7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
A sexy divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle in early-sixties Nevada.
Starring: Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli WallachRomance | 100% |
Drama | 75% |
Western | 29% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (256 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (256 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Italian: DTS Mono
German: DTS Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono (Spain)
Japanese: DTS Mono
Italian and German2.0 Mono @256 kbps / Japanese 2.0 mono @1509 kbps
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The Misfits has the somewhat unsettling distinction of being the last film both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe ever completed. Just two days after shooting ended in the Nevada desert, the 59-year-old Gable suffered a severe heart attack—he died ten days later from coronary thrombosis—and Monroe would be dead within a year and a half from an apparent suicide. This lends a sadness and sense of weightiness to the film, which has come to be seen as strangely prophetic about the personal lives of its stars. And this makes sense; The Misfits is a deeply personal film, especially for Monroe. The platinum starlet’s then-husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller, wrote the script as a kind of present for his wife—who wanted to prove she could play more than just her usual dumb blond roles—but soon after the project started shooting, their marriage began to disintegrate. Miller worked on re-writes throughout production, and many of his additions were semi-biographical, hinting at various troubles in Monroe’s private life. The shoot itself was turbulent. By this point, Monroe’s prescription drug use was completely out of hand, and filming had to be stopped for ten days while she went through detox in an L.A. hospital. Temperatures on location soared past 100-degrees daily, and iconic director John Huston frequently drank and gambled on set. Yet, despite the behind-the-scenes chaos, The Misfits is very nearly a masterpiece. Not quite, but nearly.
I'm convinced it's very unlikely that The Misfits will ever look better than it does here, with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's practically flawless. MGM's catalog releases have been spotty lately, with recycled remasters and no attention paid to restoration, but The Misfits is a definite exception. The film looks simply stunning in high definition. To start with, the image is almost pristine. Debris is limited to a few scattered white specks, and besides some minor brightness flickering in a few scenes, there are no other print-related issues. Likewise, the film's grain structure is rich and natural, with no evidence of DNR or excess edge enhancement. There's been no tampering or boosting here—just a picture that's clean, natural, and crisp. Clarity gets a significant boost over prior standard definition releases, as facial textures and clothing details are more readily visible, and even softer shots—there have always been a few—look more tightly resolved. The film's grey scale is excellent as well. Blacks are deep without overwhelming shadow detail, whites are bright without ever seeming overblown, and the gradient in between is smooth and wonderfully contrasted. I didn't catch any obvious compression issues; the only thing you may notice is that the checked pattern on Clark Gable's cowboy shirt sometimes exhibits a slight moiré shimmer, which is probably unavoidable. All around, this is a great black and white transfer.
Instead of trying to wrangle a 5.1 presentation out of The Misfits' rather spartan soundtrack, MGM has wisely opted to go with a faithful-to- source DTS-HD Master Audio mono mix. As you'd expect coming from Arthur Miller, dialogue is the most prevalent element here, and for the post part it sounds clean and strong, with no muffling or crackling. I did notice some slight modulations in vocal volume during the early part of the film, but these could possibly be an intentional part of the sound design. (The actors' voices seem to lower whenever the camera cuts away.) It's hard to say, but regardless, it's not a big enough distraction to matter. Alex North's moody score has as much depth and expressiveness as a single-channel mix can deliver, and the few effects that are called for—mostly during the rodeo and horse-rustling final act—have decent presence.
Unfortunately, the sole bonus feature on the disc is the film's theatrical trailer (1080p, 3:43)
A gloominess hangs over The Misfits; it's about characters who don't fit into a world that has passed them by, and it was the last film for Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable, who would both die soon thereafter. The darkness is fitting, though, and in a way it adds to film's lasting beauty. Arthur Miller's too-loose script holds The Misfits back from classic status, but this is still a movie that demands to be seen. Thankfully, MGM has done a brilliant job with this Blu-ray release, lack of special features aside. Recommended!
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