The Misfits
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Movie Reviews of The Misfits
Movie Review: Marilyn Monroe killed Clark Gable making this movie.
Summary: 5 Stars
Blonde gets divorce in Reno, and proceeds to hang out with a group of guys who catch wild horses and sell them for dog food.Movie Review: Great Job!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Movie that I bought came in very fast & in great condition. Thank You.Movie Review: The misfit middle kind of throws off the whole picture...
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Misfits all, they face harsh realities of a changing world.
Summary: 4 Stars
In this 1961 film Marilyn Monroe is cast a recent divorcee in Reno who has just shed her husband. She meets up with Clark Gable, an aging cowboy, as well as Montgomery Cliff, who makes his living working in rodeos. Then there is Eli Wallach, a former WW2 pilot who has lost his dreams. And Thelma Ritter, an older woman who befriends Monroe. In one way or another, they're all misfits.Gable and Monroe start a romance and move to a desert house abandoned by Wallach. There's a lot of drinking and introspection. Present throughout is the cruel reality of what the modern world has become. For example, Wallach, the pilot, shoots bald eagles for the farmers, the bucking broncos in the rodeo have irritants placed under their saddles to make them lively, and mustang horses are rounded up to use for dog food.
Filmed in black and white, there's an underlying feeling of sadness. And even the rather happy ending doesn't help that. It's a good screenplay although it was rather slow at times. But Miller sure knows how to get to the hearts and souls of his characters. I was impressed with the performances of Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter who were not cast in starring roles. And Montgomery Cliff is a fine actor and is outstanding. As for Gable and Monroe - well, I don't know. Gable has a few good scenes but mostly he doesn't seem real. And Monroe just can't act. She's all right when she's cast as a dumb blonde, but this was a serious role. Her performance here was wooden and amateurish.
I wish there had been some special features on the DVD, but there was nothing more than the original trailer. The film held my interest though, and is worth seeing just because of its history. It's the last film that Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable appeared in before their deaths. And Arthur Miller wrote it especially for Marilyn while he was living in Reno and awaiting a divorce in order to marry her. The director, John Huston, was one of Hollywood's best at the time. And yet it never quite made it to box office success. It will appeal to film buffs and fans of the stars. I therefore recommend it.
Movie Review: "Beats wages, don't it?"
Summary: 4 Stars
As the story opens, lost-soul Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe) has just arrived in Reno to get a quickie divorce. She meets Guido (Eli Wallach), a sensitive mechanic and his pal Gay (Clark Gable), an aging cowboy. Both men fall in love with her and she ends up living with Gay in Guido's house. The men take Roslyn out the desert to go "mustangin'," but she's horrified when she learns the purpose of their trip.
This story is about four aimless and rather pathetic people who have nothing to do and no place to do it in. They're just drifting through life and for a short time, they drift together. Gable is outstanding as the rugged old cowpoke who still wants a woman's touch. He takes manly command of every scene and is charisma personified. Wallach's role is less flashy but still powerful and touching. Montgomery Clift plays a rodeo cowboy who's been kicked in the head one too many times. He doesn't get to do much but he's still sweet and likeable. Marilyn is, well, Marilyn, still delivering her lines in that breathy, little-girl voice. Only occasionally does she break through and become a real person; mostly she over-emotes and poses prettily.
Filmed in black and white in a mostly barren desert, the movie is grim and depressing and doesn't let up for a minute. (Animal lovers' note: The "mustangin'" scenes of wild horses being roped and hog-tied are brutal.) I'm glad I got to see Gable and Monroe in their last performances; this is a thoughtful character study of four achingly lonely people.