CARLATA BRADLEY

The Misfits, a flawed but moving meditation on the vanishing
spirit of western independence, opened in theaters on
February 1, 1961.       

The Misfits had all the right ingredients to become a truly
great western. The director, John Huston, was one of the
most talented  in Hollywood. The screenwriter, Arthur
Miller, was a celebrated  playwright.      

       
The three stars—Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and
Montgomery Clift—were among America’s brightest,
yet when the film opened in early 1961, the reviews
were mixed, and the public largely ignored the film.         

Audiences disliked the film in part because it failed to
offer a clear-cut hero with whom they could identify.     

The Misfits was the last completed film for both Gable
(who died three months before the premiere) and
Monroe (who died a year after its release).

On January 31, 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly
announced his decision to support the development of the
hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times
more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan
during World War II.

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On January 31, 1865, the U.S. House of Representatives passed
the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in
America.

In 1929 The Seeing Eye, the first US school to train guide dogs
for people with vision impairment, opened in Tennessee. For
reporters skeptical of the idea, co-founder Morris Frank
showcased his own dog, Buddy (below) on busy New York
streets.

   
Morris Frank
(March 23, 1908 – November 22, 1980)

“The paths that our heroes have blazed and the legacies they have left provide us with purpose and meaning.” —Dr. Dean Tuttle