Marilyn Monroe's lost nude scene from the 1961 film The Misfits has been uncovered more than half a century later, revealing the actress's dramatic talent. The footage, lasting about 45 seconds with sound, shows Monroe dropping a bedsheet during a love scene with Clark Gable, exposing her body in what would have been the first nude scene by an American actress in a feature film.
Director John Huston refused to include the risqué footage, insisting on a retake, and it was thought to have been destroyed. However, Charles Casillo, author of a forthcoming Monroe biography, discovered that the footage survived. He interviewed Curtice Taylor, son of the film's producer Frank Taylor, who revealed he has kept the footage in a locked cabinet since his father's death in 1999.
Curtice Taylor said: 'A lot of times, unused takes were destroyed. But Frank Taylor believed that it was so important and so ground-breaking that he saved it.' The footage shows a more passionate version of the scene than the final film, with Gable fully clothed as he caresses Monroe's neck and kisses her shoulder. Taylor noted: 'The smile on her face when he's kissing her shoulder is just sublime.'
The Misfits, written by Monroe's then-husband Arthur Miller, was her last completed movie. She died aged 36 the following year from a sleeping-pills overdose. The discovery is featured in Casillo's book The Private Life of a Public Icon, published on August 14.
