Wallach

Veteran actor Eli Wallach passed away this week. The obituaries usually start with Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo and  The Magnificent Seven, before mentioning everything else that he did. One of those other memorable roles was in The Misfits, with Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, and Montgomery Clift.   Directed by John Huston, the film was written by Arthur Miller, who was married to Monroe at the time. It's known for being Monroe's last film, and Gable's too.

Despite the hefty star power, though, it's not that impressive. It rambles from place to place, the characters are not quite interesting enough, and the climatic sequence doesn't come together as well as it might. It can still make an impression, though, as a view of the United States after the war - indeed, as the war is being left behind. (An earlier post mentioned it as an example of post-war drinking habits as shown in movies.) As Guido, Mr. Wallech is noticeable, perhaps because he did manage to get across the idea of veterans who won the war, but don't have any stake in the new world.