I could have entitled this song simply “Fran Kubelik” but then I wouldn’t have been able to get the word Oscar in the title. This will likely be my one and only entry this season. Initially I wanted to write a song inspired by Montgomery Clift, one of my all time favourite actors in spite of the fact I have only ever seen him in two films, A Place In The Sun and From Here To Eternity. I think I’m correct that he was nominated for Best Actor for both but didn’t win....in fact he never won an Oscar. That said, Fred Zinnemann, director of From Here To Eternity credited Clift with bringing out the performance from Sinatra that won him Oscar for best supporting actor. I also read somewhere that Scott Tracey, pilot of Thunderbird 1, was modelled on Montgomery Clift. Clift sadly died aged 45, a short and from what I know of him, pretty intense life, plagued by various personal demons. But he was a fantastic actor and his place in the pantheon of greats is assured.
I’m not altogether sure how I got from Montgomery Clift to Fran Kubelik, I did start to write a song about Clift but somehow it never really took shape. I did of course, how could I not, mention Clift in this “song”. The Apartment is another of my all time favourite films, Billy Wilder’s follow up to Some Like It Hot, and he wanted to cast Jack Lemmon again, this time as Shirley MacLaine’s (Fran Kubelik) love interest. Like Montgomery Clift, Shirley MacLaine was nominated for an Oscar for The Apartment but didn’t win. It’s a great great film, if you haven’t seen it yet, what are you waiting for?