The Misfits
Screening: 9 January 2006
Patron's Choice to be introduced by David Gainsborough Roberts
USA 1960
Directed by John Huston
Leading players ~ Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift.
125 minutes
Synopsis
The Misfits, made in 1961 in black and white, was the final picture for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. It was not well received at the time, being classified as unhappy, brooding and unsatisfying but most critics agreed it was totally engrossing. I think director John Huston must have had his time cut out with the fragile egos of Monroe and Montgomery Clift and the unhappy relationship between Marilyn and her third husband Arthur Miller, who wrote the screenplay.The story consists of a group of second-rate failures meeting up in the divorce capital of the world - Reno, Nevada - where Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe) is divorcing her husband Raymond (Kevin McCarthy) and meets cowboy Clark Gable (playing a character called "Gay" - Miller's quirky sense of humour perhaps?).
The love struck pair move in with Guido (Eli Wallach) and alcoholic Montgomery Clift (Pearce) and decide to round up some wild horses to turn into pet food. The idea is repulsive to the sensitive dance hall girl (Marilyn was coached by husband Miller in the dance scenes). Eventually Roslyn gets her way and with Pearce's help secures the horses' freedom.
The screenplay is a cinema masterpiece and the acting is superb. The 110°F heat did not help Monroe or Clift who, according to Monroe, was in worse shape than she was. Monroe's delays caused Gable to do many physical stunts himself and many believed hastened his death 11 days after shooting finished. He was just 59. The Monroe/Miller marriage was failing and it showed on the set. The bikini worn in the dance scene I purchased from Doc Erickson who was present at the lake scene and remembers it as a long, cold day.
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Film facts
David Gainsborough Roberts, who will introduce this film and display some of the items in his extensive Monroe collection says:My collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia started when I met Magnum photographer Eve Arnold who then introduced me to the star's masseur and best friend Ralph Roberts. I spent hours talking to Rafe, as Marilyn called him, and amassed a great many artefacts belonging to the legend.
Being the last person to talk to Monroe, Ralph told me Marilyn often went to sleep with the 'phone in her hand talking to him.
Postcard on view saying "And I am not pregnant either". An in joke between the star and her best friend.
On the set Eve Arnold once asked Monroe "Do you think anyone will have heard of either of us in 20 years?" Today Ms. Arnold is considered one of the greatest 20th century photographers.
On view - an unsigned portrait of Marilyn by Cecil Beaton, given to Roberts with a reminder she would sign it but forgot. It lay in Ralph's bottom drawer for 30 years before he gave it to me. A similar signed photo went for £40,000 recently at auction.
Marilyn went into an antique shop to buy a piece of glass (on view) in Reno when a policeman told driver Ralph Roberts this was a no stopping zone. He replied he was waiting for Marilyn Monroe. "Me, too" said the cop, slapping a fine on the windscreen.
Ralph complained to me he disliked Monroe's doctor, Greenspan, who tried to involve him in her death by saying that he knew of the drugs the star was taking. This he categorically denied.
Orange squeezer - Ralph and Marilyn went to the Miller home to retrieve this prized item when Arthur came in and they all sat down and had tea, which was rather uncomfortable.
Eve Arnold's photo of Monroe on The Misfits set (on view) - Note Roberts' hand massaging her toes, the only way she could sleep in that heat.
On view - a champagne bucket given to Ralph by the star. He told me that Marilyn was very generous and often gave away personal items to friends.
