The Misfits tells the story of recently divorced Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe), and the friendship that she develops with car mechanic Guido (Eli Wallach), aging cowboy Gay (Clark Gable) and failing rodeo rider Perce (Montgomery Clift). Centered on how their relationships develop during their time at Guidos house in the Nevada desert and at the Dayton rodeo, these relationships finally become tested when the three men decide to hunt horses to be sold to a dog food manufacturer, much to Roslyns distress.The Misfits essentially is about the way that people inadvertently treat others badly, culminating in the obvious mistreatment of the mustangs, innocent beings in the proceedings. The irony here is The Misfits script was meant as a gift from Arthur Miller to his wife, Monroe; the role of Roslyn being one that Marilyn could truly act. Yet Miller strangely unfavourably portrays Roslyn from time to time in the film. Occasionally naive, occasionally nothing more than the image of the sex symbol Monroe desperately craved to escape.Regardless, Marilyn puts in her greatest performance, one which sexy and alluring, but filled with sadness and sensitivity.All the characters are reaching points in their life where they feel they having nothing left; the washed up cowboy, the failing rodeo rider, the new divorcee and the mechanic looking to quit his job. Meeting each other sees changes in our two protagonists; Roslyn starts to become a poster girl for independence, while drawing out Gays never seen before domestic side. However these changes are minor, meaning the development of the characters and any intended arc they are meant to have to their personas are more like a gentle incline. Gay retains his stubbornness, catching the horse himself at the end just to release it again in an act of defiance, to show he can still make his own decisions. Roslyn's breakdown at the fate at the horses, is sweet, but ultimately shows her as weak. Despite being part of the titular misfits, Perce and Guido are reduced to supporting characters who have no development whatsoever.The genre of the film is mixed too, with elements of buddy movie, romance, western and probably more, all rolled into one. While genre blending is all fine and good when its done well, here it seems halfhearted on all counts. The western element is perhaps the most dominant, but the whole film isn't stylised enough to be a classic western. There are moments when the narrative also feels like several stories that don't always fit together as they should. Perce, the rodeo cowboy generally feels superfluous to the plot, except when Roslyn hears his life story and expresses sorrow at his past.Overly long, The Misfits would have benefited from a shortened run time, the catching of the mustangs in the closing act, seems needlessly long. There are moments also, for example, Guido wrangling the horses in the plane for Gay and Perce to capture, when the score is overly dramatic and out of place, building up to an anticlimax of nothing at all. And finally the ending of the film, is strangely abrupt considering the run time, and one can only assume that Gay and Roslyn live happily ever after.BOTTOM LINE: Marilyns greatest performance in a film where the characters, or lack of, misfits.

I really liked this movie. To me, it is about living a life because you think you are out of options - too old, too weak, too tired, or too lonely - and then realizing that you don't have to live that way anymore - that you can change, at least your actions.I found the cast stellar. Gable manages to portray a heart underneath a very hardened exterior of a cowboy beaten down by life in general but determined to go on ("I guess I'll just have to find another way to feel alive").Monroe makes you want to be her character - tender, caring and brave. But she is also lost in life, as are the others ("I guess all there is is the next thing...").The Misfits are supposed to refer to the horses, but clearly Miller intends that we see the characters are the true misfits with no place they feel they truly belong and no one they feel they truly belong to.It is a somber movie with some difficult wild animal scenes, but it is one of those that is going to stay with me. If your life is totally together and you never are lost or lonely, you may not appreciate what this movie has to offer.

Great location shot, OK that's about where I end my praise for this film... Sure you have MM who had such a trembling upper lip that looked drug induced, could not tell whether she was up or down or both... Gable and Clift acted so very unnatural, forced, with atypical low confidence... extremely surprised after e3tensive years of experience. Contemptible when she kept teasing the poor pooch with the food treats at the restaurant table, very mean Miller! Found those ass shots and boob fest incessant peeks were just over the top, what a pervert Huston! Think this was a perfect fit of miserable folks except Thelma, of course, who was dropped off after the 3 on 1 deal came to fruition... Knew Arthur was a world renowned author and playwright, but this mess, cmon babe this is utter carp... So disheartening to view this as final film effort for most of the cast and why I see this disaster a "perfits" ensemble piece... RIP

This movie is about despair. Despair at the passing of a way of life. Despair at disappointed hopes and dreams. Despair at the loss of a loved one, either through death, divorce or disinterest. Knowing that going in and if you don't mind downbeat films there are some really moving performances from a cast full of legends.Heavy with gloom there is still much too admire though Miller's prose is at times heavy and tending towards pretension. Marilyn's woozy sexuality coming through a haze of pills and booze at times still suits her character's searching and displaced loneliness. Clark Gable accepted his part after first choice Robert Mitchum passed. Mitchum would have been great of course and publicly stated he regretted not taking the role since he and Marilyn were longtime friends, before both were famous he had worked with her first husband, and he felt that around him she would have been able to pull herself together as she had on River of No Return. This was the end of the line for Gable and his weathered appearance and weariness actually suits the role better than Mitchum's ruggedness would have at that point. The film contains some of the best acting Clark ever did.Clift and his sad broken looks make a powerful impact and Wallach scores well too but the great Thelma Ritter is somewhat shortchanged since she disappears about halfway through the picture. Her astringent tartness would have been most welcome later in the film when the real heavy going takes place.