Worst film I have seen in a while! - The Misfits (1961) Discussion

[–] love_madonna 18 years ago

Because it's retelling the story of old America, when you did used to make money from selling the wild mustangs for dog food. Also you need to bear in mind of when it was released, things were quite different back then, there was none of this future stuff or CGI, films were about things close to peoples hearts, like "The Misfits".

"Say, is it alright over the you-know-what?" "It's wonderful over the you-know-what.

reply

[–] winterm-1 18 years ago

no the op is correct. it is a boring film unfortunately. a lot of talent involved, but the script is just atrocious. apparently marilyn hated the script. it was static. her character was passive and pointless. arthur miller did a really bad job. the fact that it was made over 40 years ago does not excuse poor writing...

reply

[–] dim_sumus 18 years ago

While everyone is entitled to his own opinion, I found the script to be rather good & poignant. There's a lot going on in this story & I thought both the script & performances were very good. It was actually better than I expected.

reply

[–] winterm-1 18 years ago

i am sorry , but i would have to say it is one of Marilyn's worst performances. it doesn't feel like a focussed performance, it looks more like an acting exercise for a class than a complete work. she does have some great moments though. but i think the film has gained its reputation because two of its biggest stars did their last complete performance in it. imo it is not a great movie.

and i dont get what an earlier poster said about Marilyn being marilyn??/

reply

[–] electrictroy 18 years ago

Well I just watched it on PBS.

The movie was slow, the characters unlikeable, and the plot pointless. I'd rather spend my two hours staring out the window at the cars drive by.

reply

[–] NSurone 17 years ago

MArilyn never looked so beautiful in any other film, but her performance was hollow and pointless. In the scene between her and Monty Clift, her eyes are totally without expression; I don't believe she heard a word he said. And that damned little-girl voice is just so annoying in a woman of 34.
Throughout much of the film I had the feeling that she was drunk and/or stoned. She only came to life in the last scenes in the desert, but it was too little, too late.
I'm not sure, but it may have been her performance in this drama that led Fox executives to believe she could only play dumb blondes in dopey comedies. Hence, her next project: SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE--a dopey comedy with a dumb blonde!

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Jello_on_Springs 18 years ago

It was both Gable's and Monroe's last film. This is really why the film lives on. It's the last (full-length feature) look we have at them.

Personally, it's the only reason I own it.

reply

[–] HapRay 18 years ago

HapRay.

I can't cal it the "worst" film, but believe me when you have Arthur Miller and John Huston together on a picture, it should be MUCH better that this hodge podge of a movie. It's trite, predictable and badly acted. Even with a stellar cast, Huston does not bring out any believeability. I am a tried and true Marilyn fan, and were it not for her,I would have not finished watching this thing. I DO know that she was a tremendous problem on the set, but I don't see it in the film, so maybe she's an "actress" after all. One thing is certain. Marilyn is always Marilyn. This film wound up costing Gable his life, He had a heart attack soon after wrapping, and he stated before his death that working with her would kill any man.

Too bad Mr. Huston. You had a good record as a director,but this is one of your worst deliveries ever. As for Miller, he may have sabotaged this script on pupose. After all, he was divorcing Marilyn at the time. He was simply carrying through on his promise to get her together with her all-time idol, Clark Gable.

Too bad...the premise is good. The final film is not.

reply

[–] Altho73 18 years ago

I thought it was a pretty poor film, not the worst I've seen but pretty poor and I certainly would not watch it again. I think a lot of the blame has to be laid firmly at Gable's door, in fact I think that virutally all of his post World War 2 movies were pretty poor. The main reason is that by this time his heavy drinking was taking its toll on his physical appearance and he really did not look very good, in close ups he looked much older (even with make up) than his actual age from 1945 onwards.It's a great pity that he returned to Hollywood after the War, he should have called it a day with his career ending in 1942, he'd have gone out on a high then.

reply

[–] smobe12 17 years ago

I thought it was a movie about a bunch of people who aren't fitting into the world. Hence misfits. Whats the point of life? Whats the point of the movie? People live their lives and think their drama is the whole world when really the world will be the same when they are dead and so is their drama. I thought the point of the movie was looking at people who want to live according to their hearts, (maybe they were certain where they belonged maybe they were a candle in the wind) but life is not a simple straight line from point A to B script and neither are the best movies. So if you can demand an answer to the point of life you can demand and answer to the point of the movie. You'll get just as many answers. I loved the movie, I thought MM's performance was good (not great), and Gable's was good (he had better). From the comments I've read I think its just a matter of taste. No one has moral authority on taste.

"Morality is temporary. Wisdom is forever."

reply

[–] Redhawkof2008 16 years ago

"This film wound up costing Gable his life, He had a heart attack soon after wrapping, and he stated before his death that working with her would kill any man."

For the record, this movie was not the direct result of his death. I have read that he smoked 3 packs a day and was a heavy drinker (mainly after Carole Lombard's death).

http://www.youtube.com/UofLCardFan
"You just ain't zany enough to rock with Shady"

reply

[–] abchulett 18 years ago

Good grief, what a weird thread. Which part didn't you like, the amazing depth of poetry, the richness of the characters, the wistfulness of the beginning of the end of a way of life, the bittersweet nature of the relationships the people share, Monroe's greatest performance, Gable's favorite of his work, or the passions the characters bring out in each other?!

"Every scene seemed to have little or no point." Well, if you're expecting an action film, you're right. This movie is a lot deeper than that. It's one of the greats, and deserves to be. 9/10.

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Noirkiss_3 18 years ago

Are you just being a troll? It seems people always make these posts and I never know if they are being serious.

This film is amazing on many levels. Not just as a "new western" but as a metaphor for the culture of a changing America, but the sad parallel between the stars lives and there characters as well.
But, i can't get too down on you because Clark Gable didn't get it either.

reply

[–] greatturtle 18 years ago

Well, it's certainly a matter of opinion. But you would have to look far beneath the surface of each character to get why they were all in so much turmoil. There is just so much symbolism in this film......the characters, the actors (in real life) are like the mustangs that no longer serve a purpose but to be packaged for dogfood.........misfits, so to speak because they don't fit in anywhere. I guess you just have to be a fan of tortured actors' films. They don't have to make sense.....they just personify the era in which they were created.

reply

[–] winterm-1 18 years ago

I don't think it is a good film. Marilyn didn't think so either apparently

reply

[–] Arthur_Nelson 17 years ago

Personally, I thought this was a great film; as people have said, a poignant story about how there's no room for the old in an ever-changing world...

reply

[–] bruce-129 17 years ago

Hmmm, I just saw it for the first time and I think it is one of the best films I have ever seen.

reply

[–] skatepunkkid 16 years ago

I've seen this movie many times. It is a great film, I can only feel sorry for people that can't understand that.

Ya never know what ya don't know, ya know?

reply

[–] eden_echo 16 years ago

I didn't think much of it when I first saw it a few years ago, but now re-watching it a couple times since then, I think it's a great film, and always thought it was Marilyn Monroe's best acting.

"I promise you before I die, I'll surely come to your doorstep"

reply