MovieChat Forums > The Misfits (1961) Discussion > Could this film even be made today??

Could this film even be made today??

posted 19 years ago by Eric-1226
25 replies | jump to latest

I couldn't help but think that this film has become historically unique in one sense, in that it probably couldn't be made today because of the issues of animal rights and the requirement to do no harm to animals while making a film. Could you imagine a current filmmaker trying to shoot the scenes where they run down the wild horses and brutally rope them and tie them down? Hell no, they'd be put out of business!!

Plus I doubt you could even get away with that scene in the saloon where the cowboy spanks Marilyn Monroe's butt while she is doing that paddle-ball thing.

[–] brendanchenowith 19 years ago

If re-made by Quentin Tarantino, I bet it could be.

[–] gondring_a 19 years ago

>If re-made by Quentin Tarantino, I bet it could be.

And he probably wouldn't have the cut out the end scene, where the dog is starving.

[–] ergot29 19 years ago

They could easily do a scene with someone paddling a woman, they do far more than that all the time. It's not even close.

The scenes with the horses would definitely cause a lot of protest if they were to do it though, but there are a lot of old films like that. I doubt a studio would do it now. The spanking bit though wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eye.

[–] Eric-1226 19 years ago

Maybe you're right about the part where the guy spanks MM's butt, although I still think the PC police nowadays would have their say about it, and a contemporary director today might think twice about filming such a scene. (Or at least they would do it far differently...).

Now, as far as roping the wild horses go, I think there's NO FRIKKIN' WAY that a modern director could get away with showing horses being roped and hog-tied, what with all the animal rights activists and such. So, movie-goers of the world, I beseech you to enjoy "The Misfits" while you can, because I wouldn't be surprised if the Politically Correct PC Gestapo Thought Police had this movie yanked from all the shelves of all the video stores throughout the country, thus denying you forever the chance to see this marvellous film!!

[–] ergot29 19 years ago

Well now you are just being silly. The movie isn't going to be banned or pulled from stores. There are many films that would never get made today, or with scenes that wouldn't, but they aren't in danger of disappearing.

Rodeos still exist, and they even have mainstream acceptance, so roping animals isn't completely out of the question for a film maker. The scenes in The Misfits probably would be though, and any movie would certainly have people protesting it. Protestors however, don't necessarily mean things don't get made. I would agree that the chances of those scenes being in a movie today are extrememly slim. Unlike some other types of controversy, there isn't really much money in roping animals for cinema

As for the paddling, it's not even close. It's not as if the film even portays the cowboy's action as acceptable, he almost gets beaten up for it. Women in modern films have far more degrading and humiliating things happen to them all the time. A scene where a guy spanks some woman in a bar because he is a lech wouldn't create a stir. If they can make American Pie, they could shoot a scene like that.

[–] Eric-1226 19 years ago

You're right, I was indeed being a bit silly, as well as exaggerating things a bit, sorry about that - but I still can't shake the opinion that fundamentally it would be hard for today's filmmakers to duplicate the visceral rawness and edginess of "The Misfits". My perception is that current political correctness and animal rights issues would have their effect, and a current version of this movie would end up coming across as much more sanitized. It just wouldn't be the same.

Also, for me anyway, the black and white photography of the film was a factor in giving the story a feeling of rawness. Today's filmmakers just wouldn't bother with a B&W filming. A good example is the 1998 remake of the movie "Psycho". It was filmed in color, and though it looked nicely done in color, I think the color photography made it lose some of the gritty 'edge' that was found in the 1960 B&W original.

But again, these are just my opinions, which really account for nothing at all.

[–] Loomis_Orange 19 years ago

There were animal doctors and trainers on the set who would only allow the horses to take so much and then they would stop aad send in another horse. Untrained horses either don't know how to fall down or simply won't so on the set there were trained and and semi-wild horses. The close-up scene with Gable and the horse he was trying to bring down was actually a fake horse.

In Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" Bergman actually had a horse killed. The scene where Abel Rosenberg walks the streets of poverty-striken pre-war Berlin he passes a steaming dead horse. People had killed it, cut into it and were eating it with their bloody hands. Bergman was looking for realism. That film was made in 80 I think and also out of America.

Another film that I don't believe could be made today is Sam Fuller's "White Dog" That was made out of the country also in about 1986.

I believe with all my heart that political correctness does nothing but make people more suspicious, more angry and sensitized to an extreme. It's doing a lot more harm than it knows.

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[–] HellFurby 19 years ago

Kind of sad when the public gets outraged by seeing horses get treated like beasts, but doesn't even blink when women are. Says something right there.

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[–] landofowen 19 years ago

The outrage is due more likely to the fact that a horse can't say no then to any general public sentiment in favor of the mistreatment of women.

Having concern for the welfare of animals does not necessarily mean that one has no concern for the welfare of people, nor vice versa. It's only when the welfare of animals is put before the needs(and needs ain't necessarily wants)of humans that concern for animal welfare should be a serious worry.

I think that a remake of this movie could be made today if they had the right stunt people with properly trained horses. The questions is why would a remake be necessary in the first place?

[–] blue88 19 years ago

I just finish watching a PBS documentary, The Making of The Misfits....

In it, one of the production staff says that the all of wild horses, Which were only used for some of the scenes were mostly sick with distemper and old. But the production had a vet on call which daily inspected the horses. Eli Wallich says also in the doc, that only a few of the wrangling scenes are shot with a wild horse in it. And often a SPCA person would step in and stop the action and the horse would be retired for the days shooting. Any scenes with a horse lieing down was a Hollywood stunt horse. ( Wild horses not being trained to lie down.) Made up to look like one of the wild horses shot in an earlier scene.

Any scenes of real brutality to the horses are an illusion.

To the question of could this film be shot today. The Misfits is a moment in time. Unique in it's own right due to the group of indivduals in front and behind the cameras. I think of it as the precurser to modern American independent film

[–] HellFurby 18 years ago

I wasn't implying that the two were exclusive. I'm simply pointing out that many people become more shocked and offended by brutality towards animals then they do for, as an example, women. Perhaps because it is less common to see animals being abused in films.

You're absolutely right when you say that concern for animals is superfluous only when it threatens to become more important to treatment to people. However, in Hollywood, it is still allowed for actresses and actors to be abused without consent by their directors, while there are strict limitations in place for animals. For example, Wes Craven told Drew Barrymore horror stories about animal cruelty to keep her looking frightened during the filming of 'Scream', even though Drew told him not to. That's not a heavy case, but itillustrates my point.

[–] digitaljoe111001 19 years ago

It's interesting to read the debate regarding whether or not the wild horses scene could be done today. The point that is missed is that abuse of the horses was important to explain how the old cowboy west had passed into history. The Misfits attempts to show how 1960s people had succumbed to a similar fate: urbanized and thus domesticated compared to earlier generations.

I actually saw this as one of the more sensitive treatment of animals in film. Roslyn's character creates such a deep empathy with the herd that she initially convinces the cowboys to cut them free, until Gay rebels and asserts his primal drives. In the end of course, Roslyn ropes Gay and delivers him to the reality of mid 20th century Nevada.

[–] kholmes39 18 years ago

I don't think tis film would be made today, not because of the animal rights issue or over the spanking of Marilyn's butt.
Rather, it wouldn't be made because the subtle, down to earth script by the incredible Arthur Miller (r.i.p) isn't the kind of property that most studios are looking for these days.

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[–] Verenka 18 years ago

You are so right about Tarantino, Pickfair. I find his films tiresome. No sensitivity, no restraint. The Misfits is not a comic book story. No remake!!!

"Americans are obsessed with God & money, but they're warm-hearted & energetic"

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[–] Martin_Sloan 17 years ago

Didn't they kill some animal during the making of Manderlay?

#15
Martin Scorsese IS the best

[–] thisisstillthebrat 17 years ago

I don't think this film could be made again today, partly because the part of Roslyn was written for Marilyn and also the stars of the film brought their own emotions to it. They add to the sad and poetic nature of the film because Marilyn and Monty in particular were 2 very tragic and tortured people.

"Everybody be cool this is a robbery!"

[–] crashbandit1979 17 years ago

God I hope not. This was a unique film, made for unique actors. Could you imagine the Hollywood Machine trying to remake Gone With The Wind? Or Casablanca? Or Rebel Without A Cause??? No way! Could you possibly imagine anyone else trying to one-up these legendary people? There will never be another James Dean. Or Bogart. Or Gable. Or Marilyn. You CANNOT recreate a legend. These movies should stay as they are, as should The Misfits....truly original pieces of cinematic history. The actors in them deserve that.

{Alva}- "I AM my own girl, Mr. Legate!" ~This Property Is Condemned~

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