We never quite find out why Ryan is so cruel and cynical (beyond learning that his wife once had an affair) but he is characteristically solid in the role, describing everyone who responds to Clift's column as "fakers" and slyly stating that he is only against Clift telling his reads to commit suicide "for purely commercial reasons". The plot here is, however, too complex for its own good. Not only does Clift have to deal with Ryan's taunts and his own doubts about his career, it turns out that he has a secret checkered family past that may be factoring into his ability to give out relationship advice. Any of these angles (why Ryan hates the world; Ryan and Clift clashing; Clift's hidden past) could have made for a good film of its own, but thrown into the mix together, none of the angles are given enough attention to resonate. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that the film is best remembered nowadays for Maureen Stapleton's debut performance as a lonely housewife after "some action" - a sympathetic turn that justly won her an Oscar nomination.

Have not seen this film in many years and was able to view it on late late late night TV. Montgomery Clift,(Adam White),"Wild River",'60 gave forth a deep power from within his very soul and cried out through out the entire picture as a frustrated writer in his love relations and the conflict with his own father. Adam encounters a woman who seeks his help through a column in the local newspaper and she complains about her husband's performance in bed after so many years and then all things break loose. Robert Ryan,(William Shrike),"The Outfit",'74 is a very bitter man who heads the newspaper and is constantly beating down his wife,Myrna Loy,(Florence Shrike),"Song of the Thin Man",'47 for having an affair with a man ten years in the past. Maureen Stampleton,(Fay Doyle),"Cocoon",'85 gave a great supporting role and spins a close web around Adam. Montgomery Clift showed a great deal of physical and mental pain in this film, but it seemed to make his performance a MASTER PIECE of great acting for all generations to view.

LONELYHEARTS is the story of a "Dear Abby" sort of columnist, unwillingly assigned to the job of helping the helpless losers who write to him (MONTGOMERY CLIFT) by a cynical newspaper editor (ROBERT RYAN). Ryan is so despicable that you have to wonder if he patented these roles during the heyday of his career. Clift looks alarmingly frail and disconcerted, his posture like a question mark, his face obviously given careful cosmetic treatment after an accident that almost took his life.

He's also distracting to watch as he plays the vulnerable man with so much obvious pity for his character. DOLORES HART is the loyal girlfriend who almost walks out on him when things get too rough and she misunderstands a crucial situation.

MYRNA LOY has a rather peripheral role as Ryan's long suffering wife who sits on the sidelines and murmurs disapproval of his tactics and tearfully gazes at the distraught Clift. MAUREEN STAPLETON has a pivotal supporting role (in her film debut), as a woman unhappily married to a cripple and badly in need of advice for the lovelorn. She's excellent.

It works, up to a point, but seems more a dated curiosity piece than anything else. Taken from a Nathaniel West novel and a play, it suffers from too many speeches from Robert Ryan as he preaches his cynical hatred for mankind in a pretentious style similar to Ayn Rand's characters. Ultimately, the verdict has to be interesting but depressing.

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.

A very loose adaptation of Nathaniel West book about a scrummy writer who gives advice to sad women. When one sender gets a bit too close, the lines gets tangled to mixed result.

Less dour than its original text, this version of the film puts a bent to the loss of innocence of the titular Lonelyheart. It personifies him and give him a chance to make things better but not necessarily improving the original book.

I think the most interesting thing about this is that it actually did not give Clift's character into some Code mandated repercussion. In fact, the ending was quite a change of pace for the film from this era. It left him off and give him a pass, a rarity of the time.

Other than that, nothing really to write about. The stars here are competent but did better films in general (especially the likes of Myrna Loy, Clift, Stapleton and Robert Ryan). The direction and cinematography was fine.

A very competent fim AND an interesting take of the material.

This is a truly remarkable film of the highest quality. Although it is a very absorbing drama in itself, it deals with problems of life which most of us don't want to face. It is thus one of the most thoughtful films ever to come out of Hollywood. It has a marvellous cast. Montgomery Clift, who plays the lead part of a young journalist, is perfect in his role. Maureen Stapleton makes her first appearance in a film, and her performance is absolutely astounding, No wonder she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She displays such a dynamic range of moods she is like a human rainbow, all of it intense. One moment she is pathetic, sad, and desperate, and the next moment she is snarling, vicious, and murderous. Some people are like that, and one hopes never to meet them. Stapleton must have met some, for surely she otherwise could never have delivered her electrifying and terrifying performance of that kind of person in such a convincing manner. Because this film has a powerful moral message, it is perhaps apt that the young female lead, Montgomery Clift's devoted girl friend, is played by Dolores Hart. In 1963, five years after this film was made, she entered a closed convent. I wonder if this film had anything to do with that. She comes across as such a 'good girl' who could never do wrong, and not long afterwards she proved it by dedicating herself to God. The other lead players in the story are Myrna Loy and Robert Ryan, a married couple who have lived in torturous enmity for ten years due to her earlier infidelity. He is an editor of the newspaper, the Chronicle, which Clift has just joined as his first job. Clift is given the job of 'being Miss Lonelyhearts' and writing a regular column in response to all the people who write letters to the paper asking for advice about their problems. He finds this extremely disturbing, because he is so sensitive he has empathy for all those desperate people. Myrna Loy is her usual accomplished self and Ryan is the embittered and cynical husband who thinks all good people are phonies who are just pretending. This powerful story is based on the novel MISS LONELYHEARTS by Nathanael West, who died tragically in a car crash in 1940 with his wife; he was 37 and she was 27. The novel had been the inspiration for an earlier 'version' entitled ADVICE TO THE FORLORN (1933). Although West himself co-scripted that film, it was very different from the novel and from this later film. By the time this film came to be made, the novel had already been adapted for the stage by Howard Teichmann (who is credited), and much of his dialogue appears in the film. Many of the lines spoken by the actors are so thoughtful, well-formulated, and sharp that they do not come across as spontaneous, which of course they are not. They are rather obviously speaking lines written by a writer. However, what some of the dialogue lacks in feeling natural it gains from high literary quality. This film was also co-scripted and produced by the esteemed Dore Schary, a serious man who always valued high standards. For instance, in his very first year as a producer (1942), he produced that wonderful and poignant film A JOURNEY FOR MARGARET starring the five year-old Margaret O'Brien, a heart-wrencher if ever there were one. This film is not just 'worthy', it is not just disturbing and challenging, it is also a moving emotional experience and a great contribution to meaningful cinema.

Adam White (Montgomery Clift) is eager for a newspaper job. He had befriended Florence Shrike (Myrna Loy) who introduces him to her newspaper editor husband William Shrike (Robert Ryan). After a contentious interview, William offers Adam a job. To his surprise, Adam is writing the "Miss Lonelyhearts" column. Justy Sargeant (Dolores Hart) is his girlfriend.

It's a novel. It's a play. It's a movie. Initially, I thought this would be a comedy. Then the darker material starts seeping in. Montgomery Clift is almost 40 and is a bit old for the role which is suited for early 20's. That's Dolores Hart and she fits much better. He needs to be younger so that Robert Ryan can bully him. The movie keeps adding little dark surprises. This is a surprising film although a younger and more inexperienced Adam would work better.

This film is sad waste of some very talented people here. But I think the script was bad and it was probably butchered in the editing department.

This has a Tennessee Williams feel to it. Give these people some southern accents and it could pass superficially for something Tennessee Williams might have done. I wish he had done it.

Monty Clift is a young writer hired by newspaper editor Robert Ryan on a recommendation by his wife Myrna Loy. But Loy and Ryan have a tempestuous marriage. Ryan assigns him a new lonelyhearts column, so he can be a local Ann Landers. Unfortunately Clift gets way too involved in his work both emotionally and physically.

There was obviously some footage missing at least to my eye that would have explained exactly what Loy's and Clift's relationship was. The film opens in a bar hangout for newspapermen and it is there Clift is introduced to Ryan.

Ryan's antipathy to Clift is also not well explained. We know he's a cynic and he's got some great lines in the script, but his motivation for tormenting Clift who he recognizes as a sensitive soul are really not fathomable.

Monty Clift oozed sensitivity from his very pores. So this role is one he can act with no stretch of his marvelous talent. But he should have been given something better to work with.

Maureen Stapleton made her screen debut as a sad sack writer to the Lonelyheart column. She's very good indeed along with her husband Frank Maxwell. There relationship eerily parallels Loy's and Ryan's.

For fans of the cast members see it, but for others it will be disappointing.

I didn't think it possible to make an effective film adaptation of Miss Lonelyhearts, one of the finest American novels. Though certain of the novel's darker aspects are lightened slightly in this film, overall it conveys the novel's brilliance while putting some of the moral quandaries into sharper focus. Ryan and Clift are unbelievable. Unbelievable.

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.