Since I have been a great admirer of Marilyn
Monroe’s acting talent for many years I would like to discuss her last finished
film, The Misfits. The picture,
written by Monroe’s husband Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and
starring Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift, should have proved that
Monroe was a serious actress who is able to carry a complicated dramatic role.
The reason for that was the fact that Monroe was typecasted as a dumb blond, what did not make her happy as an ambitious artist always looking for self-improvement.
The film’s central character is Roslyn Taber
(Monroe), a sensitive, insecure young divorcée. Miller based it on Monroe
herself. After Roslyn divorces her husband in Reno, she and her landlady,
Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) meet in a bar three cowboys, Gay Langland
(Clark Gable), Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), and Guido (Elli Wallach). All
the three men, as well as Roslyn and her landlady, are misfits who live on the
fringes of society; they do not “work for wages” and have no place on their
own. There is hardly plot in the film;
much more important are deep and meaningful lines of dialogue, and interactions
between the characters. The cowboys are in awe of the beautiful and extremely
vulnerable Roslyn; they start to compete for her attention. Finally, Roslyn falls in love with Gay.
The culminating scenes of the picture are set
in Nevada desert. The cowboys want to capture some mustangs in order to sell
them. As Roslyn learns on the spot that the horses will be slaughtered and
converted to dog food, she is distressed and wants the men to set the animals
free. They refuse to do so, and Roslyn yells in despair at them: “Horse
killers! Killers! Murderers! You're liars! All of you, liars! You're only happy
when you can see something die! Why don't you kill yourself to be happy? You
and your God's country! Freedom! I pity you! You're three dear, sweet, dead
men!” It is a very touching scene in which Monroe gives an impressive dramatic
performance, one of the finest in her screen career.
Finally, Gay and his
companions set the horses free. He and Roslyn decide to turn over a new leaf
and make plans for having a family together.
The Misfits is an intellectual film, full of meaningful symbols; one of
them are the mustangs, the misfit horses which symbolize the twilight of the
Wild West. The picture turned out to be the last for Clark Gable and Marilyn
Monroe. At the time of its release (1961), the film received mixed reviews by
the critics who did not understand it. I regard The Misfits as the most important film in Monroe’s career. In my
opinion, it lives up to producer Frank Taylor’s expressed intention to make
“the ultimate motion picture.”
Since I have been a great admirer of Marilyn Monroe’s acting talent for many years [P - ^,] I would like to discuss her last finished film, The Misfits. The picture, written by Monroe’s husband Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring (Marilyn) [rep,foc] Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift, should have proved that Monroe was a serious actress who (is) [T/Asp - ^was] is able to carry a complicated dramatic role. The reason (for that) [foc,coh - ^ that never happened] was the fact that Monroe was (typecasted) [WF - ^ typecast] as a dumb blond, (what) [Gr,W - which) did not make her happy as an ambitious artist always looking for self-improvement.
ReplyDeleteThe film’s central character is Roslyn Taber (Monroe), a sensitive, insecure young divorcée. Miller based (it) [W,foc ^ the character] on Monroe herself. After Roslyn divorces her husband in Reno, she and her landlady, Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) meet (in a bar three cowboys) [WO - ^ three cowboys in a bar], Gay Langland (Clark Gable), Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), and Guido (Elli Wallach). All (the) [no det] three men, as well as Roslyn and her landlady, are misfits who live on the fringes of society; they do not “work for wages” and have no place on their own. There is hardly plot in the film; much more important are deep and meaningful lines of dialogue, and interactions between the characters. The cowboys are in awe of the beautiful and extremely vulnerable Roslyn; they start to compete for her attention. Finally, Roslyn falls in love with Gay.
The culminating scenes of the picture are set in [det - ^ the Nevada desert. The cowboys want to capture some mustangs in order to sell them. As Roslyn learns on the spot that the horses will be slaughtered and converted to dog food, she is distressed and wants the men to set the animals free. They refuse to do so, and Roslyn yells in despair at them: “Horse killers! Killers! Murderers! You're liars! All of you, liars! You're only happy when you can see something die! Why don't you kill yourself to be happy? You and your God's country! Freedom! I pity you! You're three dear, sweet, dead men!” It is a very touching scene in which Monroe gives an impressive dramatic performance, one of the finest in her screen career.
Finally, Gay and his companions set the horses free. He and Roslyn decide to turn over a new leaf and make plans for having a family together. The Misfits is an intellectual film, full of meaningful symbols; one of them are the mustangs, the misfit horses which symbolize the twilight of the Wild West. The picture turned out to be the last for Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. At the time of its release (1961), the film received mixed reviews by the critics who did not understand it. I regard The Misfits as the most important film in Monroe’s career. In my opinion, it lives up to producer Frank Taylor’s expressed intention to make “the ultimate motion picture.”
Since I have been a great admirer of Marilyn Monroe’s acting talent for many years, I would like to discuss her last finished film, The Misfits. The picture, written by Monroe’s husband Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift, should have proved that Monroe was a serious actress who was able to carry a complicated dramatic role. The reason that never happened was the fact that Monroe was typecast as a dumb blond, which did not make her happy as an ambitious artist always looking for self-improvement.
ReplyDeleteThe film’s central character is Roslyn Taber (Monroe), a sensitive, insecure young divorcée. Miller based the character on Monroe herself. After Roslyn divorces her husband in Reno, she and her landlady, Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) meet three cowboys in a bar, Gay Langland (Clark Gable), Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), and Guido (Elli Wallach). All three men, as well as Roslyn and her landlady, are misfits who live on the fringes of society; they do not “work for wages” and have no place on their own. There is hardly plot in the film; much more important are deep and meaningful lines of dialogue, and interactions between the characters. The cowboys are in awe of the beautiful and extremely vulnerable Roslyn; they start to compete for her attention. Finally, Roslyn falls in love with Gay.
The culminating scenes of the picture are set in the Nevada desert. The cowboys want to capture some mustangs in order to sell them. As Roslyn learns on the spot that the horses will be slaughtered and converted to dog food, she is distressed and wants the men to set the animals free. They refuse to do so, and Roslyn yells in despair at them: “Horse killers! Killers! Murderers! You're liars! All of you, liars! You're only happy when you can see something die! Why don't you kill yourself to be happy? You and your God's country! Freedom! I pity you! You're three dear, sweet, dead men!” It is a very touching scene in which Monroe gives an impressive dramatic performance, one of the finest in her screen career.
Finally, Gay and his companions set the horses free. He and Roslyn decide to turn over a new leaf and make plans for having a family together. The Misfits is an intellectual film, full of meaningful symbols; one of them are the mustangs, the misfit horses which symbolize the twilight of the Wild West. The picture turned out to be the last for Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. At the time of its release (1961), the film received mixed reviews by the critics who did not understand it. I regard The Misfits as the most important film in Monroe’s career. In my opinion, it lives up to producer Frank Taylor’s expressed intention to make “the ultimate motion picture.”