Drama Darker Than Imagined in 1960

 

The Misfits a Last or Near Last for Many --- Part One

There’s a story persistent about the night Montgomery Clift died. His assistant rapped upon a closed bedroom door to ask Monty if he’d like to watch The Misfits on television. Account goes that Clift replied, “Absolutely no!” these his last words. I took the tale for truth until just now when I checked dates and found that Clift died on July 23, 1966. The Misfits at that time had only played network dates, 1-3-65 and 5-23-65, as of 7-23-66. These were ABC broadcasts, per their ongoing deal with United Artists for theatrical features to be shown in primetime. There was one more run, 3-22-69, before The Misfits went into UA’s “Showcase 6” syndicated package in 12-70. So how much does this matter, if at all? Enough anecdotes get shine rubbed off by niggling detail to make me feel most should be let alone. Monty-balk at The Misfits for his exit line seems good as any, but if his man mentioned a movie for Clift perhaps to watch, it was probably something more along lines of From Here to Eternity, by 1966 playing heavy on local TV. Deeper research could discover which of his appeared on NY tubes as of 7-23-66, so who volunteers? I think The Misfits fits barbed account simply because this was a misfit movie, one that few looked back on with affection. Certainly not viewers and hardly by cast, most of whom died within shockingly short time either before or not too long after The Misfits was released. Only Eli Wallach of leads stayed to blow out birthday candles, him staying a spectacular ninety-eight years (d. 2014). Suppose Eli ever lay awake and wondered “Why me?, or more to point, “Why not me?” It’s like being sole survivor on some ship that went down.

There is much mournful about The Misfits, a sort of cursed endeavor. We have also The Conqueror of similar stripe, shot in Utah and ongoing necrology from there. There was sadness not just in making The Misfits, but in how the film would play. Heavy as sandbags as written by Arthur Miller, there was no ounce of fun to be had here, and receipts expected to be big would not end so. How many mimicked Monty where invited to re-watch The Misfits, as in “Absolutely no!”? That I suspect is why The Misfits became object of the false memory. Few fall more squarely into category called “Maybe this time I’ll like it,” but how many pull trigger of taking the task? Reason for revisit to The Misfits is conversation I had with Ralph Roberts on August 13, 1988, just him, me, and Mike Cline in a small conference room, reason for access Ralph’s NC family connection. Ralph was an actor who doubled as masseur for known names including Marilyn Monroe, with whom he became a close chum. Many say he was the last person who spoke with her the night she died (should we say the last friendly person?). Ralph Roberts had Gotham insider status like few else. I’ve seen him on TV and movies that aren’t credited at his page on IMDB. We talked a long while but only about The Misfits, for which I kick myself regular. One topic he hesitated to address was circumstance of Marilyn Monroe’s death. That water ran truly deep, as you could tell by Ralph’s dark expression where her fate came up.

Little went on during The Misfits to escape Ralph Roberts’ scrutiny. Insurers were shy to clear the male lead for service.  “Clark Gable wanted very much to do The Misfits, but he was unable to pass the physical which was required by the insurance carrier. Being so anxious to get the part, Gable stayed in bed for four days in the hopes he’d be ready for his fourth physical exam (he’d failed the first three). He went straight from his bed to the doctor’s office and this time they passed him.” We could wonder if Gable’s doctor warned him about over-stressing on The Misfits, which advise if given went studiously ignored. Had he done another comedy shot on sound stages, I dare say the King might have lived to work into at least part of the sixties (but who would sentence him deeper to that benighted decade?). Word is Gable liked notion of The Misfits for opportunity to “really act,” plus the money was more, at least on a surface, than he had been offered before, him thinking in terms of ultimate percentage payoff, though recent ones proved more profitable than The Misfits would be. Here’s the thing though: Gable was usually in for gross participation after leaving MGM, which meant his came off the top, sometimes at cost to distributors (Fox lost money on The Tall Men … Gable did not). A big enough star, working independent in the fifties, saw reward contract talent of earlier time but dreamed of. Gable found out post-Metro what it was like to be truly enriched by the movie game, at risk sometimes to his health, as here where he crash-dieted after It Started in Naples to rid himself of pasta weight and get in shape for The Misfits.

Gable had been told what a pill Marilyn Monroe could be on working sets, and so came prepared to be patient. Ralph Roberts said he became her champion, the most indulgent of everyone working on The Misfits, she being of that generation having idolized “Clark Gable.” Old timers had to bear transition of co-workers into fans, many distracted by awe they felt just being in the presence of what was less a working colleague than revered idol they simply could not believe was now their co-star. Everyone it seemed wanted to talk over Gable’s greatness with this by all accounts modest man, and that could get awkward for him. Roberts: “Gable always drove himself to the Misfits location and didn’t mingle a lot with the rest of the company. He did though become closer to Marylyn over a period of time and ended up being her strongest supporter.” The much-repeated remark he made to a press rep, to effect that past stars were expected to show up on time “or they’d be fired,” is thought by some to have been critical of Monroe, but overall context suggests it was more a humorous aside on Gable’s part. It’s true the old studios would not tolerate misbehavior on the part of players, a refuse pile filled by those who thought they could get away with bratty conduct. It needed an extraordinary gift to be indulged past strict policy of punching clocks and being ready to perform. Was Judy Garland an only major name to be so “understood” as she was, MGM knowing this was the one and massive talent that could never be replaced? Surely Gable observed this close and marveled at indulgence extended to her, at least till curtain fell in 1950 (her firing from Metro). Gable's true feelings about Marilyn Monroe were revealed to columnist Joe Hyams, him trusted by Gable: "How do you like working with Marilyn?" Gable asked "on or off the record?" Hyams replied "off," to which Gable said, "She's the rudest, most impossible actress I've ever worked with." Hardly the impression Ralph Roberts had of course, but then Gable had known Joe Hyams a long time so was able to be more forthcoming with him. To note is fact Joe Hyams did not spill these beans until 2001 when he penned a look-back on his long association with Gable.

Monroe by many hind sights was cause of The Misfits going up and up in terms of time and costs. Ralph Roberts felt she got a bum rap, though he was clearly an acolyte for being on her personal payroll. Said he on Monroe as scapegoat: “It reached a point where Marylyn was blamed for everything that went wrong. One day the company drove 75 miles or so into the desert for some outdoor shooting, and then discovered that Marylyn’s wig had been left behind We didn’t have a phone of course, so work was held up while someone drove back for the wig. Marilyn was blamed for the oversight, but of course it wasn’t her fault at all. If something went wrong though, everyone just tended to pack it off on Marilyn.” Monroe had gathered many a “handler’ by the time of The Misfits, she by now a production firm in herself, with lots grazing upon her and each jockeying for closeness to the star. Monroe paid Paula Strasberg (above) $3,000 per week to coach her acting, the last thing such instinctive ability needed. One could wonder how much more effective MM might have been had she been spared Strasberg ministrations, but Paula served greater functions than mere actor instruct. Like Ralph Roberts, she'd act also as guard against intruders, defend against those who’d defame MM, Paula like Ralph a majordomo and life raft for the troubled star. I’d say both earned keep, Roberts recalling Marilyn as a most generous employer. This actress, if by now institution, was toting up quite an overhead.

There is a Making of The Misfits book, also an hour-long DVD on the subject. Reading/watching is not unlike exploring the Galveston Flood or what happened at Balaclava Heights. Such waste, such self-destruct among talent on march to respective ends. Why should any black-and-white feature other than a grandest spectacle cost four million to make? The Misfits as on-and-on project was grand for tourism. Folks flocked to Reno hoping to interact with stars, and many did. Heat choked to over one hundred degrees on better days. Reno encouraged bad habit John Huston had of gambling beyond reason, $50,000 he left on green felt tables, this an unhealthy one-sixth of the $300K Huston received for directing The Misfits. Never mind smoke/drink as worst scourges of old Hollywood, for I believe betting had those beat, certainly among many who felt too lucky, or underserving, of money fairly thrown at them for engaging what seemed to some a frivolous enterprise. John Huston was not regarded as an artist in a same sense as writer Arthur Miller, pecking order among creatives a steeper stairstep in 1960 when movies were still something best took with popcorn and Raisinets. Will films get respect now that we are largely consuming them alone? Miller was married to Marilyn Monroe, but by Misfit time, they were misfitted as a couple. Was having her for a wife enough to overcome any man’s better judgment? I read how Monaco fixers, intent on finding a Hollywood name for Rainier’s princess, briefly considered Monroe until wiser heads warned that no, she was too unstable. Let’s choose regal if placid Grace Kelly instead.