In 1961 Monty wrote the music and lyrics for Belle or The Ballad of Doctor Crippen. Wolf Mankowitz wrote the book and was also the producer. They raised all the money for the show at a Sunday afternoon audition attended by top British and American film producers, stage impresarios and money men. Among them was Cubby Broccoli who was so enamoured with the show he became a substantial financial backer.

Unfortunately, the show only lasted seven weeks. The critics were vitriolic about a black comedy musical with a notorious murderer as its hero - this was well before 'The Phantom Of The Opera', 'Little Shop Of Horrors' and 'Sweeny Todd' and they just weren't ready for it.