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Author Topic: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau  (Read 7129 times)

Offline JH72NY

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Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« on: April 15, 2009, 12:19:13 PM »

Two different biographies of the late, great Montgomery Clift each contain a sentence referring to Monty and his family moving to The Chateau in Jackson Heights in 1933. He was 13 years old and already landing roles on Broadway. Does anyone have  more details about this? Which building? How long they lived there, etc?
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Offline Chuckster

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Re: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2009, 12:50:17 PM »
I love reading up on this kind of stuff, so I Googled Montgomery Clift and Jackson Heights.  A Google book search resulted in some text from a book entitled Montgomery Clift by Michelangelo Capua.  In the book, the author refers to The Chateau as "an ugly brick apartment building".   I know the OP's intention is not to discuss The Chateau's beauty, but I have to strongly disagree with the book's author on that statement.  In my opinion, The Chateau is one of the most attractive buildings in Jackson Heights.

Google Book Search result for Montgomery Clift

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Offline JH72NY

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Re: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2009, 12:55:28 PM »

Yes, I gasped when I read that in the book. I suspect neither author actually saw the building for themselves since the other author calls it a 'small' building. And I agree with you. I find the Chateau to be entirely beautiful.
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Offline John Prester

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Re: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2009, 01:34:46 PM »
I saw two of his films recently:

The Heiress - Based on the novel Washington Square, the film takes place mostly in a townhouse in New York's Washington Square.  Clift plays a guy who squanders his inheritence, and has no apparent goals or motivation in life.  He proposes to Catherine Sloper, a woman who is set to inherit a large sum of money.  Catherine's father doesn't approve, and believes that Clift is marrying her for her money. 

I Confess - Set in Quebec, Clift plays a Catholic priest who hears a confession from a man who recently killed someone.  Circumstantial evidence ties Clift's priest character to the murder, and he becomes the primary suspect and sent to trial.  The priest doesn't wish to compromise the sanctity of the confessional, thus he keeps his mouth shut. 

Both are above average films, and I recommend both.  Available on Netflix.  I Confess is especially good for the shots of old Quebec.  Peter Bogdanovich provides some interesting commentary as well.   
 
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Offline JH72NY

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Re: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2009, 06:53:52 PM »

I found a bit more information about the Clifts in JH. They apparently lived at The Chateau long enough for Monty's older brother to meet his eventual wife, Eleanor Clift (whom we know as the reporter/pundit on The McLaughlin Group) whose family were longtime JH residents. The biographies do state that Monty and family moved to Manhattan at some point but it is unclear as to what date. It appears to be somewhere around 1942, so it's perhaps 9 years of residency in JH.
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Offline Chuckster

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Re: Actor Montgomery Clift at The Chateau
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2009, 07:05:00 PM »
JHL member, jennsch posted a link a while back to New York Times Magazine where Eleanor Clift is asked a series of questions.  She mentions her residency in Jackson Heights.

Famous JH Residents
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