When you think about Marilyn Monroe you probably imagine a brassy, bleached blonde leaning forward provocatively whilst cooing “Happy Birthday” to the President or maybe you picture her as the ‘dumb’ blonde in the amazing white dress spectacularly blowing over her head and revealing her seemingly endless legs? The aspects of Miss Monroe’s character which people never seem to remember are those of a very lonely, scared young woman whose last years were a blur of illicit sex, prescription drugs and endless visits to psychiatrists in an attempt to ‘cure’ herself. Her image as a ‘Blonde Bombshell’ was just that and throughout her acting career Marilyn struggled to be taken seriously as an actress.

The Misfits is perhaps the film where the character Marilyn plays is the most similar to her own…. the reason for this being that it was written by Arthur Miller as a tribute to her and it is widely regarded as being a portrait of their married relationship, a relationship which was already in tatters before filming began.

Marilyn is at her most beautiful here starring as a young divorcee who meets a heroically macho cowboy played by Clark Gable. She portrays an amazing vulnerability, which is incredibly appealing to men and women alike and the chemistry between Gable and Monroe is the stuff of legends… Gable apparently once even romantically told Marilyn that he wanted to remake Gone with the Wind with her as his Scarlett O Hara! Marilyn would later blame herself when Gable died not long after filming was completed and his death left her guilt-ridden.

In writing ‘The Misfits’ as a gift to his wife, Miller gave both Marilyn and the audience something wonderful! The lines the characters deliver are as beautiful as -and flow like- poetry… indeed one of the films most infamous lines in which Marilyn utters,

“Husbands and Wives are killing each other!”

couldn’t apply to her personal life any more explicitly and gives a telling view oft the cracks which had already begun to appear in the Miller-Monroe union. There is also so much symbolism throughout the piece… in Gay’s capturing of the wild horses and the difficulty he has trying to tame them there seems to be a very accurate representation of Miss Monroe who, despite being a beautiful and innocent creature who could never be ‘tamed’ and whose reliance on drugs and alcohol would later cost her dearly. Gay's shock at discovering that Marilyn's character in the film was "The saddest Girl I ever met" offers the viewers an eerie look into the future as it perfectly echoes the sentiments of the film-going public on hearing news of Monroe's 1962 'Suicide.'

Even when confronted with a choice between such masterpieces as Billy Wilder’s amazing ‘Some Like it Hot’ where Marilyn, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon give absolutely stunning performances! Or ‘Bus Stop’ which is widely regarded as being the film in which Marilyn proved she could indeed act and wasn’t just a pretty face, The Misfits will always remain my favourite ever Marilyn Monroe film and as the last film she completed before her death in 1962, it is the perfect obituary to the worlds most famous blonde.

vicolai