The Misfits (1961)

dir. John Huston
writ. Arthur Miller
feat. Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach

For an all-star film with plenty of well-executed set pieces, The Misfits has a wonderfully ragged quality about it, evidence of the talented cast, with at least one at the height of her powers. Marilyn plays Roslyn, a lovely young woman securing a reluctant but much-needed divorce as the picture opens. Roslyn is shaken, losing faith in the world, particularly the men she attracts. While she would like to live free and love freely, that course has steered her wrong and left her uncertain as to how she should proceed.

Naturally, this glowing beauty, newly single and looking for the next step in life draws admirers, namely everyone else in the film. Gay (Gable) is an old school cowboy still struggling to live the rough and tumble single man's life in a decreasingly wild west. As the aging lothario, confidence waning, he nearly pleads for Roslyn's attention just as he begs for a few more years of the life he's loved. Guido (Wallach), an auto mechanic still trapped by the loss of his wife years ago, is revived by Roslyn as she inhabits his old house, left barren and incomplete when his wife passed away. This invigoration overwhelms him, forcing him to feel again after years of rolling along casually without probing too deeply into the past or moving ahead to a new life. Perce (Clift) rambles through town, following the rodeo, a jaded romantic who feels jilted by his stepfather for taking his legacy and lost without a new dream to set his sights upon. There are times when he seems the best match for Roslyn though the two might crumble together, neither with the assured substance to support them as a duo.

Isabelle (Thelma) is the only character who seems to have it licked, standing on her own two feet, well aware of how the world, and men, work. She appears caught between knowing satisfaction and mild resignation, neither of which thrill nor depress her.

The unavoidable pain in the world is at the heart of the film, and Roslyn suffers terribly when forced to face it directly, doled out by her closest friends. Her explosive reaction changes everything, for a moment, stirring the group to face themselves and their behavior, including herself. It's a stunning movie climax, the kind that may or may not change the day to day lives of those involved but most assuredly changes the way they think of them.

As notably, this period in Roslyn's life provides a bridge between the character and Marilyn's screen persona, allowing the actress to slowly shed the trappings of the ditzy blonde, molting out of that stereotype as though seeing clearly for the first time. It is a rare and stunning feat, revealing talents that sadly remained hidden previously and would never have the chance to mature, given that it was Monroe's last completed film.