CINEMA CLASSICS SEMINAR: THE MISFITS

$30 for BMFI members, $40 for non-members Tuesday, October 13, 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm Instructor: Rachel McCabe, Ph.D., LaSalle University The aura around The Misfits is difficult to separate from the film itself. Released in 1961, it was the last completed film for three of the biggest names in twentieth-century Hollywood: Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift. Monroe plays Roslyn, a divorcée in Reno looking to escape more than just her painful marriage. There, she and her watchful landlady (Thelma Ritter) run into two cowboys who persuade them to travel out to the Nevada desert for a fun getaway. However, their diversion turns into melancholy and, later, to fear and anger when the men head to “work” in the desert. The screenplay, Arthur Miller’s first Hollywood project, was intended as a vehicle for his then-wife Monroe. Directed by John Huston, the movie’s cinematography and writing unite as an interrogation of the Western as a genre and the ideas of masculinity that come with it. Set against the changing cultural landscape of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the film’s themes ask viewers to consider the changes in the “American dream.” This seminar will explore the intersection of Huston’s direction and Miller’s screenplay, along with the fascinating clashes in acting style produced by the popularity of “The Method,” developed by Lee Strasberg. Are you interested in “just” seeing this movie? Visit the public screening page here.