The Misfits (thing)

Set in Reno, Nevada, the ubiquity of divorce is a strong theme in the early scenes. Monroe plays a woman (Roslyn Taber) who has come to Reno for a divorce, and stays to get her head together. (Miller and Monroe divorced in 1960. I have to wonder whether he had Marilyn in mind when he wrote the play; her character is, in some ways, contemptibly spoiled and impractical.) Gable plays Gay Langland, a sometime-cowboy, with whom Roslyn falls in love. In one sense, the "misfits" of the title are a small herd of wild mustangs. In a more forgiving era, they might have been captured for breeding and show; now, they're destined to become dog food. The "misfits" might also be Roslyn, Gay, and his friends.

This was the last film for both Monroe and Gable; a heart attack killed Gable in November of 1960, between production and release, and Marilyn overdosed in '62. Clift was homosexual, and also had a drug problem. The loveworn, hard-drinking, conflicted characters of The Misfits are eerily similar to the actors who portrayed them; perhaps the cast are the misfits who really deserve our sympathy.