I found it creepy that Gable and Monroe were love interests in this film...he is 25 years older than her. But I guess that older men romancing younger women isn't anything uncommon in Hollywood.
"For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."
Why? What's the problem?
Don't think of them as 'love interests' (for whom?), think of them as actors playing characters.
The age difference was part of the tension within the film, a tension that was stepped up when Montgomery Clift (a younger rival for Monroe) appeared.
I thought Gable played his part - acted his age - superbly.
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I agree. This was Gables greatest performance. He'd obviously learned a bit about his craft over the years, and now, finding himself in a quality production (most of his movies post-war weren't of the highest quality), he made the most of it--throwing himself whole heartedly into his role, even doing some of his own stunts. What a shame he died right after finishing, but at least he left his work behind for the rest of us to admire.
I can understand why the gal above found the romance between Gable and Monroe "creepy," even though I never have (even when I first saw it when I was 20 or so). There is so much this film has to offer, however, I'd urge her to try and accept it and get into the flow of the film. Gosh, romances like that DO occur--and not only because of an interest in the older fella's pocketbook. It's not just in Hollywood that his kind of thing happens. Hmmm. I'll be Gable's age in six years. Think I'll have a shot at Nicole Kidman?
"I'm a lover of beauty--and a beauty of a lover!"--The Court Jester
I dunno. While this performance is good, I recommend checking out It Happened One Night(1934) for Gable's best. He is the hilarious wisecracking reporter that was supposedly the basis for Bugs bunny, great stuff.
~Chris R~
Yes, he was perfect in his Oscar-winning role for "IHON," but his performance in The Misfits reaches a level of poignancy that I had here-to-for never seen.
"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man
Hey, come on,now! As a 40+ year old, I took great encouragement from this.
It gives me confidence that, if I keep myself in shape, I might find a young bombshell someday, who is looking for a father-figure in a boyfriend! :o)
Really???
shareActually Marilyn had grown up dreaming that Clarke Gable could have been her father. She adored working with him, saying that she tried harder to seduce him than any man she'd known, but to no avail. She was totally distaught at his passing, blaming herself for the delays in filming, etc. One of his best, and a glimpse of the actress that Marilyn had always dreamed of becoming.
shareAlthough there is an epidemic of older men/younger women movies nowadays, that actually isn't one of this film's problems, as the reason for such a situation is part of the movie's intent. clark represents a dyinf breed, or the dying West itself, which hasn't woken up to the new world and is attempting to live in the glorious past, while Monroe is a younger America, hesitant and critical of old brutalities. As such they are meant to be of such differing ages, and to be attracted to one another. Each has something to teach the other.
At any rate, I don't think there is essentially anything creepy at all about such May-December romances. The creepiness lies in the specifics of each relation, and I see creepy same age relations all the time. Everyone is looking for love, and they might find it anywhere. Many films merely exploit the sexiness of the younger woman to appeal to a certain segment of the (male) population, but that simply isn't the case here: the disaparate ages are central to the film's intent.
Something about the way Gable leering at Marilyn was funny and creepy. Especially the scene when they were riding horses and he was taking a gander at her rump :)
shareLike older men don't check out youngish women every day? It would almost have been dishonest not to include Gay/Clark looking at Roslyn/Marilyn's derriere.
Just because he's older doesn't mean he's dead! After all, it's not like she was his biological daughter...when Joe Simpson made those comments about Jessica's breasts a year or two ago...THAT was creepy!
You Can Lead a Horticulture, but You Can't Make Her Think!
You are right on about being older doesn't mean a person is dead. I am a 62-year-old female. In the eyes of youth, I am old, but I don't feel any older than I did when I was 30, except for a few aches and pains. I certainly appreciate the looks of young men, even if they may think I look like their grandma.That's their loss!
shareMarilyn and Arthur Miller has marital problems almost since the day
they married. I read that Marilyn criticized Arthur for wearing his pants
"too tight" in the rear, saying that homosexuals use that to attract others
of their kind.
I wonder also if Miller felt emasculated by Marilyn's romance with french
actor Yves Montand.
I don't believe the biographies that state that miller was impotent sexually.
In the early scene in he movie when Gable tries to kiss Marilyn, she replies
"I don't feel that way about you".
I have wondered many times if Miller had homosexual urges. Maybe he was bisexual. If Gable represented Miller in the movie, why did Arthur Miller
choose the name "GAY" for him. Maybe in 1960 "gay" had a different connotation.
Yet, I am sure Monty Clift knew what "gay" referred to even in 1960. Miller
felt great sympathy for Monty Clift's problems, and knowing that Monty was gay.
The fact that he made Monty's character into a "Mama's boy" character, with
Monty crying when speaking with his mother in the phone booth scene, and the
way Monty reclines on Marilyn Monroe, reminded me of a boy reclining on his
mother, or a religious madonna painting of mother and son.
I have often wondered about the homosexual undertones in THE MISFITS.
I have been told there is a homosexual reference in Miller's play A VIEW
FROM THE BRIDGE, which Marilyn found amusing.
Ok, maybe that was supposed to be Gable looking at Marilyn's rump, though I kind of thought that was Huston looking at it. Butt anyway...
As a young man slipping into old age and decrepitude (42), I find the May-December thing more believable and less romantic than when I first saw this. I'm pretty much dead center of the human lifespan and I've found myself understanding and appreciating younger women in a way that could be a foundation for a relationship outside of physical desire and I'm also coming to appreciate the beauty/sexiness of well kept older women in a way that I moved too fast for when I was a pup. Love is always possible. People are people.
And we're straight up forgetting that loneliness is a central theme to this movie. These characters slipped through cracks in a big way.
it is known that clark gable and marilyn monroe actually had a sexual affair.
shareApparently Montgomery Clift was not happy with the ending. He thought that Roslyn should end up with him (Perce) as they were soul mates. He found her ending up with Gay strange to him and privately he thought what Arthur Miller wanted was for her to end up with Gable since Gable represents Miller.
shareOverall I thought they were destined to be together in the movie because he liked her just for who she was. That was all she wanted, the others were driven by other emotions. Lastly it was Gables best by far with an interesting melancholic feeling and we touched the Monroe that we see glimpses of in her late photographs. A fading beauty.
shareI've never found Monroe and Gable creepy. They are both superb in the last movie for both of them. And they did not have an affair. Marilyn saw Gable as a father figure and was devastated when he died just after filming ended.
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Well, I'm 25. And if it makes you feel any better, Marilyn Monroe worshipping Glenn Danzig named his band, The Misfits, after this movie when he was young. So there is cross-generational appeal here.
sharekind of sad, isn't it? but don't be disheartened, black and white is fine by me and I'm only a year older than you. ;)
shareMonroe/Gable together in this movie as lovers wasn't creepy. Gable still had sex appeal.
Now Anna Nicole Smith marrying that old millionaire that could've passed for her great grandfather.....eew. That's a bit much. And she's on her show walking around a house she just bought with his ashes in an urn & telling him "this is gonna be your room".......THAT'S CREEPY!
I'm not at all bothered by May/December romances. I'm 21 now and have dated a few older men over the past two years (only dated, mind you.) I've pretty much always had a thing for older men, but it wasn't until recently that I thought it decent to actually date them. It has absolutely nothing to do with wanting a father-figure in a relationship and has no connection whatsoever with wanting/needing a sugar daddy. I simply have no patience for the immaturity of younger men. I like dating men who know who they are, who are comfortable in their own skin, and actually know what they're doing with their lives. More often than not, when a man has those qualities, he's over 30. I relate more easily to men like that, so it just so happens I tend to end up in May/December situations. So sue me, I see nothing wrong with it, so long as it's a healthy, mature, adult relationship. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't. Relationships are what you make them to be, and age is just a number. When two people click and really love each other, age shouldn't matter (that is, as long as both of them are legal and both of them realize exactly what they're in for a few years down the line when one starts to age physically before the other.)
shareIn this film I don't find it distracting at all. It's about the characters. Gable's character was still very vital. Also, Marilyn's character was in her thirties, certainly old enough to know what she wants. I have a gripe when the actress is 20, or so, and the man is 20 plus years older. Sorry, but those storylines are a stretch and are distracting. Usually much harder to believe unless the older male character is quite rich. The Misfits is about many things including very grown-up love and lust, and life's disappoinments built up over many years. No one is a kid in this one.
"Americans are obsessed with God & money, but they're warm-hearted & energetic"
I'm fifteen and I love classic films ;]
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Man i gotta buy me this movie1!!
Anyways to answer this post, I've seen a lot of parts of the movie, and they don't look creepy, Clark Gable still looks hot and from what I've heard, this was one of his best performances, and Marilyn's as well. And yes, creepy is Anna Nichole Smith (RIP) and her hubby who was at least 50 years older, maybe more. Gross (well I guess that instead of sex appeal, the old man had "check appeal" :P)
... Viva Clark Gable, el eterno y único Rey de Hollywoodshare
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The May December romance in The Misfits was easier to take because it didn't show the significantly younger girl agressively panting after the older man. That's part of what makes such relationships unappealing in more contemporary movies. Plus Gay showed his respect for Roslyn by doing things around the house she'd like and not constantly groping her. Plus we were spared the any stomach churning open mouth kisses between the two. Another thing to make the relationship more bearable.
Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. --Law of Probable Dispersal