It is said that when Montgomery Clift discovered who his love interest in
A Place in the Sun would be, he exclaimed, “Who the hell is Elizabeth Taylor?” The comment was more likely a putdown of the notion of a “Hollywood star” than a real question. It is unlikely he didn’t know who the lovely 17-year-old actress was. Everybody in the country, if not the world, did. Still, in spite of her glamour and fame, a personality like Elizabeth represented everything that he despised about Hollywood. In Monty’s view, she was a commodity rather than a serious actress.