The Misfits (1961)

 John Huston's "The Misfits"


If there's one notable aspect about John Huston's 1961 film "The Misfits," it's the notion that it was the final film appearances of both its leading stars, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Other than this piece of melancholic trivia, there is not much left to get interested over about this film. I am not that much of a John Huston enthusiast. "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Treasures of the Sierra Madre" are the only two films of any worth so far in his filmography. I had hoped "The Misfits" could alleviate this Huston malady of mine. Alas, it was of no avail.

Written by Marilyn Monroe's then-husband, Arthur Miller, "The Misfits" centers on a newly divorced woman (played by Monroe) who becomes entangled in the lives of three men, an aging cowboy, a mechanic, and a quiet rodeo rider (Clark Gable, Eli Wallach, and Montgomery Clift respectively). 

While I do recognize the flimsy haze of a theme with regards to its ruminations of loneliness, disillusionment, and identity, I don't feel as though Huston is a director that can illustrate these notions with any sort of proper engagement. This is a real shame, as I wish Monroe and Gable could have gone out on a more important piece of American cinema. 



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