BEFORE: More cowboys and rodeos tonight - but perhaps this also fits in with this week's theme of oddballs, schmucks and losers. Sounds like misfits, right? Of course, trivia buffs all know this film as the last screen appearances for both Clark Gable AND Marilyn Monroe (last seen in "All About Eve"). Wow, way to bring down the room... Redford links back to Streisand, who was in "Nuts" with Eli Wallach.
THE PLOT: A sexy divorcée falls for an over-the-hill cowboy who is struggling to maintain his romantically independent lifestyle in early-sixties Nevada.
AFTER: Oh, the HORSES are the misfits. Well, it works the other way, too.
Another sort of head-scratcher tonight. Do I take the plot points as written, or do I look for some deeper meaning? As Monroe's character states in the film, sometimes you have to just take things as they come. But life is sort of like a movie (or is that the other way around?) and sometimes it's just a series of scenes, and sometimes it adds up to something greater. And other times, there is no larger meaning other than the one we add to it.
All of the main characters seem broken here, most by divorce or death of a loved one, so in a way it's heartening to see people carrying on, despite the personal tragedies they've endured. But also some of them are broken because their way of life is slowly eroding - what's left for an old cowboy in the mid-20th century, except for riding bulls and broncos in a rodeo show? Isn't that a mere shadow of what the cowboy lifestyle used to entail? Where are the cattle drives, the chuck wagons, the dramatic shootouts in the middle of town? (OK, Hollywood might be responsible for that last one...)
What's left to round up is Nevada mustangs, and where they used to be shipped all over the country for petting zoos and pony rides, at this point they're mostly being used to make dog food. Gable's character notes that this once-noble process got all twisted up as the world changed. That's right, society is to blame. (or, you could just NOT corral the mustangs, that would really stick it to the man...)
Naturally, Monroe's character has a big problem with the cruelty of this process, because she's a hysterical woman, naturally. Actually, Monroe's character is frequently confused in this film - no lie, she's fascinated by watching lettuce grow, and the ability to walk in and out of a house. I couldn't really tell you where Marilyn's dumb-blonde act (if it was an act) began and ended. How did anyone have a conversation with someone so stupid? That kind of works against Monroe's sexiness, if you ask me.
Throughout the film, we learn that nothing's more important than being a pretty girl - or being with a pretty girl, since all of the men in the film are falling over themselves for a chance to talk to or be with her. And we learn that if you're her less attractive female friend, there's really no reason for you to stick around past the second act.
Looking at the big picture, though, this film seems to be about the futility of life - what's the point of rounding up horses? What's the point of doing ANYTHING, for that matter? And the inevitability of death - are we all just looking for something to do to occupy our time until the final act? Heavy questions, no answers just yet.
This was also a nice bit of scheduling because the next few films are going to be somewhat death-centric. Yes, I'm just picking films off the list, but perhaps by properly arranging them, larger truths can be revealed.
Also starring Eli Wallach (last seen in "New York, I Love You"), Montgomery Clift (last seen in "From Here to Eternity"), Thelma Ritter (also last seen in "All About Eve")
RATING: 4 out of 10 old tires
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