The Misfits
Directed by	John Huston
Produced by	Frank E. Taylor
Written by	Arthur Miller
Starring	Clark Gable Marilyn Monroe Montgomery Clift Thelma Ritter Eli Wallach Kevin McCarthy James Barton
Music by	Alex North
Editing by	George Tomasini
Distributed by	United Artists/Seven Arts
Release date(s)	February 1, 1961
Running time	124 min.
Language	English
Budget	$ 4 million
IMDb profile

The Misfits is a 1961 American film, written by Arthur Miller, directed by John Huston, and starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach, and Thelma Ritter. It turned out to be the final film appearance for both Gable and Monroe. Even though it wasn't a commercial success at the time of its release, it has later garnered critical respect for its manuscript as well as the leading performances. The difficult production process of The Misfits has been widely documented. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 394 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (496 × 755 pixel, file size: 76 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. ... John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director and actor. ... Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and commited suicide in 2005 because of his wife was caught cheating and havin an affair . ... William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. ... Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor known by the stage name of Montgomery Clift. ... Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was a six time Academy Award-nominated American character actress of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. ... Eli Herschel Wallach (born December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage actor. ... Actor Kevin McCarthy in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers Kevin McCarthy (born February 15, 1914 in Seattle, Washington) is an American actor. ... Alex North (December 4, 1910 - September 8, 1991) was an American composer responsible for the first jazz based film score (A Streetcar Named Desire) and the first truly modernist film score (Viva Zapata!). Born Isadore Soifer in Chester, Pennsylvania, Alex North was an original composer probably even by the classical... George Tomasini (born April 20, 1909, died November 22, 1964) was the genius American film editor who often worked with very closely with film director Alfred Hitchcock. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist, and commited suicide in 2005 because of his wife was caught cheating and havin an affair . ... John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director and actor. ... William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. ... Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American actor known by the stage name of Montgomery Clift. ... Eli Herschel Wallach (born December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage actor. ... Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was a six time Academy Award-nominated American character actress of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. ...

Story

The Misfits depicts the chance meeting and unlikely love affair in Reno, Nevada of a depressive divorcée, Roslyn Taber (Monroe), and Gay Langland (Gable), an aging ex-cowboy prone to gambling and surviving on mustang rustling. He sells the horses to slaughterhouses for the manufacture of dog food. Wallach plays Guido, Langland's pilot partner, and Clift plays Perce Howland, a drifter rodeo rider. City nickname: The Biggest Little City in the World Founded May 9, 1868 County Washoe County Mayor Bob Cashell Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 179. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Free-roaming mustangs (Utah, 2005) Mustangs at the Palomino Valley Adoption Center A mustang is a hardy, free-roaming horse of the North American west, descended primarily from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadores. ... Workers and cattle in a slaughterhouse. ... There are many varieties of dog food to choose from. ...

The climax takes place during wrangling scenes on a dry Nevada lakebed.

The misfits of the title are both the horses and the characters of the story, unable to find satisfaction in their lives.

Production

The making of The Misfits was somewhat troublesome due to several factors, not the least of which was the usual heat of the Northern Nevada desert. Director Huston gambled and drank through some nights, and occasionally fell asleep on the set. The production company had to cover some of his gambling losses. However, the casinos in downtown Reno appreciated the director attracting publicity to their venues. Arthur Miller wrote new pages throughout the shoot, editing and revising the script as the concepts of the film evolved. Late script changes are not rare for many movies, however.

Marilyn Monroe was sinking further into alcohol and prescription drugs. Huston shut down production in August 1960 to send Monroe to a hospital for detox. Close-ups after her release were shot using soft focus. Monroe was nearly always late to the set, sometimes not showing up. She spent her nights learning lines with drama coach Paula Strasberg. Monroe's confidante and masseur, Ralph Roberts, was cast as an ambulance attendant in the film's rodeo scene. Gable insisted on doing his own stunts, including being dragged approximately 400 feet across the dry lakebed at over thirty miles per hour. James Barton, who had a reputation for portraying drunkards in stage productions, froze up on set. Huston tried to talk him through it, but after filming ended one day, with Barton still in costume, Huston got him drunk. The scenes shot of Barton are of him actually intoxicated.^{[citation needed]} In a documentary on the making of The Misfits, Eli Wallach told a story of Huston directing the scene where Wallach was at a bar with Gable. Huston told him that the most intoxicated he himself had ever been was the day before, even though he had seemed sober. The lesson was that an intoxicated person tries to act sober. Thomas B. Allen was assigned to create drawings of the film as it was made. Magnum photo agency had staff photographers including Inge Moritz assigned to document the making of the Misfits. During production, the lead cast stayed at the Mapes Hotel in Reno. Film locations included the Washoe County Court House on Virginia Street, and nearby Pyramid Lake.The bar scene where Marilyn Monroe plays paddle ball was filmed in Dayton, Nevada, east of Carson City. Filming was completed on November 4, 1960 and The Misfits was released on 1 February 1961. Detox, short for detoxification, in general is the removal of toxic substances from the body. ... Soft focus is a term used in photography and optics to describe a lens flaw. ... Paula Strasberg was born Paula Miller in New York City circa 1911. ... Eli Herschel Wallach (born December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage actor. ... Thomas B. Allen (1928 - 2004) was an American painter and illustrator known for a moody and expressionist style that pushed the boundaries of commercial art in the 1950s and 60s. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. ... Dayton is a census-designated place located in Lyon County, Nevada. ... Carson City redirects here. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

Aftermath

Three days after filming ended, Gable suffered a heart attack, and died eleven days later. Monroe and Clift attended the premiere in New York in February 1961, while Monroe was on pass from a psychiatric hospital. Within a year and a half, Monroe was dead of a drug overdose. The Misfits was the last completed film for both Monroe and Gable, her childhood screen idol. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ...

Montgomery Clift, who had been badly injured in an automobile accident in 1956 and had to undergo reconstructive surgery on his face, died four years after the filming. Thelma Ritter died eight years after the movie was made. Eli Wallach went on to a career that extends into the 21st century. A car accident in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reconstructive surgery is in its broadest sense the use of surgery to reconstruct damaged or malformed tissues or organs. ...

Magnum Photos was given exclusive rights to take pictures of the making of the movie. Photographs taken by Inge Morath and Eve Arnold among others, have been on display at various exhibitions around the world. Morath and Arthur Miller were married in 1962 and their union lasted 40 years, until her death in 2002. Magnum Photos is a world-renowned photographic agency, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo. ... Inge Morath Ingeborg Morath (May 27, 1923 in Graz, Austria – January 30, 2002 in New York City) was an Austrian-born photographer. ... Eve Arnold, born on April 21, 1912 (several sources claim 1913), is an American photojournalist and was the first female member of the Magnum Photos agency (in 1955). ...

Miller's autobiography, Timebends (1987), described the making of the film. The 2001 PBS documentary, Making The Misfits, did the same. Miller's last play, Finishing the Picture (2004), though fiction, was largely based on the events involving the making of The Misfits. Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and author. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Finishing the Picture is Arthur Millers final play. ...

Commercial and critical reception

Despite on-set difficulties, Monroe, Clift and Gable delivered performances that are considered superb by modern movie critics [1]. Monroe received the 1961 Golden Globe Award as World Film Favorite in March 1962. Huston was nominated as best director by the Director's Guild of America. The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry. ...

There were high expectations for the film, given the star power of its writer, director, and lead actors. Producer Frank E. Taylor had heralded The Misfits as "the ultimate motion picture" before its release.

The Misfits was met with mixed reviews and failed to meet expectations at the box office, but it has since developed a cult following. Despite being shot in black and white, the final cost was around four million dollars. It was said to be the most expensive black and white film made to date. Its domestic gross was just under four million. It brought no profits to United Artists. The term box office can refer to either: A place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to a venue The amount of business a particular production, such as a movie or theatre show, does. ... A black-and-white portrait. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ...

The horror punk band The Misfits derived their title from this film, due to lead singer Glenn Danzig's interest in Marilyn Monroe. The band also has a song "Who Killed Marilyn?". The Misfits are a Horror punk band formed in 1977 and led by singer and songwriter Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Anzalone) and later, bassist Jerry Only (born Gerald Caiafa). ... Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Anzalone on June 23, 1955 in Lodi, New Jersey, USA), is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is largely considered to be one of the fathers of the Horrorpunk genre of music. ...

Further reading

Goode, James (1963). The Making of The Misfits. Limelight Editions. ISBN 0-87910-065-6. A detailed day-to-day account on the shooting of the film, written by a journalist.

External links

• The Misfits (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Site on the production of The Misfits
• Site on the making of The Misfits, including an extensive gallery

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...