FAQ for
The Misfits (1961) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags are used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

The Misfits is based on a screenplay by American playwright Arthur Miller [1915-2005]. The screenplay was based on a short story, "The Misfits," also by Arthur Miller. It is available in a book of Miller's short stories, titled I Don't Need You Anymore (1967).

The misfits are wild mustangs that herd together and roam the Nevada desert. By extension of the metaphor, the misfits are also the four main characters -- Gay Langland (Clark Gable), an aging cowboy in the shrinking West, Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift), a drifter rodeo rider, Guido (Eli Wallach), Gay's pilot, and Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe), a recent divorcée -- who go mustang rustling in order to sell the horses to slaughterhouses so that Gay can maintain his independence and not have to work for "wages" (i.e., get a job).

In the opening scene, a truck bearing the logo "Jack's RENO GARAGE" is seen driving down the street, an indication that the setting of the movie is in Reno, Nevada. Indeed, most of the movie was shot at various places in Nevada, including the Washoe County Court House on Virginia Street and nearby Pyramid Lake. The bar scene where Roslyn plays paddle ball was filmed in Dayton, Nevada, east of Carson City. The climax takes place on a dry lake bed in the Black Rock Desert.

It's a Meyers OTW. See here and here for photos and design specs.

Most viewers like to believe that his children actually came to see him at the bar but were so embarrassed by his behavior that they left.

After Roslyn throws a fit over the capture of a mare and her foal, Gay winds up setting them free. He offers Roz a ride back to the house, and she accepts. As they are driving along, Roz says that she'll leave tomorrow. They stop to pick up Gay's dog and, as they watch the mare and foal gallop away, Gay puts his arm around Roz's shoulder. Roz asks him how to find their way home in the dark, and Gay points to a star. "Just head for that big star straight on," he says. "The highway is under it. It'll take us right home." Roz pulls his arm tighter and nestles her head against his.

Most viewers like to think they do, especially after the way they were cuddling in Gay's truck on the way home. Not to mention Gay's comment after setting the horses free: "I'll just have to find another way to be free." There seems to be some sort of hopeful reconciliation between Gay and Roslyn at the end. Gay knows that the sensitive Roslyn is revolted by his macho violence, the harshness of outdoor life, and his capacity to be cruel to animals for "practical" reasons (making a living), while Roslyn seems to accept that he needs to be seen as the boss man after he lets the stallion run free after wrestling it. He's now painfully aware that his old cowpoke lifestyle is being rendered obsolete and that it's time to hang up the cowboy hat to try pursuing a different dream.

Of the five principal actors, four of them died within eight years of filming The Misfits. Clark Gable suffered a heart attack three days after filming ended and died 11 days later on 16 November, 1960. He was 59 years old. Marilyn Monroe died of a drug overdose on 5 August, 1962. She was 36 years old. On 23 July, 1966, Montgomery Clift died of what was called "occlusive coronary artery disease" (basically, a heart attack). He was 45 years old at the time. Thelma Ritter died at age 63 of a heart attack on 5 February, 1969, eight years after filming The Misfits. Only Eli Wallach continues to make movies as of this day.

Yes. Although he was nearing 60 years old, Gable insisted on doing his own stunts, including the one where he is dragged by a horse about 400 feet across the dry lake bed at more than 30 miles per hour. Some critics believe that this might have contributed to his heart attack and death just days after filming ended.

Anything's possible, but, if one is to believe the accounts of both Gable and Monroe, the answer is no. Both on and off the set, they expressed genuine admiration, respect, and affection for one another. It is true that Marilyn Monroe was dealing with very difficult personal issues during the making of this film and was often under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the production. By several accounts, she was often late to the set, and sometimes didn't show up at all. But the hot Nevada desert was a difficult film location in many respects; most of the principal actors and many of the crew, not just Gable and Monroe, felt very tired and worn out both during and immediately after the film's production. And Monroe wasn't the only star causing problems and production delays during shooting. Montgomery Clift was also battling drug and alcohol abuse during the production, often causing Gable to lose his patience (and his temper).

After Gable died, a reporter quoted a comment from Kay Gable, Clark Gable's wife, that she felt that the "eternal waiting" on the set of "The Misfits" had contributed to her husband's death, but she didn't specifically mention Marilyn Monroe and, as stated earlier, shooting a film in the desert is almost always an arduous task at best and production delays in such conditions are generally the rule and not the exception, even when the principal actors are consistently sober and focused every day (which clearly Monroe and Clift were not). In any event, when Marilyn Monroe did cause production delays, it was probably a more positive than negative thing for Gable, as his contract for "The Misfits" guaranteed him a staggering $48,000 a week in overtime pay, so the longer he was there, the more money he made. Also, to blame Gable's heart attack entirely on stress caused by Monroe is unfair, as Gable's lifelong history of crash dieting, hard drinking, and heavy smoking (three packs of cigarettes and a dozen cigars per day by some accounts) indoubtably played a part in his untimely demise from heart failure just days after filming was completed. In addition, as mentioned elsewhere in this FAQ, Gable was an outdoors type, a "man's man", and insisted on doing many of his own stunts during the production; this would have put a great physical strain on anyone, especially a 59 year old man who was not in peak physical condition at the time.