The Misfits (1961)

The first hour and a half of this two-hour film is mighty slow going. It's mostly exposition, back-story, some of which could have been edited out. The plot rambles and meanders. There is a lot of glib talk, a lot of filler. The cameraman seems to be asleep. The characters themselves are dispirited, drifting emotionally, buffeted by the storms of life. They whine a lot. Booze helps them cope. The film score is sad, sentimental, and sounds like it was borrowed from a Douglas Sirk melodrama.

Then, as the film enters its final thirty minutes, things change. The pace quickens. The dialogue subsides somewhat. The cameraman wakes up. Drama and tension escalate. The most memorable scenes occur in this final Act, on the bleak, empty salt flats, where the characters confront a herd of wild horses, which in turn forces the characters to confront their own inner wildness. Here at the finale, the B&W visuals transcend human effort. The simple dialogue soars to eloquence. "How do you find your way back in the dark?", asks Marilyn Monroe's character. Comes the response: "Just head for that big star, straight on". Cut to a shot of the vast empty landscape on a clear night, with eyes looking upward, an intuition of eternity.

How ironic these last scenes are. Back in 1960 no one could have known that the film's powerful ending would symbolize such a prescient real-life ending to the careers of two Hollywood legends.

Fmovies: The Misfits, the last film of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, is a truly haunting film that never leaves you long after you've finished watching it. Despite having a poor box office and mixed reviews, it is now highly regarded among modern critics. It is about a restless fragile divorcée finding a new life in Reno with a couple of cowboys, one of which has a gambling problem and survives on slaughtering mustangs to make dog food.

Not only does this showcase Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable's exceptional (and often underestimated) talent, but it is a very beautiful movie that lingers on in your mind long after you have finished watching it. Personally it has affected me a lot, especially the horse sequence. I know this was essential to the film but as an animal lover and vegetarian I found it very distressing - in fact incredibly distressing seeing the horses being treated that way for the sake of the movie. Nevertheless, it added to the movie and when they were set free, it was the most magnificent moment in the movie. Marilyn's screaming part was also very beautiful, I felt her frustration completely.

The Misfits is a very suitable title as it refers to both the poor horses caught up in the web of human greed and also to the restless humans, unsatisfied and cruel.

This is a very moving movie, showing the cruelness of human nature and a most realistic portrayal of human life, both the positive and the negative. I was so astounded by both Marilyn and Clark's acting, plus the magnificent script which was so very intelligent, magnificent quotes. I definitely recommend this movie to everyone.

Marilyn Monroe's breathy voice and little girl sweetness have a depth and reason in this film that most of her other roles lacked.

The Misfits, written by Monroe's ex-husband Arthur Miller, is as harsh and dark as his relationship with the actress apparently was. While over-written and plodding, the dialog has an earthy reality that seeps out from time to time, aided in no small way by John Huston's excellent direction and stunning cinematography.

Marilyn's equally iconic co-stars –– Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter –– realize their parts with finesse and feeling. But Monroe stands out in this modern day, psychological western – not for her beauty or glamor –– but for a contemplative strength and tragic emotion the actress seldom revealed on screen.

She seemed to be emerging from her sex-pot shell in her impersonation of a drifting divorcée drawn to a trio of struggling, yet oddly aimless, Nevada ranch hands. Her expressions and mannerisms are natural, at times weighted with a sadness, a tiredness that may not have been acting at all. Whether intentional or not, these facial shots of grief and pain are exquisitely disturbing, as much for their fleshing out Marilyn's personal travail at the time the movie was made as for the mixed-up character she was playing.

Her sensitivity to the plight of the wild horses the ranchers are capturing and killing for illegal profit, is brilliantly well-paced, her anguished dialog in defense of their freedom evocative of larger social issues coming to the fore in the 1960s. The poignant scenes of her outrage at the men's treatment of the horses are in fact seething in their intensity, giving the viewer a tantalizing glimpse of the caliber of talent Marilyn held in reserve, and would likely have expressed to greater acclaim had she lived longer. As it turned out, The Misfits, with all its pathos and desolation, underscored by sweeping desert backdrops, was Monroe's last film. Perhaps unavoidably, it's regarded by many as a metaphor for Marilyn's own professional and private turmoil.

And it may be. But it's also a splendid tribute to the range of her abilities. More than any other movie in which she appeared, the hauntingly heroic, if flawed, tale of The Misfits is the finest, most compellingly honest work Marilyn Monroe ever achieved.

The Misfits fmovies. Two of the previous comments have it right about Nevada. It is without question the most barren of places in terms of the sustenance of human life, yet it has a rare beauty that transcends the ugliness of its crass cities and radioactive vistas. The fact that it encompasses an entirely landlocked basin in which great rivers roar down to disappear in dry lakebeds speaks to the main point. Pristine alpine meadows form islands in the sky surrounded by millions of acres of desolation.

When I first saw "The Misfits" in 1961, after having read the savage reviews and followed the sensational press coverage of its production, my initial reaction was that most people just missed the point. I still think so, particularly after reading some of the negative comments here that parrot accepted wisdom about filmmaking in general and what is perceived as a misfire by Miller and Huston. But I have news for the naysayers: this film tells it like it is.

So what if it's a stage play set in the desert? So what if the characters devolve and come apart according to some apparently hidden hand of random fate? Those who get the story right are those who see past what seem at first to be surreal clichés existing only as fodder for the cameras and instead grasp the horror and ugliness of what passes as everyday life for the eponymous ensemble. Nothing happens, and yet everything happens.

Gable, Monroe, Clift. Arthur Miller himself. Figures that seem larger than life. This has little to do with horses and everything to do with the tragedy of Everyman.

This is a one of a kind film experience which has taken on even more depth with our hindsight into the lives of its creators. Written by Monroe's then husband, Arthur Miller, and produced as their marriage was ending, it provides Monroe with the role of her life. There are many great moments in the film, the most famous being her tirade against the cruelty and dishonesty of the men in her life. You will never forget her cries of "Murderers!" , even more horrifying now, given the suspicions surrounding her death. But for me the most unforgettable moment takes place in the cab of the truck when Eli Wallach's character offers to save the lives of some horses if she will give up the man she is with and live with him. The look on her face changes from hope to horror as she realizes he's bartering the horses' lives for hers: "You have to GET something in order to act human?!" she spits out at him. It's a great script, cast perfectly, and speaks as sadly and as eloquently to us now as it did forty years ago.

I've always wanted to see this movie because of the legendary actors associated with it and yesterday I finally rented it. I can't say it is an entertaining movie, but it is certainly profound and stays with you.

Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift were all wonderful. There is something extra poignant about the casting of these three actors. It is like "misfits" playing misfits. Knowing that it is Clark Gable's and Marilyn Monroe's last film added to the aura of finality at the end. Marilyn Monroe definitely does not get the credit she deserves as the fine actress she was. Even her character is trying to get beyond the external first impression she makes on men.

It is the first film I've seen of Montgomery Clift's. What a fine actor! He brought enormous depth to his character--much of which was portrayed without speaking.

Once again, if you're looking for an entertaining film, you may be disappointed. If you're looking for an interesting blend of characters who, in many ways, are mirrors of the actors playing them, then rent the Misfits. It is packed with stars but not with glitzy star quality, just no-holds-barred, uninhibited acting.