MovieChat Forums > The Young Lions (1958) Discussion > Silly question about Montgomery Clift sc...

Silly question about Montgomery Clift scene

posted 17 years ago by cowgoesmoo
3 replies | jump to latest

There is a scene in which Clift/Ackerman is leaving his wife and home and headed for the induction station. The milkman interrupts them on their doorstep as he's saying goodbye and gives him a quart of milk and insists that he drink it "for courage". Clift looks very annoyed thoughout and I originally figured its because the milkman is taking away his precious remaining moments with his wife. When Clift drinks the milk, he winces and looks extremely uncomfortable as he takes a swig.

He looks like he's in so much pain, that I began wondering if that reaction was simply part of his acting or if Clift was lactose intolerant and knew that drinking milk would create severe intestinal problems for him later.

Anyway, I know its a silly question, but TYL has been shown several times on AMC in the last few weeks that this scene keeps standing out.

[–] franny2 17 years ago

I recently saw this movie, and my take on this scene (and some others) is that Clift is not acting but is in actual pain after a recent horrific car accident which started him on pain killers.
Not a silly question either.

[–] juanmonge69 16 years ago

I am in the milk business. As a matter of fact, my father delivered milk in Brooklyn in those Divco milk trucks. The scene is of particular interest to me . But, I have to tell you I didn't see anything odd in that scene. He takes a swig from the pint-It hardly goes down . His nervousness has everything to do with leaving the beautiful Hope Lange.

I am glad that posters have been explaining that MC was in a car accident prior to making this film because he really looks like a nervous wreck.

[–] timmaninaz 16 years ago

I think it was part of his acting. My sense is that he is trying to show pain as he is saying goodbye to his wife and has no idea how long it will be before he sees her again.