Here’s a wonderful scene where Marilyn Monroe learns about what they do to the ponies by a poor farm hand. It’s from the Misfits, which the dogfood lady and Burt Cooper blamed for the bad press on dog chow.

It was written by Arthur Miller (after he split from MM) starred Monty Clift and was Clark Gable’s last, most grizzled role. It’s not a great movie — making titans the screen of the seem like ordinary western folk is tough business, even for John Huston. But it’s a fascinating cultural landmark for bringing all those talents (rising and fading) together.

David Thomson, my favorite authority on the matter, says this of the picture:

“It follows one of director John’s Huston’s subjects: horses. In turn, the best stuff of the picture involves the actors trying to rope and tame wild horses on silvery flats outside of Reno. Huston, at least, could look at a horse and see just the wild four-footed miracle. Yet somehow this aching movie is driven to see the horses as symbols of lost purity in America.”

American purity dislikes being dragged into the dog bowl.

1. princessl reblogged this from madmenfootnotes and added:

   also MM’s last (completed) role. i concur it’s not a great movie, but when she goes stumbling out into the desert and...

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4. allikazoo reblogged this from madmenfootnotes and added:

   The Misfits is one of my favorite movies. Kept thinking of it as I watched Mad Men last night.

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