1962, Universal, 140 min, USA, Dir: John Huston

Montgomery Clift delivers his last truly great performance as the father of psychoanalysis in this fascinating biopic, in which his theories coalesce around the treatment of a patient (Susannah York) in late-1880s Vienna. The film’s original screenwriter, philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, left following creative differences; his successors, Charles Kaufman and Wolfgang Reinhardt, earned an Oscar nomination for their script (as did Jerry Goldsmith for his score). Just as noteworthy is the work of cinematographer Douglas Slocombe, who gives the various dream and fantasy sequences their own distinctive look.

1953, Warner Bros., 95 min, USA, Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

Montgomery Clift plays a priest who undergoes a crisis of faith when he hears a murderer's confession; as the film progresses, he takes on the man's guilt as his own, both literally (as police wrongly suspect him of the murder) and psychologically. The French critics of the 1950s considered this to be one of Hitchcock's major works, and it remains among his most underrated masterpieces.

1961, Park Circus/MGM, 186 min, USA, Dir: Stanley Kramer

One of Hollywood’s earliest attempts to come to grips with the horror of the Holocaust, this eloquent courtroom drama lined up a host of stars - including Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell and Montgomery Clift - to re-enact the war-crimes tribunals held in Germany after World War II. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, with wins for Best Actor (Schell) and Adapted Screenplay (Abby Mann).

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