MovieChat Forums > L'espion (1966) Discussion > Not as bad as I thought it'd be

Not as bad as I thought it'd be

posted 13 years ago by Tickerage
5 replies | jump to latest

Having read Bosworth's book, I got the impression that this film was pathetic as was Monty in it. Not at all. For one thing, he looks really good in it, and this was less than a year before he died.

I was expecting to see a shell of his former self, but, physically, Monty was the best looking male actor in this film. Still strikingly thin and handsome. Yes, there were a few wrinkles in the face close ups, but that is honesty the only difference between Monty here and in his heyday. I realize that he drank and took pills, but really, IMO he was aging very well.

I had very low expectations for the plot, and considering, it wasn't that bad. For one thing, the East German winter scenes were beautiful. The supporting female cast was also most attractive. To me this film was a little like Topaz or Torn Curtain. Yes, those were better films, but the plot is similar and frankly with Monty and some of the other supporting characters, this is just as watchable.

Finally, I enjoyed the mid '60s clothes and hair styles. They are really in style again today!

At least there will be plenty implied.

[–] moonspinner55 13 years ago

It was stunning to see Montgomery Clift photographed in color at this later point in his life: not a well man, but hiding his health woes and troubled history the best he could. It must have been a relief having old friend Roddy McDowall nearby; still, his closeups belie a fragile, fading man--intriguing and yet very sad to witness.

[–] kim02128 10 years ago

I just caught this on TCM, and was surprised by how good Monty looked and my first thought watching him during his stunts was how hard it had to have been for him to complete. Completely absorbed in the plot...loved the look of it as well

"Sentiment comes easy at fifty cents a word."

[–] dollvalley 9 years ago

I agree, I finally watched this movie for the first time and was amazed at how good he still looked. A lot better than any movie post-crash to be honest. I don't remember if he had more surgeries later (I read the LaGuardia book only, and a long time ago), but he looked like he had aged naturally without any disfigurement of such magnitude.
I was also surprised that he did all those stunts himself, quite dangerous and it must have been freezing to stay in the water that long, especially being not so healthy and so thin.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

The film has a low IMDb rating so I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the film, which was slow giving time to appreciate the twists. It lacked dramatic tension and that may in part have been due to Mr Clift's acting limitations at this point in his career. Nonetheless I'm glad I saw it even if Monty was sad to see. There were a couple of shots of his eyes in close up and they looked beautiful but a bit vacant.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

[–] skat1140 8 years ago

You mustve been watching a different movie.

From the very first scene in the park with Roddy McDowell, I was thinking What is wrong with this guy? When he smiles, it breaks his face.