by the time clift was making john huston's "" (1962), his self-destructive lifestyle and behaviour were affecting his health. universal studios sued him for his frequent absences that caused the film to go over budget. the case was later settled out of court, but the damage to clift's reputation as unreliable and troublesome endured. as a consequence, he was unable to find film work for four years. the film's success at the box office brought numerous awards for screenwriting and directing, but none for clift himself. on january 13, 1963, a few weeks after the initial release of "freud", clift appeared on the live tv discussion programme "the hy gardner show", where he spoke at length about the release of his current film, his film career, and treatment by the press. he also talked publicly for the first time about his 1956 car accident, the injuries he received, and its after-effects on his appearance. during the interview, gardner jokingly mentioned that it is "the first and last appearance on a television interview programme for montgomery clift".