When the Sky Weeps
THE MISFITS (1961)
Director John Huston had the vision, and his images were taunt, stark, choked in white dust, and bathed in high desert darkness. Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay, possibly as a birthday present for his wife, Marilyn Monroe; a panegyric valentine to salve the pain of her recent miscarriage. Regardless, Miller wrote a powerful tale, something transcendent. He was out to slay the myth of the macho western; creating three male characters named Gay, Guido, and Percy; men that bonded, and held their fears at arm's length. These men feared commitment, and they cherished their freedom at the sacrifice of everything and everyone in their wake.
In its day, this movie was the most expensive black-and-white film ever produced. Critics praised it and panned it equally, but all of them secretly viewed it countless times. It grows on you; like loving a plain woman. It becomes more beautiful, significant, and sensitive as you get to know it. It is multi-layered, and it was packaged magnificently. Russell Metty's cinematography was brilliant B&W; reminiscent of the best of James Wong Howe. Alex North's score was colorful, touching our emotional core like the fluttering of angel's wings one moment, and then jolting us with a bombastic jazzy penetrating throb the next.
Gay: Honey, we all got to go sometime, reason or no reason. Dyin's as natural as livin'. The man who's afraid to die is too afraid to live.
Oh Arthur Miller, you prophet, you sooth sayer. Gable died. Clift died. Monroe died. This was their last film. Only the hedonist Huston and the irrascible Wallach lived on.
Gay: Oh, I like educated women alright. But theyr'e always trying to figure out what we're thinkin'. Did you ever get to know a man better by askin' him questions?
Roslyn: What do you do with yourself?
Gay: Just live.
Roslyn: How do you just live?
Gay: Well, you start by goin' to sleep. You get up when you feel like it. You scratch yourself. You fry yourself some eggs. You see what kind of a day it is. You throw stones at a can. You whistle. You know, sometimes when a person don't know what to do, the best thing to do is just stand still. Let's just live.
The cast has been called," Miller's beautiful losers ", and "Huston's heart attack ", and they were both of those things. Clark Gable gave a magnificent performance; sun-creased, visceral, raw, and unfettered. He played Gay, a malcontent that preyed on divorcees and wild mustangs, always looking for that free ride, and expending his entire supply of virility and youth in the process. It is fitting that this performance was the capstone for is career, because with this role he shared secret parts of his persona that previously had been unexplored.
Gay: Nothing can live unless something dies. I herd these horses so I can keep myself free. So I'm a free man. That's why you like me, isn't it? If it's bad, then maybe you have to take a little of the bad with the good. Or else you'll be running for the rest of your life.
Gay: Don't want anybody makin' up my mind for me, that's all. Damn 'em all. Changed it. They changed it all around. Smeared it over with blood. I'm finished with it. It's like ropin' a dream now. I just got to find another way to be alive...if there is one anymore.
Much has been written about Marilyn Monroe's performance. Her dramatic work in BUS STOP, and NIAGARA touched on her potential, but only in this film did she give an indication of her true range. Yet, sadly, it showcased her limitations as an actress as well. The role was written for her, and it fit her like a tight dress. Her " You are only happy when you can watch something die." monologue was bravura, but forced. She could have used a few more classes at the Actor's Studio. MM's character, Roslyn was beautiful, vulnerable, lost, fragile, yet manipulative....all qualities MM could play in her sleep; but she was also genuine, sweet, loving, and real in a way we had never seen before. The chemistry between herself and Gable was a slow burn, but just re-watch the scene in the morning in Guido's house, observe the smooth sexuality and genuineness of emotion. MM showed a naked breast in that scene. The censors snipped it, but Huston had filmed it. America was not ready for nudity in 1961, but Marilyn Monroe was.
Gay: Knowin' things don't matter much. What you got Roslyn is a lot more important. You...care. What happens to anybody happens to you. You're really hooked into the whole thing, Roslyn. It's a gift.
Roslyn: People say I'm just nervous.
Gay: If it weren't for nervous people in the world, we'd still be eating each other.
Gay: What makes you so sad? You're the saddest girl I ever met.
Roslyn:You're the first man who's ever said that. I'm usually told how happy I am.
Gay: That's because you make a man feel happy.
Roslyn: You never had any idea, huh?
Gay: Nah, you know in those days I thought you got married and that was it--but nothing is it; not forever.
Roslyn: Did you ever think about getting married again?
Gay: Oh, I think about it; never in daylight.
Roslyn: We're all dyin', aren't we? We're not teaching each other what we really know, are we? You could blow up the whole world and end up feeling sorry for yourself!
(last lines)
Gay: You're a real beautiful woman. It's almost kind of an honor sittin' next to you. That's my true feelin's, Roslyn.
Roslyn: Which way is home?
Gay: God bless you girl.
Roslyn: How do you find your way back in the dark?
Gay: Just head for that big star straight on. The highway's under it. It'll take us right home.
Eli Wallach was a clenched fist as Guido, the tow truck driver, and sometimes pilot. It broke our hearts to watch his ragged yearnings, and to realize that he would never get the girl, and he would never finish building his house.
Gay: What's eating you?
Guido: Just my life.
Guido: She wasn't like any other woman. Stood by me 1005, uncomplaining as a tree.
Roslyn: Maybe that's what killed her.
Guido: You have the gift for life, Roslyn. The rest of us, we're just looking for a place to hide and watch it all go by.
Thelma Ritter was all wisecrack and wit, and deserved an Oscar for her supporting role; nominated five times in her career, although not for this film, she never won the golden nude. She was a nice juxtaposition to MM's ice angel.
Isabella: Welcome to Nevada--the Leave It State. You got money you want to gamble? Leave it here. You got a wife you wanna' git rid of? Get rid of her here. Extra atom bombs you don't need? Blow them up here. Nobody's going to mind in the slightest. The slogan of Nevada is: Anything goes. But don't complain if it went.
Isabella: One thing about this town, it's always full of interesting people.
Isabella: Cowboys are the last real men left in the world. And they're about as reliable as jack rabbits.
Isabella: I can smell a cowboy. I can smell the look in your face. But I love every miserable one of you---course you're all good for nothin'
James Barton was a wonderful drunk in the bar scene. Gable should have paid more attention to him. A later scene in which Gable is supposed to be inebriated, calling for his children, is the one false note in his performance.
Montgomery Clift as Perce, was one of the walking wounded, banged-up; a bruised soul. Much has been noted about his mental state during the filming, and his medical issues; but somehow Clift made it work for his character. The scene where he lies his head in Roselyn's lap is very touching. His effeminate weakness splashed hard up against the worn leather of Gable's face, and the raw power of Wallach's passion. It was the perfect counterpoint.
Perce: Are you disrespecting me?
Perce: After my father died, my new stepfather asked me to stay, but he offered me wages; wages to work on my own place.
Perce: How come you got such trust in your eyes, like you was just born?
Perce: So what I want to know is: who do you depend on?
Roslyn: I don't know. Maybe al there really is is just the next thing. The next thing that happens. Maybe you're not supposed to remember anybody's promises.
Perce: Do you belong to Gay?
Roslyn: I don't know where I belong.
Nevada's high desert landscape was treated like another character, and filmed like one. We are haunted by images of the horse hunt, a creaky biplane herding them down out of the canyons, and pushing them out onto the salt flats, where the men and ropes waited. Short stocky spirited mustangs, desert horses, galloping hard, breathing their last few gasps of freedom before the men captured them, tied them down to old truck tires; preparing them for their final journey to the slaughter house, ending up as food for poodles and bull dogs.
The metaphors and symbols intertwine, men and mustangs, freedom, isolation, loneliness, and desperation. But the sadness permeating the characters within the story was beautifully balanced out with the gentle stirrings of love. That slim chance that Gay and Roselyn will have a healthy relationship. We want it to happen. We hope it will happen, even though we fear that those character might backslide and pull apart. The fade out is very upbeat; a warm breath expelled with heads tilted up, still searching for truth amongst the stars of a clear desert night sky.
Glenn Buttkus 2002
THE MISFITS (1961)
Director John Huston had the vision, and his images were taunt, stark, choked in white dust, and bathed in high desert darkness. Arthur Miller wrote the screenplay, possibly as a birthday present for his wife, Marilyn Monroe; a panegyric valentine to salve the pain of her recent miscarriage. Regardless, Miller wrote a powerful tale, something transcendent. He was out to slay the myth of the macho western; creating three male characters named Gay, Guido, and Percy; men that bonded, and held their fears at arm's length. These men feared commitment, and they cherished their freedom at the sacrifice of everything and everyone in their wake.
In its day, this movie was the most expensive black-and-white film ever produced. Critics praised it and panned it equally, but all of them secretly viewed it countless times. It grows on you; like loving a plain woman. It becomes more beautiful, significant, and sensitive as you get to know it. It is multi-layered, and it was packaged magnificently. Russell Metty's cinematography was brilliant B&W; reminiscent of the best of James Wong Howe. Alex North's score was colorful, touching our emotional core like the fluttering of angel's wings one moment, and then jolting us with a bombastic jazzy penetrating throb the next.
Gay: Honey, we all got to go sometime, reason or no reason. Dyin's as natural as livin'. The man who's afraid to die is too afraid to live.
Oh Arthur Miller, you prophet, you sooth sayer. Gable died. Clift died. Monroe died. This was their last film. Only the hedonist Huston and the irrascible Wallach lived on.
Gay: Oh, I like educated women alright. But theyr'e always trying to figure out what we're thinkin'. Did you ever get to know a man better by askin' him questions?
Roslyn: What do you do with yourself?
Gay: Just live.
Roslyn: How do you just live?
Gay: Well, you start by goin' to sleep. You get up when you feel like it. You scratch yourself. You fry yourself some eggs. You see what kind of a day it is. You throw stones at a can. You whistle. You know, sometimes when a person don't know what to do, the best thing to do is just stand still. Let's just live.
The cast has been called," Miller's beautiful losers ", and "Huston's heart attack ", and they were both of those things. Clark Gable gave a magnificent performance; sun-creased, visceral, raw, and unfettered. He played Gay, a malcontent that preyed on divorcees and wild mustangs, always looking for that free ride, and expending his entire supply of virility and youth in the process. It is fitting that this performance was the capstone for is career, because with this role he shared secret parts of his persona that previously had been unexplored.
Gay: Nothing can live unless something dies. I herd these horses so I can keep myself free. So I'm a free man. That's why you like me, isn't it? If it's bad, then maybe you have to take a little of the bad with the good. Or else you'll be running for the rest of your life.
Gay: Don't want anybody makin' up my mind for me, that's all. Damn 'em all. Changed it. They changed it all around. Smeared it over with blood. I'm finished with it. It's like ropin' a dream now. I just got to find another way to be alive...if there is one anymore.
Much has been written about Marilyn Monroe's performance. Her dramatic work in BUS STOP, and NIAGARA touched on her potential, but only in this film did she give an indication of her true range. Yet, sadly, it showcased her limitations as an actress as well. The role was written for her, and it fit her like a tight dress. Her " You are only happy when you can watch something die." monologue was bravura, but forced. She could have used a few more classes at the Actor's Studio. MM's character, Roslyn was beautiful, vulnerable, lost, fragile, yet manipulative....all qualities MM could play in her sleep; but she was also genuine, sweet, loving, and real in a way we had never seen before. The chemistry between herself and Gable was a slow burn, but just re-watch the scene in the morning in Guido's house, observe the smooth sexuality and genuineness of emotion. MM showed a naked breast in that scene. The censors snipped it, but Huston had filmed it. America was not ready for nudity in 1961, but Marilyn Monroe was.
Gay: Knowin' things don't matter much. What you got Roslyn is a lot more important. You...care. What happens to anybody happens to you. You're really hooked into the whole thing, Roslyn. It's a gift.
Roslyn: People say I'm just nervous.
Gay: If it weren't for nervous people in the world, we'd still be eating each other.
Gay: What makes you so sad? You're the saddest girl I ever met.
Roslyn:You're the first man who's ever said that. I'm usually told how happy I am.
Gay: That's because you make a man feel happy.
Roslyn: You never had any idea, huh?
Gay: Nah, you know in those days I thought you got married and that was it--but nothing is it; not forever.
Roslyn: Did you ever think about getting married again?
Gay: Oh, I think about it; never in daylight.
Roslyn: We're all dyin', aren't we? We're not teaching each other what we really know, are we? You could blow up the whole world and end up feeling sorry for yourself!
(last lines)
Gay: You're a real beautiful woman. It's almost kind of an honor sittin' next to you. That's my true feelin's, Roslyn.
Roslyn: Which way is home?
Gay: God bless you girl.
Roslyn: How do you find your way back in the dark?
Gay: Just head for that big star straight on. The highway's under it. It'll take us right home.
Eli Wallach was a clenched fist as Guido, the tow truck driver, and sometimes pilot. It broke our hearts to watch his ragged yearnings, and to realize that he would never get the girl, and he would never finish building his house.
Gay: What's eating you?
Guido: Just my life.
Guido: She wasn't like any other woman. Stood by me 1005, uncomplaining as a tree.
Roslyn: Maybe that's what killed her.
Guido: You have the gift for life, Roslyn. The rest of us, we're just looking for a place to hide and watch it all go by.
Thelma Ritter was all wisecrack and wit, and deserved an Oscar for her supporting role; nominated five times in her career, although not for this film, she never won the golden nude. She was a nice juxtaposition to MM's ice angel.
Isabella: Welcome to Nevada--the Leave It State. You got money you want to gamble? Leave it here. You got a wife you wanna' git rid of? Get rid of her here. Extra atom bombs you don't need? Blow them up here. Nobody's going to mind in the slightest. The slogan of Nevada is: Anything goes. But don't complain if it went.
Isabella: One thing about this town, it's always full of interesting people.
Isabella: Cowboys are the last real men left in the world. And they're about as reliable as jack rabbits.
Isabella: I can smell a cowboy. I can smell the look in your face. But I love every miserable one of you---course you're all good for nothin'
James Barton was a wonderful drunk in the bar scene. Gable should have paid more attention to him. A later scene in which Gable is supposed to be inebriated, calling for his children, is the one false note in his performance.
Montgomery Clift as Perce, was one of the walking wounded, banged-up; a bruised soul. Much has been noted about his mental state during the filming, and his medical issues; but somehow Clift made it work for his character. The scene where he lies his head in Roselyn's lap is very touching. His effeminate weakness splashed hard up against the worn leather of Gable's face, and the raw power of Wallach's passion. It was the perfect counterpoint.
Perce: Are you disrespecting me?
Perce: After my father died, my new stepfather asked me to stay, but he offered me wages; wages to work on my own place.
Perce: How come you got such trust in your eyes, like you was just born?
Perce: So what I want to know is: who do you depend on?
Roslyn: I don't know. Maybe al there really is is just the next thing. The next thing that happens. Maybe you're not supposed to remember anybody's promises.
Perce: Do you belong to Gay?
Roslyn: I don't know where I belong.
Nevada's high desert landscape was treated like another character, and filmed like one. We are haunted by images of the horse hunt, a creaky biplane herding them down out of the canyons, and pushing them out onto the salt flats, where the men and ropes waited. Short stocky spirited mustangs, desert horses, galloping hard, breathing their last few gasps of freedom before the men captured them, tied them down to old truck tires; preparing them for their final journey to the slaughter house, ending up as food for poodles and bull dogs.
The metaphors and symbols intertwine, men and mustangs, freedom, isolation, loneliness, and desperation. But the sadness permeating the characters within the story was beautifully balanced out with the gentle stirrings of love. That slim chance that Gay and Roselyn will have a healthy relationship. We want it to happen. We hope it will happen, even though we fear that those character might backslide and pull apart. The fade out is very upbeat; a warm breath expelled with heads tilted up, still searching for truth amongst the stars of a clear desert night sky.
Glenn Buttkus 2002
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