"FRIDAY MOVIE SUGGESTION NIGHT" PRESENTS: THE MISFITS!

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Our "Friday Movie Suggestion Night" feature has unintentionally neglected the inclusion of the late Marilyn Monroe. It would be an understatement to say that Monroe was misunderstood in her personal and professional life. The burgeoning number of books on her life at the library all include the specifics about the conflicts and difficulties during the filming of THE MISFITS. In this author's opinion, the best biographical source is "Marilyn Monroe" by Barbara Leaming. This film, sadly, became Marilyn's final film along with that of Clark Gable. What intrigues me with this film is the subject matter of Arthur Miller, a stunning cast including Montgomery Clift, and the fact that the production endured such an unfortunate (and well documented) strain for nearly everyone. Of the major stars, only Eli Wallach continues at 92 to work on stage and in movies.

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Cinematographer Russell Metty captures the breathtaking vistas in the final years of Black & White in the early 1960's. Even without taking into consideration that Marilyn Monroe's life was falling apart, she summons up an outstanding performance as Roslyn Tabler a dancer from the Northeast who flees to Reno, Nevada for a quick divorce. She finds herself in the role as the social conscience among three men involved with profiteering from selling horses to a processing mill to make dog food. Filmed and in fact, set in 1960, Clark Gables' role as Gay Langland is one of a seemingly gruff, care-free cowboy whose career is disappearing as rapidly as his children who abandon him as he seeks quiet refuge from his emotional suffering in alcohol. The brutality of his pain is visceral. His business partner and buddy Eli Wallach as Guido has lost his wife and his path in life. He painstakingly asks Roslyn to save him. Both the Gable and Wallach characters fall in love with Monroe's Roslyn (Gable is the leader in this race) before Montgomery Clift enters the picture. As Perce Howland, Clift portrays a bitter man who is cheated out of his father's ranch by a step-father who offers him only wages. As a sullen and broken-hearted cowboy, Clift is brilliant. Thelma Ritter is the sarcastic Isobel. As 6 Mustang horses become the target of the illegal round up for the processing plant, Roslyn comes to understand this ugly and shocking reality. The Mustangs have much in common, along with the group of broken lives Monroe, Gable, Clift and Wallach come to represent "misfits" in a world that is changing at blinding speed. Director John Huston's decision to allow Gable to do his own stunts (being dragged 400 feet by horses) is believed to have led to his fatal heart attack 11 days later at age 59. The film was itself misunderstood by the public and only recently has received the appreciation as a work years ahead of its time.

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The Cast: Clark Gable is Gay Langland; Marilyn Monroe is Roslyn Taber; Montgomery Clift is Perce Howland; Thelma Ritter is Isabelle Steers and Eli Wallach is Guido in this film of vulnerability and humanity laid bare. Produced by Frank E. Taylor with the musical score by Alex North; screenplay by Arthur Miller.

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ENJOY THIS GEM OF A FILM!