Adventures in the Screen Trade

by William Goldman

If Albert Finney had agreed to play the title role in Lawrence of Arabia, Peter O’Toole wouldn’t have happened. If Kirk Douglas had played Cat Ballou, forget about Lee Marvin. Montgomery Clift deserves special mention. (Clift, for me, is the most overlooked of the great stars. His was a talent that ranked right up with Brando’s. I once met Burt Lancaster, and he told me a story of his first days with Clift on From Here to Eternity. One thing you should know about Lancaster: The man exudes physical power. Even today, if he went in the ring against André the Giant, I’d bet Lancaster. He told me, “The only time I was ever really afraid as an actor was that first scene with Clift. It was my scene, understand: I was the sergeant, I gave the orders, he was just a private under me. Well, when we started, I couldn’t stop my knees from shaking. I thought they might have to stop because my trembling would show. But I’d never worked with an actor with Clift’s power before; I was afraid he was going to blow me right off the screen.”) A recent biography of Clift reports that he turned down, in one short stretch, four roles: the William Holden part in Sunset Boulevard, the James Dean part in East of Eden, the Paul Newman part in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and the Brando part in On the Waterfront. These were all crucial roles in their careers—would these wonderful actors have become stars if Clift had given the thumbs-up sign? Hard to say for sure.