Lonelyhearts
- Montgomery Clift: Adam White
- Robert Ryan: William Shrike
- Myrna Loy: Florence Shrike
- Maureen Stapleton: Fay Doyle
- Dolores Hart: Justy Sargeant
- Jackie Coogan: Ned Gates
- Frank Maxwell: Pat Doyle
- Onslow Stevens: Mr. Lassiter
Life is a lie is an American film drama from the year 1958. It is the film adaptation of the 1933 published novel Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West.
Action
The young, idealistic journalist Adam White ( Clift ) applies for a job at the " Chronicle ". The cynical editor Shrike (Ryan ) wants Adam convinced of the wickedness of the world and of man by letting him edit " Miss Lonely Heart " the column. Here, help-seeking people are turning to the newspaper. Shrike, bitter because his wife ( Loy ) has cheated on him, assumes that Adam loses his utopian worldview. He urges Adam to meet with the writer Fay Doyle ( Stapleton ). She seduces Adam, which plunges him into a deep conflict. He confesses to his girlfriend slips and tells her his own life lie: He is not an orphan, as claimed, but his father is imprisoned for the murder of Adam's mother in prison.
Background
Clift was strongly dependent on alcohol when making the film, hence the opening sequence with Ryan in the pub seems bitter when he ordered a lemonade and says he can not drink alcohol tolerated.
Awards
Maureen Stapleton was also nominated for her role in the Golden Globe Awards 1959 as Best Supporting Actress and the Academy Awards in 1959 as Best Supporting Actress.