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| Marty - 1955 |
Coming up next we have 1955's "Marty", a film about an unhappily single man who longs to meet someone to marry, but faces pressure from his family and friends about the kind of girl he should end up with.
The film's cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, Karen Steele, and Jerry Paris.
Italian-American butcher Marty Piletti is a nice guy. He's single, and all his older female customers are pressuring him to get married.
Marty lacks self-esteem. So, he usually just hangs out with his best friend Angie.
At home, Marty's mother Teresa pressures him to get married. The rest of his siblings are married. He should be, too. Marty tells her, "Ma, sooner or later, there comes a point in a man's
life when he's gotta
face some facts. And one fact I gotta
face is that, whatever it is that women
like, I ain't got it." He is resigned to the life of a bachelor.
Still, she pushes him to go out that night to a dance at the Stardust Ballroom. Marty doesn't want to go dancing, but his mother convinces him to do it.
Marty heads out to the ballroom with his friend Angie. The two of them try to work up the courage to ask a girl to dance as they stand on the sidelines.
Once he does ask someone to dance, Marty is flatly turned down. He heads back to the sidelines feeling a bit dejected.
Also at the dance that night is a high school science teacher named Clara. She's stood up at the ballroom because of her looks. She runs out in tears. Marty notices and tries to say something. She just turns around and sobs on his shoulder.
The two begin talking and go back to the ballroom, where they start dancing and having a wonderful time in each other's company.
They spend the rest of the evening together completely enjoying themselves. The night culminates in a kiss. Marty tells Clara that he will call her the next afternoon.
Marty heads home pretty pleased with the evening's unexpected turn of events.
However, Marty soon finds out that his family and friends have quite a lot to say about his new relationship. Aunt Catherine objects to educated women. "College girls are one step from the street, I
tell you! My son Joseph's wife, she
types on the typewriter...one step from the street!" she says emphatically.
His mother, fearing that he will marry and not spend any time with her, advises her son to end the relationship.
And all of his "friends" tease him mercilessly about Clara's looks. They tell him to stay unmarried like the rest of them. Bowing to all this pressure, Marty doesn't call Clara like he promised.
At home, Clara waits by the phone with tears streaming down her face at another apparent brush-off.
Out with his friends that night, Marty finds himself in the same lonely state he was before he met Clara. Suddenly, he's had enough and announces: "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." And he heads straight for the nearest phone and calls Clara up.
Cast rundown:
Ernest Borgnine................................Marty Piletti
Betsy Blair........................................Clara
Esther Minciotti.................................Teresa Piletti
Augusta Ciolli....................................Aunt Catherine
Joe Mantell.......................................Angie
Karen Steele.....................................Virginia
Jerry Paris.........................................Tommy
And that's it for Marty. This film won the 1956 Academy Award for Best Picture. Ernest Borgnine also received an Academy Award for Best Actor. Borgnine's Oscar was presented to him by Grace Kelly. When going over the script during a read-through, Borgnine had both the screenwriter and the director in tears, and they knew they had found the right man for the job.
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