Misfire is a likely more appropriate title for a feature that proved to be the last for two of its stars – Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.
A muscular direction from John Huston fails to instil any real sense of cohesion as newly divorced Monroe falls for ageing cowboy, Gable. The Nevada desert looms magnificently (even in black and white) as they, along with Montgomery Clift and Eli Wallach head into mustang rustling country. Tensions and emotions rise in playwright Arthur Miller’s grandstanding script.
Gable and Wallach are both strong and convincing in their performances but cannot hold a wayward film that was fraught with problems. Gable himself suffered a massive heart attack just two days after the end of the shoot – and died 10 days later.
Rating: 48%
Director: John Huston (The African Queen, Prizzi’s Honour)
Writer: Arthur Miller (The Crucible, Death of a Salesman)
Main cast: Clark Gable (It Happened One Night, Gone With the Wind), Marilyn Monroe (Some Like It Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity, Judgement at Nuremberg)
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