Review: Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship

Elizabeth and Monty: The Untold Story of Their Intimate Friendship by Charles Casillo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am adding to this review to mention that I did finally finish this book, it gets somewhat better in the middle. I am going to keep it at 2 stars because this was just a gossip re-hash. Nothing new here. Salacious is the word for this book. I learned more about the sex lives of these characters than I really ever wanted to know. This is one of the reasons I stay away from biographies-I find that the author/s usually have their own agenda and I'm generally not going to embrace it.



I am reading this as an ARC and wonder if the editing got any better with the books that the Goodreads winners have gotten? I know I'm not supposed to be mentioning editing problems (because this is an ARC), but at this late date, the book should have been somewhat readable. I've even found inconsistent dates that are extremely important. I genuinely hope that this book eventually finds a competent editor, or at least I hope the author invested in Grammarly to help out!!!

This book was one of the biggest disappointments in reading that I have ever come across. Had I known that this would be only about Montgomery Clift and his many, many lovers, addictions, and all-around disgusting behavior, with so much less about Elizabeth Taylor, I would never have picked up this biography. If you like sex in all of its down and dirty ways, if you like hearing the sordid gossip of old-time dead actors who are also drug addicts and mentally deficient, then this is the read you have been waiting for.

Now I know why I have always stayed away from gossip rags while I was younger (and still do) - I don't want to know who is screwing who and how. I don't want to know about the stars' penis size or actually the lack of such.

I have made it to the 30% mark, and I don't know how I will get any further. I will rewrite my review if the book gets any better/clearer.

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Synopsis: "Violet-eyed siren Elizabeth Taylor and classically handsome Montgomery Clift were the most gorgeous screen couple of their time. Over two decades of friendship they made, separately and together, some of the era’s defining movies—including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Misfits, Suddenly, Last Summer, and Cleopatra. Yet the relationship between these two figures—one a dazzling, larger-than-life star, the other hugely talented yet fatally troubled—has never truly been explored until now.

“Monty, Elizabeth likes me, but she loves you.” -Richard Burton

When Elizabeth Taylor was cast opposite Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun, he was already a movie idol, with a natural sensitivity that set him apart. At seventeen, Elizabeth was known for her ravishing beauty rather than her talent. Directors treated her like a glamorous prop. But Monty took her seriously, inspiring and encouraging her. In her words, “That’s when I began to act.”

To Monty, she was “Bessie Mae,” a name he coined for her earthy, private side. The press clamored for a wedding, convinced this was more than friendship. The truth was even more complex. Monty was drawn to women but sexually attracted to men—a fact that, if made public, would destroy his career. But he found acceptance and kinship with Elizabeth. Her devotion was never clearer than after his devastating car crash near her Hollywood home, when she crawled into the wreckage and saved him from choking.

Monty’s accident shattered his face and left him in constant pain. As he sank into alcoholism and addiction, Elizabeth used her power to keep him working. In turn, through scandals and multiple marriages, he was her constant. Their relationship endured until his death in 1966, right before he was to star with her in Reflections in a Golden Eye. His influence continued in her outspoken support for the gay community, especially during the AIDS crisis.

Far more than the story of two icons, this is a unique and extraordinary love story that shines new light on both stars, revealing their triumphs, demons—and the loyalty that united them to the end."