Montgomery Clift
From RoyalWeb
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(→Accident) |
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For some reason, on the way down, Monty lost control of his car, rolled it down a hill and smashed it into a telephone pole. Kevin McCarthy, noticing Monty's headlights no longer behind him, went back and found the car down the hill. He went down to it and at first couldn't see where Monty was because he was down on the floor, and it was very dark. His face was left "a pulpy mess", evidently from being crushed by the steering wheel. Kevin raced back up to Elizabeth and Michael's house: "Monty's been in an accident! I think he's dead!" | For some reason, on the way down, Monty lost control of his car, rolled it down a hill and smashed it into a telephone pole. Kevin McCarthy, noticing Monty's headlights no longer behind him, went back and found the car down the hill. He went down to it and at first couldn't see where Monty was because he was down on the floor, and it was very dark. His face was left "a pulpy mess", evidently from being crushed by the steering wheel. Kevin raced back up to Elizabeth and Michael's house: "Monty's been in an accident! I think he's dead!" | ||
| − | + | They called a doctor and an ambulance, while Elizabeth is reported to have run down the hill, climbed over the back seat (as the front doors wouldn't open) and cradled his head in her hands until he was taken to the hospital. She rode in the back of the ambulance, and Phyllis Gates in the front. "His nose was broken, his jaw shattered, his cheeks severely lacerated, and his upper lip split completely in half." (Bosworth, p 2) | |
The doctors did their best to reconstruct his features as they were. It took several weeks for him to recover, but he insisted on finishing the movie. Watching the film today, you can notice the odd changes in his appearance in certain scenes that were spliced together. The left-side of his face was virtually paralyzed by the accident, his face appears puffy, and his upper lip and nose have changed. He continued to work, but his appeal had now changed. With no longer the same type of sex appeal he once had, his drinking and drug use became, if possible, more pronounced. | The doctors did their best to reconstruct his features as they were. It took several weeks for him to recover, but he insisted on finishing the movie. Watching the film today, you can notice the odd changes in his appearance in certain scenes that were spliced together. The left-side of his face was virtually paralyzed by the accident, his face appears puffy, and his upper lip and nose have changed. He continued to work, but his appeal had now changed. With no longer the same type of sex appeal he once had, his drinking and drug use became, if possible, more pronounced. | ||
