did not complain to Monroe about her lateness—they knew they needed her to finish the movie. Gable reminisced with The Making of the Misfits author James Goode saying, "Long ago, if an actor was late, they were fired." Clark Gable insisted on doing some of his own stunts, but not the scene of being dragged across the dry lake bed at more than . Director John Huston said after Gable's death he would never have allowed Gable to do the more dangerous mustang stunts. Veteran B-movie Western actor Rex Bell, who had been married to Clara Bow, made his final film appearance in a brief cameo as an amusing elderly cowboy. Bell was lieutenant governor of Nevada at the time. Thomas B. Allen was assigned to create drawings of The Misfits as the film was made. Magnum Photos had numerous staff photographers, including Ernst Haas, Inge Morath, and Eve Arnold assigned to document the making of The Misfits. Inge Morath later married Arthur Miller, Monroe's former husband, a year after the film was released. During production, the cast's principals stayed at the now imploded Mapes Hotel in Reno. Film locations included the Washoe County Court House on Virginia Street, and Quail Canyon, near Pyramid Lake. The bar scene wherein Monroe plays paddle ball and the rodeo scenes were filmed in Dayton, Nevada, east of Carson City. For the final three weeks of shooting, Miller and Monroe moved to the nearby Holiday Hotel and Casino, now the Renaissance Hotel, on Center Street in Reno. The Renaissance Hotel no longer has a casino. The climax of the film takes place during wrangling scenes on a Nevada dry lake twelve miles east of Dayton, near Stagecoach. The area today is known as "Misfits Flat". Filming was completed on November 4, 1960, twelve days before Clark Gable's death, and The Misfits was released on February 1, 1961, on what would have been Gable's 60th birthday. Reception Box office The Misfits failed to meet expectations at the box office and has been historically referred to as a "box office disaster" of its day. Despite being shot in black and white, the final cost was about $4 million, which was the estimated budget. The film grossed $4,100,000 in its initial USA release. Critical reception Despite on-set difficulties, Gable, Monroe, Clift and Wallach delivered performances that modern critics consider superb. Many critics regard Gable's performance as his