The Misfits Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Perfect Fit

Arthur Miller wrote this film for his wife Marilyn Monroe. But by the time they started making the film their marriage was on a downward spiral and Monroe was sick. She rarely turned up on the set on time and when she did she was incapable of working. Clark Gable was left waiting with the rest of the cast in the hot sun. Gable ended up doing his own stunts and that probably contributed to his early death. But like the true professional that he was he waited until the film was over to collapse and die.

John Huston must have thought that he was never going to complete the film, but he did and it is a classic. From the opening credits to the haunting music the film is a fine example of the true art of film making. The characters are well realised and the story well paced.

A fine film with great acting from all involved. Great stuff.

The end of greatness

This film is agruably the seminal film that marks the end of the golden era of Hollywood.

The playing of all three leads is wonderful and given added poignancy by knowing that it was the last celluloid outing for Monroe and Gable, and that Montgomery Clift too had only a few years of his troubled life left. The story is slight but ambitious, the direction spot on. Altogether a film that no serious buff should be without - I bought my copy immediately after viewing the rental.