The Misfits
June 30th 2008 09:13
The Misfits, made in 1961 by John Huston. Starring Clark Gable, in his last role, Marilyn Monroe, in her last role, Montgomery Clift in not quite his last role but almost and also the great Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter.
A heavenly cast indeed in terms of presence. Honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin. John huston by this time had certainly come a long way since ‘The Maltese Falcon’, the richness and depth of this film has possibly got as much complexity to it as other classics such as Robert Rossen’s The Hustler or even Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (a very similar film in terms of themes about men overcome with obsession for a woman). The Misfits is a film of such complexity that I find it a miracle that it found its life as a star studded hollywood movie. Born from the Stageplay written by the great Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman), Miller himself penned the screenplay which goes deeply into a story of three outsiders so overcome with a woman that all havoc breaks out.
Divorced and disillusioned, Roselyn Tabor (Marilyn Monroe) befriends a group of ‘Misfits’ played by Clift, Wallach and Gable. These three men subtely, and more often than not so subtley, vie for her attention and affection. What is staggering to witness though is the degree that these three ‘men’ give away all their personal power, pride, integrity and any sense of true manliness when they are all overcome by obsession and animal instinct for the same woman.
Obviously the three big stars in this film come with a certain amount of baggage and Huston, the director, absolutely pulls everything out of them, leaving these three ‘stars’ bare, with their mythology disected and their vanity exposed. The result is similar to what we saw with John Wayne in ‘The Shootist’, except Wayne knew he was dying, Gable, Monroe and Clift are absolutely tearing themselves open, all wounds exposed for the world to see, which is something I can only be humbled by.
What seriously surprises me is how deeply spiritual ‘The Misfits’ is. It is surprising to see all the makings of an ‘art house movie’ in the form of such a highely profiled film. We see the very essence of mans nature brought before us which makes me wonder what Hustons personal feelings were about the material.
John Huston has always been a director who took a tough love approach towards his actors and what is astounding for me is the performance that he brought out of the highly insecure Marilyn Monroe. She truly takes my breath away when I watch the film or even think about it. There have been actresses like say Monica Bellucci who have embodied priciples of womanliness and desire, actresses who have shown us that sexiness is an artform for example Laura Dern in ‘Rambling Rose’, however in ‘The Misfits’ Marilyn Monroe shows us that there will never be another like her again – Monroe embodies what I can only call pure feminine energy, she redefines what it means to for a woman to move through the world and affect everything that comes close to her – and that is what is at the core of the Misfits, three rugged men, who are the ones who say when it starts and when it ends, who turn to desperate, vulnerable boys in her presence and in this we reveal the honest, true nature of man.
Clark Gable plays with his leading man image, by starting out in a less than convincing performance as usual, to make us only realise that he is simply pacing himself and allowing true seriousness to blossom and emerge. However, the true showdown begins between Clift and Monroe, as we know – Montgomery Clift is the man who defined acting, with performances in ‘From Here To Eternity’ and ‘A Place In The Sun’ which would pave into new territories. Clift is absolutely devestating in ‘The Misfits’ as he bears his outer and inner wounds – and Marilyn Monroe stands right next to him which is staggering for an actress who really never did anything great with her roles.
I admire the Misfits, I admire John Huston for the way he handled Arthur Miller’s wonderful script, I admire what the actors do in it and I recommend it to anyone who is a true lover of anything that represents something important in this world and shows what it really means for us to live in this world with the time that we have.
John Huston's The Misfits
A heavenly cast indeed in terms of presence. Honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin. John huston by this time had certainly come a long way since ‘The Maltese Falcon’, the richness and depth of this film has possibly got as much complexity to it as other classics such as Robert Rossen’s The Hustler or even Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (a very similar film in terms of themes about men overcome with obsession for a woman). The Misfits is a film of such complexity that I find it a miracle that it found its life as a star studded hollywood movie. Born from the Stageplay written by the great Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman), Miller himself penned the screenplay which goes deeply into a story of three outsiders so overcome with a woman that all havoc breaks out.
Divorced and disillusioned, Roselyn Tabor (Marilyn Monroe) befriends a group of ‘Misfits’ played by Clift, Wallach and Gable. These three men subtely, and more often than not so subtley, vie for her attention and affection. What is staggering to witness though is the degree that these three ‘men’ give away all their personal power, pride, integrity and any sense of true manliness when they are all overcome by obsession and animal instinct for the same woman.
'The last true form of man'
Obviously the three big stars in this film come with a certain amount of baggage and Huston, the director, absolutely pulls everything out of them, leaving these three ‘stars’ bare, with their mythology disected and their vanity exposed. The result is similar to what we saw with John Wayne in ‘The Shootist’, except Wayne knew he was dying, Gable, Monroe and Clift are absolutely tearing themselves open, all wounds exposed for the world to see, which is something I can only be humbled by.
What seriously surprises me is how deeply spiritual ‘The Misfits’ is. It is surprising to see all the makings of an ‘art house movie’ in the form of such a highely profiled film. We see the very essence of mans nature brought before us which makes me wonder what Hustons personal feelings were about the material.
Gable and Monroe's final performance - and what a performance!
John Huston has always been a director who took a tough love approach towards his actors and what is astounding for me is the performance that he brought out of the highly insecure Marilyn Monroe. She truly takes my breath away when I watch the film or even think about it. There have been actresses like say Monica Bellucci who have embodied priciples of womanliness and desire, actresses who have shown us that sexiness is an artform for example Laura Dern in ‘Rambling Rose’, however in ‘The Misfits’ Marilyn Monroe shows us that there will never be another like her again – Monroe embodies what I can only call pure feminine energy, she redefines what it means to for a woman to move through the world and affect everything that comes close to her – and that is what is at the core of the Misfits, three rugged men, who are the ones who say when it starts and when it ends, who turn to desperate, vulnerable boys in her presence and in this we reveal the honest, true nature of man.
Clark Gable plays with his leading man image, by starting out in a less than convincing performance as usual, to make us only realise that he is simply pacing himself and allowing true seriousness to blossom and emerge. However, the true showdown begins between Clift and Monroe, as we know – Montgomery Clift is the man who defined acting, with performances in ‘From Here To Eternity’ and ‘A Place In The Sun’ which would pave into new territories. Clift is absolutely devestating in ‘The Misfits’ as he bears his outer and inner wounds – and Marilyn Monroe stands right next to him which is staggering for an actress who really never did anything great with her roles.
A behind the scenes still which betrays the reality of how much drama and difficulty occured off takes
I admire the Misfits, I admire John Huston for the way he handled Arthur Miller’s wonderful script, I admire what the actors do in it and I recommend it to anyone who is a true lover of anything that represents something important in this world and shows what it really means for us to live in this world with the time that we have.
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