The Misfits (1961 film)

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The Misfits
Misfits3423.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Huston
Screenplay by Arthur Miller
Based on"The Misfits"
by Arthur Miller
Produced by Frank E. Taylor
Starring Clark Gable
Marilyn Monroe
Montgomery Clift
Thelma Ritter
Eli Wallach
Cinematography Russell Metty
Edited by George Tomasini
Music by Alex North
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • February 1, 1961 (1961-02-01)
Running time
125 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million
Box office$4.1 million (domestic) [2] [3]

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 a recently divorced woman who becomes entangled in the lives of three men—an aging cowboy, his pilot-mechanic friend, and a quiet rodeo rider—while staying in Reno, Nevada.

Contents

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 Gable and Monroe, who 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, Roslyn Taber finalizes her divorce and befriends Isabelle, a local landlady who introduces her to aging cowboy Gaylord “Gay” Langland and his friend Guido, a tow-truck driver and former wartime pilot. The group visits Guido’s half-built house in the desert, originally intended for his late wife. As Roslyn becomes close with Gay, she moves into the unfinished house, and a tentative romance develops.

Tensions emerge when Gay proposes killing rabbits that are destroying their garden, which Roslyn opposes. Later, Guido suggests capturing wild mustangs to sell. They attend a local rodeo to recruit a third man and encounter Perce Howland, a rodeo rider with financial troubles. Gay offers to cover his entry fee in exchange for help with the roundup. Roslyn is disturbed by the treatment of animals in the rodeo and Perce’s injuries, deepening her emotional conflict.

As the group prepares to capture the mustangs, Roslyn becomes increasingly disillusioned, especially upon learning the horses are to be sold for dog food. She pleads for their release, causing friction with Gay and Guido. When Perce frees a stallion, Gay chases it down but ultimately lets it go, asserting his need for autonomy. Roslyn and Gay reconcile as they drive off together into the Nevada night, uncertain but united.

Cast

Production

Estelle Winwood, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in foreground, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift in background at left Marilyn Monroe Misfits.jpg
Estelle Winwood, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in foreground, Eli Wallach and Montgomery Clift in background at left

Development

The Misfits originated as a short story by Arthur Miller, published in Esquiremagazine 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, Marilyn 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 Governor Rex Bell in a brief cameo, and Monroe’s masseur Ralph Roberts, who appeared in a small part during the rodeo sequence.

Filming

Principal photography took place in and around Reno and Dayton, Nevada, with locations including the Washoe County Courthouse, Quail Canyon near Pyramid Lake, and the Dayton rodeo grounds. [5] [6] The film's climax was shot on a dry lakebed twelve miles east of Dayton, now known as Misfits Flat. [6] [7] [8] The cast stayed at the Mapes Hotel in Reno during most of the shoot, with Miller and Monroe relocating to the Holiday Hotel (now the Renaissance Hotel) for the final weeks.

Director John 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]

Clark 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]

Accolades

At the 14th Directors Guild of America Awards, John Huston received a nomination for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film. Marilyn Monroe was honored as "World Film Favorite" at the 19th Golden Globe Awards in 1962, five months before her death. The film also received recognition decades later when it was nominated for inclusion in the American Film Institute’s 2005 list, AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores. [24]

Legacy

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 Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits trailer 2.jpg
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 partially nude during a love scene with Gable’s character. 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "THE MISFITS (A)". United Artists . British Board of Film Classification. February 9, 1961. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Guider, Elizabeth (December 18, 2005). "Conspiracy theories grew with icon's legacy". Variety. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ "All-Time Top Grossers". Variety. 8 January 1964. p. 69.
  4. ↑ Arthur Miller (1995). Timebends: A Life. Penguin. p.  470. ISBN   978-0-14-024917-0.
  5. ↑ Miller, 1995, p. 508
  6. 1 2 James Goode (1986) [First Published 1963 as "The Story of The Misfits"]. The Making of the Misfits. Limelight Editions. p. 55,123. ISBN   0-87910-065-6.
  7. ↑ Rocha, Guy. "Myth #60 – Myths and "The Misfits"". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2010-04-17Sierra Sage, Carson City/Carson Valley, Nevada, January 2001 edition{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. ↑ "Misfits Flat". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  9. ↑ Huston, John (February 19, 1981). "Saints and Stinkers". Rolling Stone (Interview). No. 337. Interviewed by Peter S. Greenberg. p. 25.
  10. ↑ "Behind the Camera: The Misfits" . Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  11. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (February 2, 1961). "The Misfits (1961): Gable and Monroe Star in Script by Miller". The New York Times . Retrieved August 2, 2012. 'The Misfits,' which came to the Capitol yesterday....
  12. ↑ Hardy, Phil (1983). The Encyclopedia of Western Movies. Octopus. p. 279. ISBN   9780706425550 . Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  13. ↑ Tubelle, Larry (February 1, 1961). "Film Reviews: The Misfits". Variety. p. 6. Retrieved August 13, 2025– via Internet Archive.
  14. ↑ Angell, Roger (1961-01-27). "Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe, and 'The Misfits'". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  15. ↑ Scheuer, Philip K. (February 2, 1961). "'Misfits' A Strange Case of Loneliness". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 9. Retrieved August 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  16. ↑ Cameron, Kate (February 2, 1961). "'Misfits' Dramatic Tribute to Marilyn" . New York Daily News. p. 15C. Retrieved August 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "The Misfits Review". The Guardian . 10 July 2018 [10 July 1961].
  18. 1 2 "'The Misfits' is Talkative and Lengthy". Chicago Tribune. February 2, 1961. Part IV, p. 9 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  19. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (February 2, 1961). "Gable and Monroe Star in Script by Miller". The New York Times. p. 24.
  20. ↑ "Cinema: The New Pictures". Time. February 3, 1961. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  21. ↑ Miller, Arthur (1987). Timebends . New York: Grove Press. p.  485. ISBN   0-8021-0015-5.
  22. ↑ "The Misfits". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  23. ↑ "The Misfits". Metacritic. Fandom . Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  24. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-06.
  25. ↑ "Marilyn Monroe: 10 Facts You Didn't Know About the Legendary Actor". Glamour . 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  26. ↑ Finlayson, Alex. Plays. Oberon Books. London, 1996.
  27. ↑ "Marilyn Monroe's lost nude scene from The Misfits resurfaces". The Daily Telegraph . 2018-08-13. Archived from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2019-02-14.

Bibliography

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