imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Sunday, February 05, 2006
THE NEVADA DESERT SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD RIGHT NOW
It's not the typical mid-winter frigid outside; it's just a raw bone-chilling cold. And dreary. It doesn't seem to be really winter and it's definitely not spring, yet summer will come all too soon. Summer is rarely pleasant in this river valley. It's usually overcast at best -- rarely sunny -- and always too humid for me. Like living in a bowl which has been covered over with a piece of grimy cheesecloth. This is the only time of year when summer appeals to me. No wonder the hot, dry Nevada desert sounds good 'bout now.
I've been thinking of Nevada ever since I came across some pictures taken during the filming of the movie The Misfits, which was the last film for both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.
On the last day of filming, Clark Gable said, "Christ, I'm glad this picture's finished. She [Monroe] damn near gave me a heart attack." The next day, Gable suffered a massive heart attack; he died 11 days later on November 16, 1960. Monroe died of a drug overdose on August 5, 1962.
The Misfits was originally a short story which Arthur Miller wrote, in 1956, while he was residing in Nevada to divorce his first wife. He married Marilyn after the divorce that same year.
Eve Arnold, one of the film's photographers, said of Marilyn, "The camera adored her, and she was the only person I ever met who photographed 10 pounds lighter." And, "She was not supposed to be nude."
8 Pat has posted a great desert picture at his Hitching Post
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