Marty

Marty came out in 1955. It stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. Borgnine, everyone's favorite character actor of the period, here plays one of his few leading roles. He is a rather pedestrian man of 34 who has been looking for the right girl for a long time. But the right girl or rather almost any girl won't have him because he is somewhat overweight and not considered particularly handsome. Still there is tremendous pressure on him to marry and have a son (the have a son part is from his mother with whom he lives).

By various happenstances he meets a young lady, Clara (played by Betsy Blair). She has just been rejected by a snobbish cad with absolutely no sense of honor or intelligence. After some talk, they find that they might be each other's solution. The problem? The yearning of the soul or perhaps the biological forces that drive human beings to couple and to have children. Clara, by the way is 29. It is interesting that they both seem to feel that they are each other's last chance at happiness.

People watching the movie today, might find some of the social pressure to marry, especially to marry within ones religious and ethnic community a bit puzzling. They might also find age at which the panic has set in to be somewhat early. But in the 1950s the average age of marriage was in the late teens or early twenties. In spite of these differences created by the passage of time, we still recognize a great love story between people who are not of the beautiful set.

The backdrop of the film is also fun, with a great supporting cast, Joe Mantell as Marty's best friend, Esther Manciotti as his mother and some will recognize Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter on Gomer Pyle) as a loud-mouthed bachelor who is only after one thing with the women.

The film was directed by Delbert Mann and the screen play was adroitly written by Paddy Chayefsky. Marty won the Oscar for Best Picture and won Borgnine best actor in 1955. It is the shortest film ever to have won the Oscar, only 91 minutes long. I read another review that said the film had only one light moment. But I confess, I found much humor injected in the film, but it was played so strait that it might not be recognized by some of those who are being so accurately charicatured (especially the young poseurs who are centered only on being cool). There are also some semi-comic scenes in which the mother appears with her sister and also with Marty.

Bert Lancaster was one of the producers. He appears in the trailer and it was fun to watch him describe the picture. But be warned, don't watch the trailer until AFTER you have seen the movie! Like most modern trailers it gives away some of the best moments of the film. Marty is well worth watching and there are many teens that might benefit from a viewing, besides being entertaining it contains a few incidental lessons about life and love.

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