The film revolves a recently-divorced woman who meets a mechanic who would introduce her to an aging cowboy where she falls for him where they all decide to capture wild horses for money. It is a film that has a simple premise though writer Arthur Miller has created something more complex with its characters as they all try to deal with the modern world around them as the days of the cowboys and horse wrangling waning. Miller’s screenplay is more of a study of people who all face uncertainty in the next stage of their lives with the stripper Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe) just getting her divorce as she laments over failure in her marriage as well as the idea of falling in love again. Helping her with her issues is her landlady Isabelle Steers (Thelma Ritter) as well as a mechanic/pilot in Guido (Eli Wallach) who is smitten by her as he would later meet her with his friend in the aging cowboy Gay Langland (Clark Gable). Roslyn and Gay hit it off as they both have dealt with a lot in their lives with the latter having been through relationships while is coping with changing times.
With an idea to capture wild horses as part of a business plan, Gay and Guido decide to get another cowboy in the rodeo rider Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift). Miller also explore the fragility of these characters with Perce being a man that has been in too many rodeos as he is struggling with his finances and takes Gay’s offer to do something. Even as he gets injured at the rodeo where he has a conversation with Roslyn about his own life as he is among the group of broken people that include Roslyn, Guido, and Gay as there is a scene where he calls out for his adult children who have left him after he told them he would be back. The film’s third act is about the capturing of wild horses including mustangs and stallions where Roslyn is taken aback by the cruelty of what the men must do as well as the aftermath yet what is more shocking is how many they find.
John Huston’s direction is exquisite in not just its setting of the American West but also this clash of the old ways and the modern world. Shot on location in and around Reno and Dayton, Nevada with locations in the deserts of the state, Huston uses a lot of wide and medium shots to capture the beauty of the deserts and small towns as it plays into a world that is changing though the traditions of the West such as rodeos and gatherings are still happening. Huston’s direction is often shown in certain places and locations where there is a sense of a modern world overshadowing the old world where Gay would first meet Roslyn at a diner with his dog while the unfinished house that Guido has where Gay would stay at times is set on the desert. Huston would also use close-ups for some scenes in the way characters would interact with one another while also knowing how to film a simple conversation in scenes such as Gay and Roslyn having breakfast or Perce and Roslyn conversing behind the bar. Huston also plays into the male gaze in how men look at Roslyn where there are moments where she does not seem to mind but during a scene where she is hitting a ball with a paddle tied to a string. A man slaps her ass causing some trouble where she is little troubled by it but still brushes it off.
Huston’s approach to shooting the desert and mountain landscapes of Nevada plays into the West that still has its magic but there is also a sense of loss in the land. Even as Guido uses his plane to find wild horses that include mustangs and stallions where he would find them running, Huston’s usage of aerial shots are gorgeous to play into the vastness of the West. For Roslyn, it is a world that she does not know about while learning about what they need to do to capture the horses, and the aftermath is upsetting. There is a great wide shot of her screaming in the desert over the way horses are treated while the men are more upset in how many they captured as it plays into the times and how the West is no longer what it used to be. It becomes something that Gay has trouble accepting where Huston creates a scene of Gay trying to assert his own power only to realize that the world is changing. Overall, Huston crafts a somber yet rapturous film about a former stripper, an aging cowboy, a pilot/mechanic, and a broken-down rodeo cowboy all trying to find the next phase in their lives in the modern world set in the West.
Cinematographer Russell Metty does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography with its usage of natural and available lighting that captures the beauty of the landscape as well as the usage of low-key natural lighting for the scenes at night and in the morning. Editor George Tomasini does brilliant work with the editing as its usage of rhythmic cuts play into the elements of drama and suspense that occurs throughout the film as it is a major highlight of the film. Art directors Stephen B. Grimes and Bill Newberry, with set decorator Frank R. McKelvy, do excellent work with the look of Guido’s home that includes a section that has yet to be built as well as the saloon that all the characters go to during the rodeo. Costume supervisor Jean Louis does fantastic work with the dresses and clothes that Roslyn wears that includes jeans and a shirt when she is riding a horse in one scene as well as the dresses she wears in social engagements.
The special effects work of Cline Jones does terrific work with the scenes involving the rodeo and horse wrangling scenes to play into the sense of realism that happens in those moments. Sound recordists Charles Grenzbach, Philip Mitchell, and R.D. Cook do superb work with the sound as it plays into the way a location is presented whether it is in the quiet scenes in the deserts or the loud and raucous atmosphere of the rodeo. The film’s music by Alex North is incredible for its orchestral score with somber yet swelling string pieces for some of the dramatic moments and bombastic arrangements with its percussions and strings for the suspenseful scenes.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Marietta Tree as a girlfriend of Gay he takes to the train station early in the film, Philip Mitchell as Isabelle’s ex-husband she sees at the rodeo, Rex Bell as an old cowboy staring at Roslyn’s ass, James Barton as an old cowboy hanging at the rodeo with his young grandson, Estelle Winwood as a church lady collecting money, and Kevin McCarthy as Roslyn’s ex-husband Raymond who only appears in one scene waiting for her at the courthouse. Thelma Ritter is excellent as Isabelle Steers as Roslyn’s landlady who had seen a lot in her life as she is also someone who does what she can to help Roslyn while often being the wisest person in the room as it an understated yet charming performance.
Eli Wallach is brilliant as Guido as a mechanic/pilot who is smitten by Roslyn as he hopes to give her a decent life as he must contend with Gay while also doing what he can to help Gay in capturing wild horses even though it is a job that is becoming more useless in these changing times. Montgomery Clift is brilliant as Perce Howland as a broken-down rodeo cowboy who is in financial dire straits as he agrees to help Gay and Guido in their job while lamenting over his own misfortunes and numerous injuries in the rodeo where he befriends Roslyn where he also deals with what he has to do in capturing wild horses where Clift shows a lot of conflict in his face as a man who had seen too much.
Finally, there is the duo of Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe in their final film performances in their respective roles as Gay Langland and Roslyn Taber. Gable’s performance is phenomenal as this aging cowboy is a man that is trying to find meaning in his old age while also being someone who seeks companionship in Roslyn as he also tries to assert his own masculinity in a world where his ideas of masculinity is becoming futile. Monroe’s performance as Roslyn is tremendous where Monroe displays a fragility and uncertainty of a woman who has been through too many bad relationships and a lack of a future as she is seeking meaning in her own life where she is fascinated by the men she meets while falling for Gay where Monroe has great chemistry with her co-stars as well as showcasing her own rage in a key dramatic moment as it is a career-defining performance from the actress.
The Misfits is an outstanding film by John Huston that features great performances from Eli Wallach, Thelma Ritter, and Montgomery Clift as well as spectacular final performances from Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Along with its gorgeous visuals, Alex North’s music score, and Arthur Miller’s gripping and somber screenplay. The film is a dramatic-western that is more about a world where people find themselves unable to adapt to changing times while trying to cope with what they do to live in that new world. In the end, The Misfits is a magnificent film by John Huston.
© thevoid99 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment