Marilyn Monroe Movie:

Editorial Review:
It was the last roundup for Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, who gave their final performances in this melancholy modern Western. Arthur Miller wrote the script (some say overwrote) as a contemplation of his then-wife, Monroe, and set the piece in the half-world of Reno, Nevada. The dangers of this kind of meta-fictional approach are not entirely avoided, but the clean, clear-eyed direction of John Huston keeps the film grounded. And then there are the people: Gable a warrior past his time, Monroe overwhelmed by the world and its attentions, Montgomery Clift visibly broken in pieces, Eli Wallach a postwar neurotic. If the encroaching mortality of Gable, Monroe, and Clift weren't enough, the stark photography and Alex North's score confirm this as a film about loss. It may have its problems, but seen at a distance of many years, The Misfits scatters its tender mercies with an aching beauty. --Robert Horton

The Misfits [Region 2] Reviews:
The misfit middle kind of throws off the whole picture...
2009-11-10 - I don't know why, but I never even really considered watching `The Misfits'. Even when I was watching a lot of Marilyn Monroe films, I never really thought about watching this one. A friend told me that it was coming on TCM and that she was going to be watching it, and so we decided to get together and see it together. While I cannot say that the overall experience was what I hoped for, I must tell you that there are parts of this film that work marvelously. Overall I was entertained and even delighted (especially during the films finale) but there are huge chunks of this film that don't work as well as they intended to.

The film tells of a lonely cowboy and a young divorcee who fall in love over mutual sadness and a longing for belonging.

Okay, so lets start with the good. The acting across the board is very well done. Both leads handle their performances with a strength that is surprising (beings that neither are brilliant actors) as well as very welcomed. This is not the best performance by either star (look at Monroe in `Some Like It Hot' or Gable in `It Happened One Night' for that) but it is definitely at the top of their heap. Monroe's early scenes convey a breathy sense of maturity that she often forgot to lend her vixens, and Gable has so much natural girth that you just can't help but see him as a real man, no actorly symptoms in sight. The deaths of both actors (which came very shortly after this film was released) is a sad yet poignant facet of the film. When one watches the film with the knowledge of the eventual demise of the stars we can see a layer of profound realism in the character's desperate plea for some sort of purpose.

It makes so much sense.

As good as the leads were, the supporting cast is even better. Eli Wallach delivers one of my favorite supporting performances of all time as Guido, the lovelorn pilot who fails to impress Roslyn as much as he hoped to. His dire need for a woman's touch is so stunningly conveyed that he takes the cake as the most impressive performer in the cast (it's no wonder Monroe wanted his scenes shorted so that he wouldn't steal her limelight). Thelma Ritter is also stunningly capable of carrying her scenes, with a spunk and cheery light that emanates and illuminates. Montgomery Clift really excels in the films final scenes, where his moral dilemmas are made prominent. It's a beautifully complete performance.

But, where there is good there is also some bad. My biggest issue with `The Misfits' is that there is a huge chunk of film in the middle of the movie that just doesn't fit right. The beginning is spot on and really engaging, and the ending is nothing short of stunning (that final conversation between Monroe and Wallach is just brilliant) but the middle, that budding romance, is just awkward and unnecessary. It just doesn't hold up and I found my interest fading. John Huston is a very capable director (see `Fat City' RIGHT NOW) but he loses his reigns on this one a bit and delivers a less than perfect final product. The thing is, this could have been remarkable on all fronts, but it just isn't.

See it, for it is the final film projects for two very beloved motion picture icons, but don't expect it to be all that it could have been.

An Interesting Piece
2009-09-11 - I didn't know that this was the last movie for Marilyn and Gable. It was interesting. I'm not a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe's. I think Marilyn was, incidentally, one of the sources of the problems in movies today where there is too much of a prominence placed on symbolism over substance. Having said that, Marilyn did a pretty good job in this movie. I saw more substance in this movie than all the others I've seen combined. The scene in the desert, where she screams at the brutality of the misfits, was top notch. In that scene, and a few others in the movie, she displayed some acting talent that is missing in most of today's top starlets. She evoked a lot of power in some scenes without saying a word. In other scenes, she over acted a little.

Gable played Gable throughout most of the movie, but the scene when he cried out to children was an odd scene for him to take part in. It showed more weakness in the few minutes it occurred than I've seen in most of the few Gable movies I've seen.

Clift was good, but I've seen him better in other movies. He tended to play the same character in many of his movies, and that character was in this movie too. He may have been a good actor, but I never saw too much range from him.

The movie itself was uneven and inconsistent. The lead to the arc was very interesting. I can see why it was considered an off movie for it's era. It kind of lost itself in the arc, however, and I found myself wavering a little in the midst of the overdrawn characterization and setting. There were interesting scenes, and I can see why some of the scenes were important, but they were a little too long. Other scenes seemed irrelevant to me. The close of the movie, from the point where they reach the desert on, was excellent. All of the characters--even the Eli Wallach character--were rounded out here. The close of the movie provided an explanation for why some of the scenes that I considered irrelevant were in fact relevant. Overall, I considered this a really good movie. It had problems sure, but I would definitely recommend it.

Wrong film-editorial review!
2009-07-17 - This (2001) is a remake of a 1961 movie of the same title. The image is wrong, it is for the 1961 movie!

Great Job!!
2009-03-01 - The Movie that I bought came in very fast & in great condition. Thank You.

Huston's film established Marilyn Monroe as a dramatic sensuous actress...
2009-02-06 - "The Misfits" is literally about four people who don't fit into society... A divorcée (Monroe) meets cowboy Langland (Gable), who is getting too old for his job... They decide to live together... A former rodeo star (Clift) and an unemployed mechanic (Wallach) join in the drifting...

Huston's masculine images are stripped of their former glory, existing only one rough exterior which fails to conceal what has been lost... Eventually the men agree to round up wild mustangs for a dog food manufacturer...

Scenes of the trio and Monroe speeding across the prairie in a beaten-up truck, raising a hurricane of dust while attempting to rope the stallions, are the strongest evocations of lost souls wandering in time...

Huston's film established Marilyn Monroe as a dramatic sensuous actress, thus liberating her from a decade of steamy cheesecake roles in sexy comedies...