Marty
by Delbert Mann
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DVD details
Actor: Augusta Ciolli, Betsy Blair, Ernest Borgnine, Esther Minciotti, Joe MantellDirector: Delbert Mann
Brand: MGM
Cinematographer: Joseph LaShelle
Producer: Burt Lancaster
Producer: Harold Hecht
Producer: Paddy Chayefsky
Writer: Paddy Chayefsky
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-19
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Marty
DVD Review: enjoy the sunnyside of life
Summary: 5 Stars
"Marty" is one of those movies that everyone can appreciate because it has such a universal message. Every time I watch this sleeper hit it makes me cry because it's uplifting and a little sentimental. Mr. Ernest Borgnine was amazing as the lonely and self-described lifelong bachelor. It was especially riveting to watch the transformation as Marty shifted from his everyday persona to his passionate and private self. Mr. Borgnine was able to turn on his different moods like a light switch or a faucet because it just happened instantaneously which such a flow.
In this movie Mr. Borgnine plays the title role of Marty, a 30 something butcher from Brooklyn. Marty still lives at home like a good Italian-Catholic boy with his widowed mama (Esther Minciotti portrayed his mother, Mrs. Theresa Piletti.) Marty has convinced himself that love is not in the cards so tries to remain complacent in his current situation. To make matters worse all of his brothers and sisters are all married and his mama will stop at nothing to get her son hitched.
Mrs. Piletti convinces her son to go out to a dance hall because as she put it, it was packed with "tomatoes." While Marty is gone, she goes and visits her sister (Augusta Ciolli plays Aunt Catherine) who is getting pushed out of her married son's and daughter-in-law's home. As Mrs. Piletti tries to convince her sister to come stay with her and leave her married son alone it soon becomes apparent that she may be the next victim to this little game. Like a cat holding onto her 9th life, both ladies will stop at nothing to remain important and feel needed by their children, but each convey a look of desperation and agony.
Meanwhile, Marty isn't having much luck. When he builds up the confidence to ask a lady to dance she politely declines. As Marty's standing around he meets a guy who has an offer for him. He'll pay Marty $5.00 (I'm assuming that in 1955 that was a lot of money?) to pretend like they're old friends and escort his girlfriend home because he wants to ditch her! Of course being the gentleman that he is, Marty doesn't play along. Marty surely knew how hurtful this little game would have been and wanted no part of it. Take special notice when Marty says no, the look on Mr. Borgnine's face says it all.
But Marty is intrigued and follows the man as he finds another sneak; but his date Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair) says that it isn't necessary because she can find her own way home. As the 2 men quickly disappear (while arguing over who's going to keep the 5 bucks) Marty follows Clara outside. She is crying. Betsy Blair portrayed the hopeless and distraught Clara perfectly. I dunno, to me she was like the female version of Marty. Anyway, it goes without saying that Marty took her in his arms and it was love at first sight.
"I'm 29," Clara whispered into Marty's ear as they were slow-dancing. She held her breath and had such a look of anticipation (like a woman gets in her 10th month of pregnancy.) But Marty didn't care about her age. Marty brings Clara back to his brownstone and tries to give her a kiss. But she was afraid; Clara didn't know how to let this man into her life because she has never trusted anyone before. "I just want a kiss," hot-tempered Marty says totally frustrated. All of a sudden Marty's mom comes in. Although she is civil to Clara, she's also somewhat icy and cold because she remembers what her sister told her and thinks that once Marty gets married she will be thrown out on the street like yesterdays garbage.
The following day, everyone tries to convince Marty that Clara is the wrong girl. When he doesn't call her Clara can be seen waiting next to the telephone with tears in her eyes. Finally, Marty comes to his senses and realizes that it doesn't matter what his mother thinks, it doesn't matter what his friends think and it doesn't matter what anyone else says. He yells to his friend Angie (Joe Mantell,) in perhpaps one of the most honest revelations and thought-provoking displays of honesty ever depicted on the big screen: All I know is I had a good time last night. I'm gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees. I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me. If we make a party on New Year's, I got a date for that party. You don't like her? That's too bad.
"Marty" is a significant film for a myriad of reasons. It's perhaps one of the first pictures of its type that displays the social and personal problems from a guy's perspective. It's also an important movie because it showcases both a "modern" or a "young" way of thinking (Marty's/Clara's) as well as a very traditional or archaic way of thinking (by Marty's mother & aunt.) I also really enjoy this movie because it has such a positive message; it says that there is someone for everyone and never to give up no matther what anyone might say.
Incidentally, Mr. Borgnine is still very much alive. He is actually the oldest Oscar winner and in July, his autobiography, Ernie will be published! I don't watch the Oscars, the Emmys or any of those other shows because it just seems like shameless self promotion. And I am one of those people who think that celebrities and movie stars especially receive way too many awards. But Mr. Ernest Borgnine is a very rare case because in my humble opinion he truly deserves the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Marty Piletti. No one who could have given a superior depiction of this multifaceted human being than the one and only Mr. Ernest Borgnine.
Description of Marty
Americaand the worldfell in love with Marty, the first film to win* both the Best Picture OscarÂ(r) and the Cannes Film Festival's Golden Palm. Nominated** for a total of eight Academy AwardsÂ(r), this timeless classic is rich in laughs and tearsa masterpiece of warm-hearted storytelling (The Hollywood Reporter). I ve been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life, says Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine). Yet, despite all his efforts, this 34-year-old Bronx butcher remains as shy and uncomfortable around women today as on the day he was born. So when he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a lonely schoolteacher who's just as smitten with himas he is with her, Marty's on top of the world. But not everyone around him shares Marty's joy. Andwhen his friends and family continually find fault with Clara, even Marty begins to question his newfound love until he discovers, in an extraordinary way, the strength and courage to follow his heart. *1955 **1955: Best Picture (won), Actor (Borgnine, won), Director (won), Supporting Actor (Joe Mantell), Supporting Actress (Blair), Screenplay (won), B&W Cinematography, Art Direction/Set Decoration (B&W)Originally broadcast as a 50-minute drama on Philco Television Playhouse in 1953, Marty ensured Paddy Chayefsky's status as one of the greatest writers of television's golden age. When Chayefsky, director Delbert Mann, and actor Ernest Borgnine reunited for this 90-minute film version, the play had been polished with extra scenes, further perfecting Chayefsky's timeless study of loneliness and heartbreak. And the film, in which Borgnine excels as the single, 35-year-old "fat and ugly" butcher Marty Pilletti, received well-deserved Oscars® for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. Although Chayefsky's central theme is the pain of being unwanted (as felt by Marty himself as well as his elderly Aunt Catherine, who's become a burden to her married daughter), the film is never somber or depressing, and achieves a rare quality of honesty, humor, and hopefulness without resorting to artifice or sentiment.
Marty's just about given up on love when he meets plain-looking Clara (Betsy Blair), a 29-year-old teacher who's endured similar cycles of rejection. Much of Marty explores the simple decency of these characters, their admirable qualities and mutual connection, and the slow escalation of self-esteem that will hold them together. Marty is a supremely compassionate film, but it's also an entertaining one, trimmed (like a good butcher's meat) of any dramatic fat. And although Blair (who earned an Oscar nomination) is superb in her role, it's worth noting that she's more conventionally "attractive" than Nancy Marchand (late of The Sopranos), who played Clara with arguably greater authenticity in the original 1953 telecast. --Jeff Shannon
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