Review of The Misfits (1961) by Donald W — 18 Aug 2008
This was Marilyn Monroe's and Clark Gable's last movie. it was filmed in black and white. Back in 1960 when this movie was filmed directors who wanted a film to last many years filmed in black and white because the color film of that era would fade over time.
The movie is about a woman played by Marilyn Monroe who is in Reno Nevada to divorce her husband and hooks up with three guys who have an aversion to working for a living. Their motto seems to be "better than wages".
Clark Gable plays an old cowboy who longs for the old days when he could make money rounding up wild horses. Eli Wallach plays an ex-Air Force pilot who's wife has died and has lost his motivation to do anything except fly an old plane.
Montgomery Clift plays a rodeo cowboy who drifts from rodeo to rodeo. The movie centers on Marilyn Monroe who gets to wear a lot of bra-less outfits thirteen years before such styles became common. There is one brief scene where she wears a bikini coming out of a lake.
She would be considered fat today but back in 1960 it was considered sexy for a woman to have a little fat on her backside. She still looks good in a dress or blue jeans and white shirt. Her character is an animal lover and gets squeamish when she sees people hurt.
Most of the movie is about her relationship with these men whose whole life is been about brutality against both animals and other people. Which of the three will she wind up with? Watch the movie and find out.
It's a good movie. Clark Gable died of a heart attack a few weeks after the movie was finished. Some blamed Marilyn Monroe for constantly being late to the sets and stressing Clark Gable. Others blamed the director John Houston who has Clark Gable out roping horses.
The truth was that Clark Gable was 65 years old and was part of a generation of men who smoked their whole life and ate fatty food since they were kids. Many men in the 1960's dropped dead in their 50's and 60's.
It was an epidemic that generated a lot of scientific study that resulted in better diets and advances in open heart surgery.
This review of The Misfits (1961) was written by Donald W on 18 Aug 2008.
The Misfits has generally received positive reviews.
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