“I just gotta find another way to be alive, that’s all.”
The film started as a short story by Arthur Miller while waiting in Reno for his divorce to be finalized prior to marrying Marilyn Monroe. After months on location Monroe started losing her battle with alcohol and prescription drugs. The production finally had to be shut down to send her to a hospital for detox. During this hiatus director John Huston gambled, sometimes drank through the night and the production company even had to cover some of his losses. When Monroe returned, a doctor had to be on call around the clock. She was nearly always late to the set, sometimes not showing up at all. Bored while waiting for Monroe, 59 year old Clark Gable opted to do some of his own stunts, which included being dragged by a truck traveling at 30 mph. United Artists execs were unhappy with the rough cut, so Huston and producer Frank Taylor agreed to reshoot several scenes. But Gable had script approval and rejected the reshoot. According to Arthur Miller, Gable had already seen the rough cut by the last day of filming and said, “This is the best picture I have made, and it’s the only time I’ve been able to act”. This was the last completed film for both Gable and Monroe. While Something’s Got to Give (1962) is listed as her last film, it was never completed because she was fired. On the last day of filming, Gable said, “Christ, I’m glad this picture’s finished. She (Monroe) damn near gave me a heart attack”. The next day, Clark Gable suffered a massive heart attack and died 11 days later. Marilyn Monroe died of a drug overdose the following year.
