"The Misfits"

I am truly a classic movie buff. I am in love with “old” Hollywood and everything associated with it. When I was very young, I dreamed of being Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford or Marilyn Monroe. In addition to my “American Girls”, “Sweet Valley High” and “Babysitters Club” books, I eagerly read biographies of Hollywood stars either long deceased or old enough to be my grandparents such as Ava Gardner, Judy Garland or Ginger Rodgers. My husband always teases me because I don’t have the patience to sit through most films made during my lifetime but I will sit entranced for an entire 4 hour stretch to watch “Gone with the Wind”.


With that in mind, a frequent topic of my posts will be classic cinema… the stars and the films that stir my passion and my imagination.

This past weekend, my husband was working and my son was napping so I sat down to watch a classic that I hadn’t seen in a very long time, “The Misfits”. The film was made in 1961 and stars Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. If I were to make a list of my favorite stars of all time, these three would all be in the top 10… great icons and extremely complex people. Marilyn is one of my idols. She was the most beautiful woman in the world but she never thought she was good enough. She was often late for photo shoots and film calls because she would do her hair and makeup over and over again. She was riddled with anxiety and although every woman wanted to be her, she never felt attractive. Although she played the dumb blonde role perfectly, most people who knew her say it really was just an act and she was extremely shrewd and intelligent. When Marilyn was a child, abandoned by her mother and not knowing her father, she idolized Clark Gable and would often tell people that he was her father. My parents walked out on me when I was 5 and I was so embarrassed for years that I too would pretend that I had family that I didn’t. Although I could NEVER be as beautiful as Marilyn, I also wrestle with the anxiety and self-doubt that can drive someone to success, to despair or both (as was the case with Marilyn). Clark Gable to me (and apparently to young Norma Jean Baker) epitomized manhood. The ironic thing is that when Marilyn and Clark worked together on the “Misfits” they didn’t get along because they each thought the other lacked professionalism. Montgomery Clift was talented, handsome and tortured, but that is what made him so appealing and so interesting in his films. After suffering a car accident in 1956 outside the home of longtime friend, Elizabeth Taylor, Clift required major facial reconstruction surgery. Although he still possessed his matinee idol looks, they were slightly altered and he began a battle with painkillers that was evidenced in his performance in "Judgement at Nuremberg". Much of his performance as a mentally challenged victim of Nazi experiments was ad-libbed because he couldn't remember his lines.

“The Misfits” is often regarded as a “cursed” film because it was a difficult film to make (The director, John Huston, and most of his stars were frequently late to set because of drug and alcohol use) and that it was the last completed film for Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, who died just twelve days after filming wrapped. It was also playing on TV the night Montgomery Clift died. When his caretaker asked him if he wanted to watch it, he replied “absolutely not”. These were the last words that he ever spoke to anyone as he died in his sleep later that night.


In "The Misfits" Marilyn Monroe plays a recently divorced former exotic dancer staying in Reno, NV. At a bar she meets an aging cowboy played by Clark Gable and his best friend who instantly falls for Marilyn's character, Rosalyn. However, Rosalyn doesn't fall for him but for Gay, Clark Gable's cowboy character. They move in together and try to begin a life together in the desert. Rosalyn's marriage ended because she wanted to be married to someone who loves her passionately. Her ex-husband wasn't a bad guy, but he was emotionally distant. This is what makes the love story between Rosalyn and Gay so intriguing. Gay's previous marriage ended and his relationship with his children is strained because he prefers the freedom of the west and was not emotionally present for his family. Somehow, he is able to free himself to be emotionally there for Rosalyn. However, personality conflicts arise because Rosalyn loves animals and can't bare to see them hurt. Gay and his friends (including rodeo rider Perce, played by Montgomery Clift) are in the business of catching wild horses and selling them to slaughterhouses to be killed for food. She begins to question if someone who can hurt an animal can really be capable of loving her.

I can relate to Rosalyn's emotional struggles with marriage and relationships because I require a lot of love, affection and emotional attention that most men can't provide. I think this sort of strain affects most marriages and is the most common cause of strife within my own marriage. This film gives me hope that these differences are not as important as the love that two people share for each other.