The Misfits is a 1961 American contemporary Western film directed by John Huston and written by Arthur Miller, based on his 1957 short story of the same name. The film stars Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift, with supporting performances by Thelma Ritter and Eli Wallach. The narrative follows Roslyn Taber, a recently divorced woman who becomes entangled in the lives of three men—aging cowboy Gay Langland, his pilot-mechanic friend Guido, and quiet rodeo rider Perce Howland—while staying in Reno, Nevada.
The film was released theatrically in the United States on February 1, 1961, by United Artists. Though a commercial failure upon release, it was praised for its screenplay and performances. Over time, The Misfits has been reappraised by critics and is now regarded as a classic of American cinema. It marked the final completed screen appearances for both Monroe and Gable, the latter of whom died shortly after the film's release. The film's title later inspired the name of the punk rock band Misfits, formed in 1977.
Plot
In Reno, Nevada, 30-year-old Roslyn Tabor seeks a six-week residency divorce from her inattentive husband, Raymond. Afterward, her landlady, Isabelle, takes her to Harrah's cocktail lounge, where they meet an aging cowboy, Gaylord Langland, and his tow-truck driver friend, Guido. Guido mentions an unfinished house he built for his late wife, and later, the group visits the property. After an evening of drinking and dancing, Gaylord drives an inebriated Roslyn home to Reno.
Roslyn and Gaylord eventually move into Guido's unfinished house to complete it together. Gaylord confides his regret over being estranged from his children, and later, when rabbits eat their garden's lettuce, he proposes shooting them—an idea Roslyn opposes. When Guido and Isabelle visit, Guido suggests rounding up wild mustangs for profit. At a Dayton rodeo, they meet Perce Howland, Gaylord's friend, who joins them after Gaylord pays his entry fee. Later, at a bar, tensions flare when a drunk harasses Roslyn.
During the rodeo, Roslyn is disturbed to learn that the horses are forced to buck with a flank strap. Perce is injured after two rides but refuses medical help. Roslyn later finds him unconscious in an alley; upon waking, he expresses gratitude for her compassion and recounts his troubled past. A drunken Gaylord interrupts, claiming he met his children, only to cause a scene when he discovers they have already left town. On the drive home, Guido drunkenly propositions Roslyn. Back at the house, he resumes building while Gaylord asks if she would ever have a child with him—she avoids answering.
The next day, Gaylord, Guido, and Perce set out to capture mustangs, with Roslyn reluctantly accompanying them. She is horrified to learn the horses are destined for slaughter. After they capture several, Roslyn pleads for their release. Gaylord resists, angered when she offers him money. Guido offers to release them if she leaves Gaylord, which she refuses. Perce releases the stallion despite her objections, prompting Gaylord to chase and subdue it before freeing it himself, declaring he simply did not want anyone deciding for him.
As they drive away, Roslyn tells Gaylord she will leave the next day. When they stop to untether his dog, the two share a moment of reconciliation, realizing they still love each other as they drive off into the night.
The Misfits originated as a short story by Arthur Miller, published in Esquire magazine in 1957. Miller later adapted it into a screenplay as a vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, then his wife. He continued revising the script throughout production to reflect evolving character dynamics and themes. The film aimed to explore loneliness, disillusionment, and identity through a contemporary Western lens, moving away from traditional genre conventions.
Director John Huston, who had worked with Monroe on The Asphalt Jungle (1950), was brought on to direct. From the outset, the production was marked by emotional and logistical difficulties, including the breakdown of Monroe and Miller’s marriage and the physically demanding desert shoot.[4]
Casting
The film brought together several of Hollywood’s major stars: Clark Gable as aging cowboy Gay Langland, Monroe as recently divorced Roslyn Taber, and Montgomery Clift as rodeo rider Perce Howland. Supporting roles were played by Thelma Ritter and Eli Wallach. The cast also included Nevada Lieutenant GovernorRex Bell in a brief cameo, and Monroe’s masseur Ralph Roberts, who appeared in a small part during the rodeo sequence.
Director Huston suspended production in August 1960 due to Monroe’s exhaustion and health issues, which required a two-week hospital stay. Her frequent tardiness and use of prescription medication reportedly disrupted filming, but the production continued out of necessity. Several of Monroe’s close-ups were shot using soft focus after her return.[9]
Gable insisted on performing many of his own stunts, though he refrained from participating in the more hazardous sequences involving wild mustangs. Filming was completed on November 4, 1960—twelve days before Gable’s death from a heart attack.[10] The film was released on February 1, 1961, which would have marked Gable’s 60th birthday.[11]
Reception
Box office
The Misfits underperformed commercially and was considered a box office disappointment upon release. Despite a production budget of approximately $4 million, the film grossed only $4.1 million in its initial U.S. release.[2] Though not a financial loss, it failed to meet studio expectations and was later referred to as a “box office disaster” of its time.[12]
Critical reaction
Larry Tubelle of Variety called the film "a robust, high-voltage adventure drama vibrating with explosive emotional histrionics, conceived and executed with a refreshing disdain for superficial and photographic slickness in favor of an uncommonly honest and direct approach."[13]Roger Angell of The New Yorker described the film as "absorbing but erratic," praising the performances while critiquing what it considered heavy-handed symbolism and a lack of narrative cohesion.[14]Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times found the film "fascinating", stating: "It has a seriousness of purpose that most films do not, and by the time it is over it just about gets this seriousness across. Its theme—or one of its themes—is loneliness, the inability to communicate. The reaching out, the groping, can be pitiful and painful to look upon, and it is here—a reaching out whose smallness is intensified by the great size of the background."[15]
The performance of Clark Gable, the last in his career, was praised. Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News wrote: "Gable has never done anything better on the screen, nor has Marilyn Monroe. Gable's acting is vibrant and lusty, hers true to the character as written by Miller."[16]The Guardian wrote Gable's performance "is casually professional as ever, and yet he brings to the ageing cowboy an intensity of feeling one never suspected he possessed."[17] The Chicago Tribune felt Gable "was never better cast as a romancing cowboy who lives each day as it comes. In view of his recent death, the final scenes, in which he asserts his strength and independence, are forceful."[18]
On the other hand, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was unimpressed, writing the characters "are scatterbrained, whimsical, lonely and, in the case of the character of Miss Monroe, inclined to adore all living creatures and have a quivering revulsion to pain. They are amusing people to be with, for a little while, anyhow. But they are shallow and inconsequential, and that is the dang-busted trouble with this film."[19] The Chicago Tribune was mixed on the film: "Uneven, overly long and talkative, this film proves again that the stage and the screen are different mediums that require different writing techniques. Author Arthur Miller seems to be trying hard to say something, as are all his characters, but it doesn't quite come off."[18] A review in Time magazine felt The Misfits was "a dozen pictures rolled into one. Most of them, unfortunately, are terrible."[20]
The Misfits has received a positive reevaluation, in which it is seen as a significant American drama with enduring relevance.[21] On Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 31 critics gave the film a positive review.[22] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted score of 77 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[23]
The Misfits is remembered as the final completed film for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Gable suffered a heart attack two days after filming ended and died on November 16, 1960. The film premiered in New York City in February 1961; Monroe and Montgomery Clift attended the premiere, while Arthur Miller appeared with his children. Less than 18 months later, on August 5, 1962, Monroe died of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 36. Her death, combined with Gable’s, cast a long shadow over the film’s legacy. In her final interview, Monroe—who never knew her father—revealed that she often fantasized Gable was her father, underscoring the personal weight she attached to their collaboration. She later expressed dissatisfaction with both the film and her performance.[25]
The other principal cast members also met poignant fates: James Barton died in 1962; Clift passed away in 1966 after making only three more films; Thelma Ritter died in 1969; and Eli Wallach outlived all his co-stars, passing away in 2014 at age 98.
Monroe in The Misfits
The making of The Misfits has been documented extensively. The 1966 documentary The Legend of Marilyn Monroe includes behind-the-scenes footage. Arthur Miller’s autobiography Timebends (1987) offers a detailed account of the film’s troubled production. The 2001 PBS documentary Making The Misfits further explored its creation, drawing on sources such as James Goode’s The Making of The Misfits and W. J. Weatherby’s Conversations with Marilyn. Miller's claim that the script was written as a “valentine” to Monroe later inspired Misfits, a 1996 docu-drama play by Alex Finlayson, which premiered at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, directed by Greg Hersov and starring Lisa Eichhorn as Monroe.[26]
Miller's final play, Finishing the Picture (2004), though fictional, was also based on his experiences during the making of The Misfits.
In August 2018, a long-lost scene was discovered featuring Monroe’s character Roslyn partially nude during a love scene with Gable’s character Gay. The footage, believed to have been destroyed, is now regarded as possibly the first instance of a major Hollywood actress appearing nude in a studio-backed feature, though the scene was never included in the final cut.[27]
Home media
The Misfits was released on Blu-ray by MGM Home Entertainment on May 10, 2011. A Region 1 widescreen DVD edition followed on May 8, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
