Disappointed to learn that the newspaper vacancy he has landed involves writing relationship advice for a 'Miss Lonelyhearts' column, a young journalist starts to doubt his own effectiveness as a writer in this sobering drama starring Montgomery Clift. The film opens on a memorable note with a dynamite first scene in which Clift is made to impromptu audition for the job by Robert Ryan - a cynical newspaper editor who later reveals that he is only interested in employing Clift to break his spirit. We never quite find out why Ryan is so cruel and cynical (beyond learning that his wife once had an affair) but he is characteristically solid in the role, describing everyone who responds to Clift's column as "fakers" and slyly stating that he is only against Clift telling his reads to commit suicide "for purely commercial reasons". The plot here is, however, too complex for its own good. Not only does Clift have to deal with Ryan's taunts and his own doubts about his career, it turns out that he has a secret checkered family past that may be factoring into his ability to give out relationship advice. Any of these angles (why Ryan hates the world; Ryan and Clift clashing; Clift's hidden past) could have made for a good film of its own, but thrown into the mix together, none of the angles are given enough attention to resonate. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that the film is best remembered nowadays for Maureen Stapleton's debut performance as a lonely housewife after "some action" - a sympathetic turn that justly won her an Oscar nomination.
Review of Lonelyhearts
