the MisfitsIn 1961, a perfect union was crafted of amazing talent, a film with bold direction by John Huston, a complex drama by Arthur Miller, and delivered in the end as a swansong for two of Hollywood's most beloved icons--Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. And while star power is enough to sell the movie, The Misfits is as good as it sounds--no, better than that. Marilyn Monroe plays Roslyn Tabor, a young, beautiful, but unsure woman just finishing up a Reno divorce, coached by veteran Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter). No sooner is she single than she is hounded by aging cowboy Gay Langland (Gable) and Guido (Eli Wallach).
|
|
The legacy of The Misfits is inexorably bound to Marilyn Monroe--a modern-day Helen of Troy--who is the unabashed focus of the film, and by proxy so is Roslyn. She is pursued and objectified by men who meet and see her, although most men play it off as unintentional or "just being friendly" in a "down home chauvinism" kind of way. Roslyn is unsure of herself, but also cares for others, and doesn't desire to hurt other men, even when they are inconsiderate of her needs. As a result, she lets herself become something of a babysitter for a host of men who are damaged in some way. Like her, they are all "misfits", and in truth she does identify with them to an extent, sore from feeling rejected or shiftless in society. Following her divorce--her grounds being that her husband, Raymond (Kevin McCarthy) "wasn't there"--she drifts, aimless. And who better to drift with than other drifters, contrary to her assertion that she wants to be "by herself when she's alone". Roslyn is paradoxical and unsure in her "finding herself". She claimse she doesn't feel romance for Gay, but over a short stretch of time, it becomes clear that they have started a romance all the same. I suspect Roslyn is tired of being bound to other peoples expectations of how she should find herself; and if that means shacking up with an aging cowboy to do it, so be it. But it is not an exercise in sexual liberation; as Roslyn says, she is drawn to Gay's kindness. She finds a modicum of ease in this life of abandon, bolstered by the company she keeps at first. She is charmed by Gay's fierce independence and wistful love of nature, by Guido's intelligence and apparent compassion, and Perce (Montgomery Clift) and his simple, almost childlike charm and fearlessness. And while Roslyn herself feels lonely--she claims she is looking for a friend, not a lover--she too has convictions and values, and they emerge when she is ultimately pressed into decisiveness, putting her at odds with her new friends in the vastness of the Nevada desert. Freedom--isn't that what she wanted?
The Misfits deals in humanity, and the varied sides of people, and how they become close and unite, even when they don't really have much in common; the title sequence highlights this, with images of puzzle pieces that look as though they might connect, but cannot. This doesn't mean that Roslyn and the others don't enjoy themselves in each other's company, but that in order for their relationship to grow, they must open up to one another to genuinely feel for one another--to learn about one another, to experience that fellowship is what one must do to live. Roslyn chases a need for freedom, but proves to value life more in the end. Gay, Guido, and Perce also end up revealing that which is truly important to them by the climax of the film, and Roslyn begins to understand how the others view her, how she is seen, and in some cases righteously refuses to stand for the inhumanity that they propose. The men she is surrounded by take her for granted as a beautiful woman, in varying ways, hoping she will "fix them" in some way. Roslyn is naive to her sexuality, but the men around her sure aren't; Gay even hangs pin-ups of Marilyn Monroe in his closet, an inside joke, Roslyn claims. Maybe Roslyn isn't naive, but she just isn't interested in the foolish rituals that accompany that kind of affair, grown tired of dancing in "night clubs", tired of sex, all of which led her just to a divorce in Reno. Though of varying ages, all of the men (and Roslyn early on) are all like children, unsure how to live like adults, vehemently opposed to getting roped into working for "wages". Roslyn goes through her growing pains through the course of the film, and begins to distance herself from them, her patience for childish games waning fast. Her revelation is that she can't have it both ways. She can't have the freedom of living like a child without enduring the frustrations of being caught in the web of other man-children who ply her with their own traumas, like Guido's lust for her, still grieving his wife, Perce's sorrow and self-destruction still fresh after the loss of his father, and Gay's bitterness and apathy a mask for the sadness he feels after being abandoned by his children. Roslyn can't play mother and lover to them all and save herself. In the end, Roslyn is the strongest member of the party, and Marilyn Monroe delivers an outstanding performance as the aimless and melancholy woman, simultaneously stalwart and sweet, sympathetic and impassioned. And while she is inundated by cowboys, perhaps unaccustomed to being challenged by a woman, her grace and kindness allows her to rise above it--she only flies into a rage when it is truly a matter of life and death. It was a shame that this was to be Marilyn Monroe's last film--The Misfits really comes across as a striking role for her as a serious actress, a promise of better things to come.
Recommended for: Fans of a rich story of drifters and lonesome fools wandering through the days and nights of Nevada, seeking comfort, solace, friendship, and some kind of meaning in life.
The Misfits deals in humanity, and the varied sides of people, and how they become close and unite, even when they don't really have much in common; the title sequence highlights this, with images of puzzle pieces that look as though they might connect, but cannot. This doesn't mean that Roslyn and the others don't enjoy themselves in each other's company, but that in order for their relationship to grow, they must open up to one another to genuinely feel for one another--to learn about one another, to experience that fellowship is what one must do to live. Roslyn chases a need for freedom, but proves to value life more in the end. Gay, Guido, and Perce also end up revealing that which is truly important to them by the climax of the film, and Roslyn begins to understand how the others view her, how she is seen, and in some cases righteously refuses to stand for the inhumanity that they propose. The men she is surrounded by take her for granted as a beautiful woman, in varying ways, hoping she will "fix them" in some way. Roslyn is naive to her sexuality, but the men around her sure aren't; Gay even hangs pin-ups of Marilyn Monroe in his closet, an inside joke, Roslyn claims. Maybe Roslyn isn't naive, but she just isn't interested in the foolish rituals that accompany that kind of affair, grown tired of dancing in "night clubs", tired of sex, all of which led her just to a divorce in Reno. Though of varying ages, all of the men (and Roslyn early on) are all like children, unsure how to live like adults, vehemently opposed to getting roped into working for "wages". Roslyn goes through her growing pains through the course of the film, and begins to distance herself from them, her patience for childish games waning fast. Her revelation is that she can't have it both ways. She can't have the freedom of living like a child without enduring the frustrations of being caught in the web of other man-children who ply her with their own traumas, like Guido's lust for her, still grieving his wife, Perce's sorrow and self-destruction still fresh after the loss of his father, and Gay's bitterness and apathy a mask for the sadness he feels after being abandoned by his children. Roslyn can't play mother and lover to them all and save herself. In the end, Roslyn is the strongest member of the party, and Marilyn Monroe delivers an outstanding performance as the aimless and melancholy woman, simultaneously stalwart and sweet, sympathetic and impassioned. And while she is inundated by cowboys, perhaps unaccustomed to being challenged by a woman, her grace and kindness allows her to rise above it--she only flies into a rage when it is truly a matter of life and death. It was a shame that this was to be Marilyn Monroe's last film--The Misfits really comes across as a striking role for her as a serious actress, a promise of better things to come.
Recommended for: Fans of a rich story of drifters and lonesome fools wandering through the days and nights of Nevada, seeking comfort, solace, friendship, and some kind of meaning in life.