The Misfits (1961) brings together an extraordinary convergence of Hollywood legends, both behind and in front of the camera.
Directed by John Huston and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller, the film follows recently divorced Roslyn (Marilyn Monroe) as she drifts into the orbit of three aging cowboys (played by Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, and Eli Wallach); the cowboys’ uneasy attempts at capturing wild mustangs mirror their larger struggles finding purpose in a rapidly changing American West.
Filmed on location in the Nevada desert, The Misfits is remembered not only for its luminous performances and demystification of the Western genre, but also for its troubled production history and its status as the final completed film for both Monroe and Gable.
Today, it stands as one of the most compelling and unconventional Westerns of its era, released at a moment when Hollywood itself was in a period of great transition.
Emily Carman (Film and Media Studies, Chapman University) will join moderator Ross Melnick (interim director of the Carsey-Wolf Center) for a post-screening discussion of The Misfits.