February 1: Arthur Miller’s “The Misfits”

Arthur Miller’s film drama The Misfits premiered on this date in 1961, with Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in the lead roles, a final film appearance for both of them. Monroe’s marriage to Miller was falling apart during the creation of the film, which he had written specifically for her. She was sinking into substance abuse, and director John Huston said in a 1981 interview that he was “absolutely certain that she was doomed” during the filming: “There was evidence right before me every day. She was incapable of rescuing herself or of being rescued by anyone else. And it affected her work. We had to stop the picture while she went to a hospital for two weeks.” She nevertheless received the 1961 Golden Globe Award five months before her suicide. The Misfits was an elegy to the Old West, and ahead of its time in its protesting of animal abuse. To see some footage (including Eli Wallach), look below. “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” —Marilyn Monroe