The Misfits
In Reno, Nevada, Roslyn Tabor (Monroe) is a 30-year-old woman who has just gotten a quickie six-week divorce from her inattentive husband Raymond (McCarthy). After leaving the Washoe County Courthouse, Roslyn's best local friend, Isabelle Steers, (Ritter), who is also a divorcee, takes her to a bar at Harrah's Reno for drinks to let the reality of her divorce sink in. While there, they meet an aging cowboy named Gaylord 'Gay' Langland (Gable) and his tow truck driver friend Guido (Wallach). They invite Roslyn and Isabelle to Guido's place in the Nevada country to help her forget about the divorce, after Gay tells Roslyn that he is also divorced. They arrive at the unfinished house Guido built for his late wife, who died several years earlier during childbirth. They drink and dance. Roslyn has too much to drink, so Gay drives her home to Reno.
Eventually, Roslyn and Gay move into Guido's half-finished house and start to work on it. One day after breakfast, Gay tells Roslyn how he wishes he were more of a father to his own children, whom he has not seen for some years. Later that afternoon, Roslyn and Gay argue when Gay states his intention to find and kill the rabbits which have been eating the vegetable garden they planted outside Guido's house.
When Guido and Isabelle later show up at the house, Gay suggests that they round up wild mustangs to sell. They plan to go to a local rodeo in Dayton to look for and hire a third man for the job. Along the way, they meet Perce Howland (Clift), a cowboy friend of Gay's who is also on his way to the Dayton rodeo to compete. Gay offers to pay for the broke Perce's $10 rodeo entry fee if he helps the group round up wild mustangs for slaughter afterward. Isabelle sees her ex-husband Charles and his new wife Clara, and decides to invite them to her home instead of going to the rodeo with Gay, Guido, Perce, and Roslyn. Before the rodeo, Guido, Perce, Roslyn and Gaylord all drink heavily at a Dayton bar, where wagers were made and won on Roslyn's ability to play a game of paddle ball. The group is nearly involved in a fist fight when another patron at the bar spanks Roslyn's bottom.
At the rodeo, Roslyn becomes somewhat upset when Guido tells her how the horses are made to buck with an irritating flank strap. She declares that all rodeos should be banned. Later, Perce is thrown by a bucking horse and Roslyn begs him to go to a hospital, but he insists on riding a bull he had already signed up and paid to ride. He gets thrown again, resulting in a head injury.
Later, after Roslyn dances with Perce, he passes out in a back alley. When he regains consciousness, he sees her crying over him. He says that he never had anyone cry for him before and that he wished he had a friend to talk to. He tells her how his mother changed after his father died, giving his stepfather the ranch Perce's father wanted to leave to Perce. A drunken Gay then fetches Roslyn, telling her that he wants her to meet his kids, whom he claims he unexpectedly ran into. When Gay discovers his children have already left, he causes a public scene.
Later on, during the drive home to Reno, a drunken Guido asks if Roslyn has left Gay and offers to take his place. Back at Guido's house, Guido, intoxicated and sleepless, attempts to finish the patio he started. Perce awakens and nearly tears his bandages off, forgetting about his recent injury. Roslyn puts him to bed and sits down with Gay. He asks her if a woman like her would ever want to have a child with him. She avoids the issue, and Gay goes to bed.
The next day, Gay, Guido and Perce prepare to go after the mustangs, and Roslyn reluctantly tags along. After they catch a stallion and four mares, Rosalyn becomes upset when she learns that the mustangs will be sold for dog food. She then tells Gay she did not know she was falling in love with a killer. He tells her that he did things for her that he never did for any other woman, such as making the house a home and planting the garden.
After the horses are captured, Roslyn begs Gay to release the horses. He considers doing it, but when she offers to pay $200, it angers him. Guido tells Roslyn that he would let them go if she would leave Gay for him. She rebuffs him, rightly telling him he only cares about himself. Perce also asks her if she wants him to set the horses free, but she declines because she thinks it would only start a fight. He frees the stallion anyway.
After Gay chases down and subdues the horse all by himself, he lets it go and says he just did not want anybody making up his mind for him. They get into Gay's truck. As they're driving Roslyn tells Gay that she will leave the next day. Gay stops the truck to pick up his dog, and watches Roslyn joyfully untethering it. Gay and Roslyn realize that they still love each other, and drive off into the night.
allegory, romantic, atmospheric