Marty (1955)

Marty is a nice but lonely middle-aged butcher who is constantly harangued by his customers and mother to settle down and marry a “nice Italian girl.” One night while out with his friends he is paid to take plain-looking schoolteacher Clara out on a date by a man trying to be rid of her. After discovering that they have a lot in common, including the same feelings of loneliness and giving up on love, they have a great evening and look forward to another. Unfortunately, selfish pressures from family and friends are trying to maintain a status quo and keep them apart, and it is up to Marty and Clara to decide if they can work through their awkward social skills to give love one more chance.

After a long slate of war films, historical epics and romances, Marty is very refreshing and unexpected. It’s the polar opposite of Gone With the Wind- it’s short, simple, to the point and there is no swelling of a lush musical score and a melodramatic falling into each other’s rich and attractive arms for a romantic reconciliation. Marty is a much quieter story of two “normal” people that awkwardly begin a relationship despite feelings of self-deprecation. Leads Borgnine and Blair are not unattractive and they dip into the pity pot one or two times too often but they don’t have movie-star looks, and that’s what makes this movie work. Borgnine’s Oscar-winning turn here is very impressive in that he can portray a psycho a la From Here to Eternity and charming, love struck Marty effortlessly. I’ve always been a fan of Borgnine’s durable and versatile career which has taken him everywhere from The Wild Bunch and The Dirty Dozen to Escape From New York and BASEketball; it truly is a shame that he passed last year and he will be missed. Marty arguably ends too soon without being a fully developed relationship story, but it has a rare distinction among the Best Picture winners so far in that it ends and you feel really good. Hearing Marty defend and stand up for Clara from the awful comments from his mother and friends make you stand up for him too and hope that you too have friends like Marty. As this blog project proves, I know I have at least one friend like that. Thanks Katie!

I agree with Tim.  This movie was so refreshing.  I, however, don't agree with everything he said.  I liked the way the movie ends.  Marty chooses to be with Clara despite what his lame-o single bros are saying.  So he calls her up and asks her out.  Such a cute ending!  It leaves you feeling wonderful.  Marty is finally going to be happy!  The part that was hard is when Clara gets stood up at the dance.  As someone who has struggled with "Funny Girl" syndrome (more about that later), I can relate to her particular situation.  She's just a sweetie looking for someone not made at the douche factory and the guy she's starts out with is the prototype at the douche factory.  He is checking out girls left and right and keeps complaining that he only has one night every three weeks off and he'd much rather be spending it with someone easier on the eyes.  Obviously this guy doesn't get a happy ending.  They don't show him again after he stands Clara up but in my mind he got a severe case of the "clap" and had to be off the dating market indefinitely.  But that's just my overactive imagination...  Don't worry too much about Clara.  In real life, Betsy Blair married my long-time crush, Gene Kelly, lucky gal.  And in the movie, Clara and Marty are perfect for each other because they each want to share their quiet lives with someone who will listen.  It was fun to watch a love story happen overnight.  In many ways, I feel similarly to how my feelings with Tim began. 

At 90 minutes long, this has the shortest running time of any film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. 

Marty Pilletti: You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, 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.