 |
|
|
|
The Misfits
The morbid air that hangs over John Huston's 1961 film isn't all his doing--it was the last picture show for stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, and costar Montgomery Clift was near the end of his career. No one knew it at the time, but playwright Arthur Miller had just about played out his hand when he wrote the screenplay; this script about three orphans of the Old West, rounding up wild horses to sell for dog food, was his last major work. The film is forced and clumsy, but fairly earnest in its self-conscious, artsy way. Huston's taste for low life served him well, particularly in the few glimpses he offers of back-street Reno, but the movie remains something of a misfit itself: obviously not the masterpiece it was designed to be, but successful in small, gnawing bits and pieces. 124 min. |
|
