Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
Actor: Clark Gable, Eli Wallach, Estelle Winwood, James Barton, John Huston, Kevin McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Rex Bell, Thelma Ritter
Director: John Huston
1. The Misfits, 1961
Rife with controversy and released after one of the leads’ death, it’s no wonder that The Misfits was commercially panned upon release despite the big names on its cast. But make no mistake– it’s a pretty good movie. It’s not the usual movie that the leads would have made, but maybe it’s because of this that Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Cline delivered some of their best performances. At first glance, the film presents their usual star personas, but the story twists their usual plots in a melancholic, eerily prophetic way, culminating in a last-ditch effort around the desert that gets them to question what they have become. Classic film fans might find it tough to watch the film without thinking about the later tragedies the actors faced in real life, but The Misfits marked a shift for the Hollywood studio system, eventually garnering a reputation as a cult classic.