clift never physically or emotionally recovered from his car accident. his post-accident career has been referred to as the "longest suicide in hollywood history" by acting teacher robert lewis because of clift's subsequent abuse of painkillers and alcohol. he began to behave erratically in public, which embarrassed his friends. nevertheless, clift continued to work over the next 10 years. his next three films were "the young lions" (1958), "lonelyhearts" (1958), and "suddenly, last summer" (1959). clift next starred with lee remick in elia kazan's "wild river" released in 1960. he played a tennessee valley authority agent sent to do the impossible task of convincing jo van fleet to leave her land, and ends up marrying her widowed granddaughter, played by lee remick. in 1958, clift turned down what became dean martin's role as "dude" in "rio bravo", which would have reunited him with his co-stars from "red river", john wayne and walter brennan, as well as with howard hawks, the director of both films.