Lonelyhearts

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.

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.

... 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.

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.

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.