MovieChat Forums > The Misfits (1961) Discussion > Marilyn Monroe Pin-Up Reference ?

Marilyn Monroe Pin-Up Reference ?

posted 19 years ago by Kate-me
32 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone notice the scene where Rosyln has just invited Guido(Eli Wallach) to the house that she and Gay have just finished-- and Guido opens up one of the large cabinet doors and there, on the inner part of the door are numerous pictures of Marilyn herself from the 50s when she is dressed up like a pinup girl-- and Rosyln says "Oh, don't look at those- Gay just put them up as a joke." Then he opens it again and is in awe of them and she closes it again.

What do you think the meaning of this is?
Is she trying to kind of 'kill' her old glamorous, sex symbol self and say that now it is all a joke and she isn;t comftorable with it? What do you think? Did you notice?

[–] dminor7th 19 years ago

I did notice that and wondered about it myself. I thought maybe someone put those up as a kind of joke.

[–] jmataachi 19 years ago

yeah, i found that scene puzzling too! i think it's supposed to mean something deeper. because when i was watching the seven year itch again a monroe joke is brought in when the plumber asks there's a blonde in the kitchen and tom replies a blonde, who do you expect to find there? marilyn monroe? i think there's something significant definitely with that wardrobe of monroe pinups in the misfits. i wish someone would enlighten us here!

[–] DeathRevisited 19 years ago

I was also puzzled about that. It just amazes me. I wonder what she thought of those photos. I read that a lot of people were saying she was heavier and older so she was no longer the sex-queen or pin-up girl she used to be. I wonder what kind of effect that had on her. I think she was just as beautiful as she had always been.

[–] Garbo-Forever 19 years ago

Its just pure irony ;-) Tongue in cheek ;-) love this scene.

[–] ethan1138 17 years ago

To set the record strait, Tom was the one who asked and Richard repied "Maybe it's Marilyn Monroe".

[–] BlondeVixen 19 years ago

The best person still around to ask, would be Eli Wallach.

[–] Verenka 19 years ago

It is a strange scene. I can accept it, but the logistics bother me a bit. I guess the character did pin-up work -- very believable. But, she carried these photos with her -- maybe. I guess she really did take everything with her when she went to Nevada for her divorce. Did Gable's character find them by going through her belongings, or did she proudly show them to him? Who knows?

"Americans are obsessed with God & money, but they're warm-hearted & energetic"

[–] DeathRevisited 19 years ago

Yes! It bothers me also. It's just something about it. Everytime I watch the movie, I rewind that scene and watch it at least three times. I just wonder what she thought of the pictures and what the whole scene meant.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] cnicknz 16 years ago

There is reference to Roslyn being a dancer (probably prior to her marriage, as Kevin McCarthy's character looks like he wouldn't have approved of such an occupation), so she certainly would have had some outdated publicity photos with her. It is possible that the pinups were meant to symbolically have MM shut the door on them, but really,she had already moved well beyond them earlier than this. She gave marvelous performances in Bus Stop, The Prince and the Showgirl, and Some Like it Hot, so perhaps they just did it as sort if an in joke.

[–] Verenka 19 years ago

Right. I still find it curious that her character would want those photos of her to be "pinned-up." I felt the character like MM was hoping to put that behind her.

"Americans are obsessed with God & money, but they're warm-hearted & energetic"

[–] Devans00 19 years ago

Maybe it was an in joke between Gay and Roslyn that she didn't want to explain to Guido. Thats why she kept trying to close the door.

Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. --Law of Probable Dispersal

[–] Verenka 19 years ago

That could be. I'm sure the Gable character would have loved those pics, as did Wallach's. Which brings to mind the way they talked about her. They used terms like "real prime." But, this is definitely the way those men would talk (and would still today and would be even cruder and more graphic if women were not around). The more I think of that character the more it is so obvious that Miller was basically writing her as Marilyn.

"Americans are obsessed with God & money, but they're warm-hearted & energetic"

[–] Devans00 19 years ago

If you watch, "Great Performances" (1972) {Making 'The Misfits'}, they explain what's going on. Apparently the people who live out in nowhere, in the Nevada desert, would plaster their little places with movie star pictures. To feel like they were still part of the world. Maybe they picked Marilyn Monroe pictures as part of an in joke.

Netflix has the DVD.
http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=60025103

Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed. --Law of Probable Dispersal

[–] kb_cutie_01 18 years ago

I was just going to ask that same question. I was thinking maybe the joke was that Roslyn looked a lot like Marilyn? That scene really confused me.

[–] Camera_Obscura12 18 years ago

I think its a joke for Marilyn. A chance for her to tells us that she doesn't take herself too seriously, That she is not at all like Marilyn Monroe in real life.

Roslyn is embarrassed by these pictures and hides them away from someone who probabaly wouldn't get the inside joke between her and Gay.

[–] crashbandit1979 18 years ago

Yeah, I think it was about the character Roslyn. In 2 later scenes (On the way to the Rodeo, & the night before they go mustanging) it's made known that she was a dancer in a club. Perhaps the pictures were promotional shots for her performances......Intriguing, nonetheless.

{Jim}-"You live here, don't you?"{Judy}-"Who lives?." Rebel Without A Cause

[–] localh137 17 years ago

that's exactly what i was thinking. she makes a reference to being a dancer in a night club, and perce says he's been to a club called the naked truth before ("and they weren't kiddin!"). so i'm thinking they were photos of her from around that time.

[–] wordzmyth 18 years ago

That is a very important insight to Monroe's character, as far as I can see. Roslyn IS Monroe -- remember, her husband, Arthur Miller, wrote the screenplay FOR her. Roslyn was an exotic dancer (50s speak for "stripper") a woman who used her sexuality to make a living. Monroe saw herself as much the same. When Gay tells her "I took my hat off to you, because I know the difference," Roslyn is profoundly affected. This role (see, Bus Stop for similar roles) represented Monroe's attempt to escape the skin roles she'd relied on to gain stardom, to express something deeper about herself. The way Guido kept opening the closet door (symbolic in itself) to leer at the pinups, even as she repeatedly closed it, was very representative of Monroe's futile strivings to become something more than our "Marilyn Monroe." It's too bad. She had so much more to offer. And this film gave a brief glimpse of what we missed.

[–] crashbandit1979 18 years ago

I couldn't agree with you more. She had so much to offer.

{Jim}-"You live here, don't you?"{Judy}-"Who lives?." Rebel Without A Cause

[–] missmelissa80 18 years ago

right on wordzmyth!

[–] AliceInWonderland4ever 18 years ago

oh yeah, now I remember that scene...maybe it was a little abusvie of Miller to put that in the film.

also I wouldn't say that she "relied on" those skin roles to gain stardom, she was under studio contract and had to star in those films per her contract, but soon she rebelled and left for NYC to actually stop appearing in films like that.

she did however, rely heavily on publicity to gain her stardom through the public.

Down the rabbit-hole I GO…
what I’ll find no one knows

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] g_barloe 17 years ago

I think thats the new MArilyn trying to hide and close the old one, thats why she doesnt want those pics to be seen, cause she's no longer that girl