NEW ON DVD
The Misfits (John Huston, 1961)
With a notably mixed star cast, this is one of those movies whose mystique exceeds its filmic merits. By all accounts a gruelling shoot, Gable died of a heart attack a matter of days after completion and Monroe, for whom this was also her final film, was on the spiral leading to her death the following year. During filming she was also openly having an affair with Yves Montand whilst haplessly infatuated hubby Arthur Miller, who scripted this from his own play, looked on. Little suprise then that what may have worked on a stage but is rather strained in a more realistic setting does not hang together. Notwithstanding, Gable and Monroe make an interesting dynamic and the final section with the roping of the horses is a memorable metaphor for the social constraint of individual liberty and the end of a way of life. BH