Marty (1955)

November 7, 2022 12:25 PM

Marty(Ernest Borgnine) is a stout bachelor butcher who lives with his mother (Esther Minciotti) in the Bronx. Always unlucky in love, Marty reluctantly goes out to a ballroom one night and meets a nice teacher named Clara (Betsy Blair). Though Marty and Clara hit it off, his relatives discourage him from pursuing the relationship, and he must decide between his family's approval or a shot at finding romance.

Directed by Delbert Mann. Written by Paddy Cheyefsky (Network).

96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Hoopla, Tubi, Kanopy, and Pluto. Also available for digital rental. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

It's been a long time since I saw this movie but I remember enjoying it. Which is surprising because a lot of older movies are hard for me to get into. At the time I only knew Ernest Borgnine from his role on the short lived NBC sitcom The Single Guy so seeing him young and in such a different role was fascinating. It's like the first time I saw young Leslie Nielsen.
posted by downtohisturtles at 6:22 PM on November 7, 2022

I like this film, it shows the cracks and pits in relationships with family, friends. Despite the time its set in (1955), it feels current in depicting how family and friends have selfish reasons for supporting, or withdrawing support, for one person's taking a chance on happiness.
posted by winesong at 10:14 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

It's a solid film - I remember reading somewhere that Cheyefsky considered it one of his more personal pieces. There was a musical adaptation - I saw it in Boston at the Huntington Theater, with John C. Reilly as Marty, which was really great casting.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:31 AM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

This film is unique in that although I've heard of the film, know what it's about, and I understand its historical relevance and all that, I've never seen it and everything I think I know about it is reverse-engineered not only from a Mad Magazine parody, but one written several years later called If Mardy Was Made Today. I'm fairly sure I'd find the actual movie a lot more straightforward than my deeply confused memories of a parody written just before I was born, I guess, of a film that was released ten years before that, that I probably last read when I was eight.
posted by Grangousier at 7:55 AM on November 9, 2022