Wuchak A recently divorced blonde bombshell in Reno (Marilyn Monroe) befriends three guys and stirs their passions: An aging cowboy (Clark Gable), a cynical bush pilot (Eli Wallach) and a brooding rodeo contender (Montgomery Clift). They take an excursion to capture wild mustangs for profit. Thelma Ritter is on hand as a fifth misfit in the first half."The Misfits" (1961) was Gable and Monroe's final film and Clift's last significant one. Gable passed away a few days after shooting from a heart attack while Marilyn died 18 months after its release. Clift was dead by 1966. Even Ritter died before the 60s were over.It's a B&W drama with Western elements and haunting reflections on the nature of life and death, reminiscent of those Tennessee Williams' flicks of the era, like "The Night of the Iguana" and "The Fugitive Kind." The characters are lost souls who drown out their pain with lots of drinking and shallow socializing. Monroe is voluptuous and charismatic; and there are thematic gems here and there, like Gay's potent commentary on doing something with pure intentions while society pulls a bait-and-switch and it becomes morally dubious or outright bad. The film's also a fascinating period piece.FYI: Director John Huston originally wanted Robert Mitchum for Gable's role, but by the time they worked the kinks out of the script Mitchum was busy with another project. The writer, Arthur Miller, was Marilyn's husband during shooting, but they were officially divorced 11 days before its release.GRADE: B+/A-

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK Bluray releaseActors: 7/10Plot/script: 8/10Photography/visual style: 7/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 8/10Screen icons Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable made a film together. By the time it was released, Gable was dead, and Monroe died before completing her next film. If nothing else, that makes The Misfits a curiosity worth investigating.The screenplay is by famed playwright Arthur Miller, so it is unsurprisingly somewhat theatrical, and I can imagine much of the action taking place on a theatre stage. Famed director John Huston adds the cinematic touches, though, to make this very much a visual film.Miller was also married to Monroe, divorcing during the making of the film, and this is where the uncomfortable parallels begin, because Monroe's character Roslyn is herself a divorcée. However, as odd as it is, this must also be considered quite ahead of its time: divorce was much less common in those days, and fault still considered a key pillar in proceedings.Roslyn is shown to be divorced for a reason though. The Misfits revolves around three damaged personalities, in what is an unremittingly bleak work. Montgomery Clift (who also died young) is a thrill-seeking rodeo rider who is so tragically doomed that the repeated foreshadowing of his demise is almost funny. Gable is an old-fashioned cowboy, ill-at-ease with a world which is changing around him and rendering him obsolete. Again, fiction mirrors life here, for Gable's heyday was 20 years previously. However, whereas his character Gay (it stops being funny before too long) refuses to adapt, it seemed to me that Gable was making too much effort to retain his physique into his late 50s, probably contributing to the massive heart attack which ended his life not long after filming.The film itself shows some signs of its age. Attitudes towards drink and women are uncomfortably dated, and some of the treatment of animals required to film the climactic horse wrangling scenes would never be allowed today. On the other hand, some of the shots of Monroe, clearly intended to be very risqué, seem ridiculously tame to the modern eye.The main theme is one of disillusionment, an unwillingness to adapt to a changing world. It's uneasy watching, especially as it asks whether we are the same. Miller's deft handling of the pace and rising sense of doom is a testament to his genius as a playwright, as are the numerous great lines that pepper the dialogue. Monroe has an odd approach to the acting, but this contributes to a performance as strong as anyone's in a cast of very strong performances. Her manic breakdown at the very end, filmed in a long shot against the backdrop of barren desert, is grimly fascinating viewing.Despite the presence of two screen icons and a directing legend though, the one person who comes out of this excellent production with the most credit is Miller.

thespookyart The last film of both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, this near-masterpiece offers a brilliant take on rebels who resist conformity. Written by Arthur Miller (whose marriage to Monroe was by then crumbling) the script is small in scope but large in insinuation. Monroe puts forth her most finely tuned acting performance, as does a closeted Montgomery Clift as the third wheel. Gable, too, helps hold the drama together with his arcing and resonant stylized portrayal of a leading man being pressured into submission. In the backdrop gallop a few dwindling relics of wild mustang, as metaphor of those who struggle to fight the cold mechanics of the establishment.

leplatypus I joke for sure as the name of the regretted Clark Gable is irrelevant actually. Anyway, I was very reluctant to watch this movie as I'm not really into cowboy genre. But I picked it as it was the last movie (released) with Marilyn. Honestly while I have seen only colored stills of this movie, I was disappointed to discover that the movie is finally in black and white. Now after the watching, I can say that the movie is a good one. Personally, I think that Marilyn was more and more beautiful as she got old and in addition she really shows her true split personality: a luminous, happy one and a dark, anguished one. This revelation finds surely its source in the fact that it was her husband writing the script: for those who know her biography, I think that a lot if her lines can be heard on two levels: the movie and their story: So pay attention when you will see that she speaks about her mother, of having a child, of drinking…Beyond Marilyn, the movie is also brilliant analyzing the change of time, the need to adapt and the extinction of old dinosaur. For that, Gable was really the man for the part and he is truly excellent. Sure I still don't have understood why Marilyn cares so much for animals and I found Wallach as irritating young as he was old but the movie is finally a good surprise with a lot of inspiration.