Movies
“Marty” Is An Old Romantic Comedy, And The Shortest Film To Ever Win Best Picture
One fateful night things change for the loveable average joe when he meets with Clare Snyder (Betsy Blair). Clara is presumed ugly by society.
“A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.”
Director: Delbert Mann
Writers: Paddy Chayefsky
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Miciotti, Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, Karen Steel
Release Date: June 10, 1955
IMDB
Yes, this one is a bit obscure. But please, stick with me.
Marty (1955) is a heartwarming romantic comedy that was nominated for seven and won four Academy Awards at the 1956 Oscars. The Best Picture winner tells the story of Marty (Ernest Borgnine), an older man working in a butcher shop and still living at home with his mother, Teresa (Esther Minciotti). The man is beloved by the community but has yet to find a romantic partner himself. One fateful night things change for the loveable average joe when he meets with Clare Snyder (Betsy Blair). Clara is presumed ugly by society (which is an absolutely crazy take) so she has been on the outside of cupid’s arrow’s range for a long time.
Marty and Clara immediately hit it off . The pair’s care for one another flourishes over the course of one exhilarating night, beginning at a dance hall, moving to a dinner, and concluding in Marty introducing her to his mother. Eventually Clara is escorted home, but not without a massive smile on her face. The two love drunk souls promise to see each other again, but things are never that simple.
Amongst all the good tidings there are tests for Marty. His friends and family are not entirely supportive of his new crush. A few try to poison his optimism and tell him to leave Clara, but in the end he picks up the phone with gleeful feelings about a second date with Clara.
Simply put, Marty is an oldie but a goodie. Marty is remarkably warm and that is due largely to the Oscar winning performance of Ernest Borgnine. The character of Marty is not your typical heartthrob. He isn’t the young, chiseled, smooth talking and devilishly looking leading man. Marty is plumpy and blubbering. He isn’t charismatic in the traditional way, but it’s his unique personality that makes him so appealing to the audience, and Clara.
Ernest Borgnine makes you root for Marty as if he is your favorite sports team. You are riding with his personal journey and doing your best to be like Carlton Fisk and wave him away from self-induced pitfalls. Marty has to avoid poisonous points of views and mindsets of his best friends. There are moments in Marty where he has no hope that love will come to him, but Clara coming through and connecting on an emotional level saves him from a permanent roundabout life.
A crucial plot point in Marty is Clara’s apparent “ugly” disposition. Part of this is due to her being 29 years old, which is ancient for 1955. But still, the fact of the matter is that the character Clara, and actress Betsy Blair, are not ugly at all. Now, understandably, this is a trivial issue that belongs to me subjectively. When it comes to Blair’s performance, she gives a damn good one as someone without much confidence trying to comprehend and navigate what’s happening. While Marty is over-the-moon and extremely enthusiastic, Clara does have a bit more of a suspicious but albeit happy outlook on the new blossoming relationship. She is excited, but scared and unsure of how to move forward.
Both Borgnine and Blair were nominated for their first and only ever Oscars for Marty. Borgnine took home a trophy in 1956, as did director Delbert Mann and writer Paddy Chayefsky. Marty took home the prestigious award of Best Picture as well, beating out Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Mister Roberts (1955), Picnic (1955) and The Rose Tattoo (1955).
I will be honest, the only movie of those that I have heard of is The Rose Tattoo. Couldn’t tell you if Marty deserved it or not, but what I can tell you is that Marty may have revolutionized how to promote itself for the Awards race.
The movie had a budget of $350,000 and made over three million dollars. Not a bad profit margin. But more interesting is that according to IMDB, this is the only time in film history where the producers for the film spent more on the movie’s award campaign compared to the actual movie.
Now, in full transparency, I don’t know if the only portion of that IMDB fact is true, but it being the first can be believed with no doubts. Now production companies and producers spend millions, tens of millions of dollars, trying to get their film among the pageantry. Marty was ahead of its time when it comes to marketing.
A few more fun facts about Marty in relation to the Academy Awards. Marty is the shortest film to ever win Best Picture, running at a clean, brisk, 90 minutes flat. Marty is also the first movie to ever win the Palme d’Or award at Cannes and Best Picture at the Oscars. The only other film to do so is Parasite (2019).
This write-up ended up being less of a reaction to the film Marty and more of a reflection on its history and prestige. The movie is a unique look at normal characters put in front of a camera going through a heartfelt journey that’s imminently relatable. If you want a movie to make you feel good, watch Marty.
STANKO RATING: B+
P.S. I was watching Suspiria (2018) while taking notes on Marty and good lord Suspiria is messed up. So messed up.
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