On the heels of watching the wonderfully scripted Network, I browsed at Paddy Chayefsky’s credentials and found this early gem from 1955 that won him best screenplay as well as best actor and best picture, a story of an underdog that finally gets his girl despite ridicule and pressure from friends and family. Here is my take on Marty:

The Players:

Ernest Borgnine - Marty Piletti
Betsy Blair - Clara Snyder
Esther Minciotti - Mrs. Theresa Piletti
Augusta Ciolli - Aunt Catherine
Joe Mantell - Angie
Karen Steele - Virginia
Jerry Paris - Tommy

The Play:

Marty is a 34 year old Italian bachelor living at home with his mother. He is not the greatest looking fellow in the world and he makes his living in a butcher shop. His mother razzes him about finding a girl and getting married and giving her grandkids, but it’s just never is in the cards for Marty. His friends tease him bout finding a girl and he is just fed up with the entire female situation.

One day Marty meets a girl named Clara at a dance, Clara is much like Marty, down on her luck in love, not the best looking girl and very shy in public. When Marty is around her he feels like himself, like he can talk for hours and hours and enjoy his time with her, finally Marty seems like he broke his dry spell.

Unfortunately for him his friends find Clara unattractive and recommend against the two of them seeing each other, and in a separate situation at home, Marty’s aunt (mom’s sister) moves in with them after she was kicked out of her son’s and daughter in law’s house for intruding on their marriage. The aunt tells the mother that if Marty gets married that she will be expendable and Marty will kick her out the same way her son did. Now Marty’s mother has a change of heart and tells Marty she doesn’t like Clara at all.

Marty must decide, disappoint his mother and lose time from his friends to explore his own happiness? marty makes the best choice for the situation.

The Good:

Who knew Ernest Borgnine could act? This is a great role for him where he displays a wide range of emotions, from sadness and despair in the emotional scenes, to anger and frustration and happiness and humor in other scenes, he shows great character and he is very likable, the viewer really feels for him and cheers him on to finally get the girl. Nice performances by his mother and aunt in the film, two bickering and schmoozing Italian mothers who could be more Jewish than Italian with their complaining about everything. Blair brings an innocent and likable character in Clara to the screen although some things were missing from her performance as you will read in the “bad” section. Mantell is funny and nutty in his role and some real magic between Steele and Paris when they argue about his mother leaving the house, some powerful performances there.

Chayefsky’s strikes gold again with an interesting and likable romantic comedy. A story of an underdog who desperately needs a woman to complete him and the journey to that point. The sub-plot fit together nicely as the movie progresses, we see how the aunt ties into the story and how her kids’ marriage who is in trouble relates to Marty’s mother’s view about him getting married himself. Funny, poignant and boasting some nice dialogue with likable characters, this movie is as good as classic romantic comedies go.

I enjoyed the music in this film, normally I don’t care for the soundtrack that accompanies older movies but I felt it fit well in this film. The ballroom scenes had some good jazz music that set a good mood for the film.

The Bad:

This movie ended very abruptly with a few things left unresolved. We don’t know how Marty and Clara’s relationship progressed if at all and we don’t know whether he finally purchased the butcher shop he wanted to. The ending is decent but it would have nice to see some of the other stories see their fruition.

Clara, though sweet, was very wooden in her role, she showed very little emotion during key scenes and had a very generic smile, that was a bit of a letdown. Borgnine’s performance, though brilliant, was a bit over the top at times, the man can TALK! During one scene he talked non-stop for 5 minute in speed mode, that was a bit annoying.

There was a lot of underlying verbal abuse towards women. Even though men were considered to powerful person in the relationship back then, there is a lot of anger and almost hatred towards women, specially in the scenes with Virginia and Tommy after she kicks his mother out to the curb. There is also some disrespect towards women in the film during the ballroom scenes where a man bribes another man to keep his date for the night company while he ditches her, a bit disturbing and unnerving.

Overall Grade:

3.8 of 5





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older