Marty

UPC: 027616862921

Studio: MGM

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations]

Summary: Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning slice-of-life drama originated as a live 1953 broadcast directed by Delbert Mann on The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse starring Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand. The Hecht-Lancaster movie version, also directed by Mann, replaces the two leads with Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair (as well as featuring several soon-to-be-familiar faces, including Jerry Paris, Frank Sutton, and Karen Steele, plus Joe Mantell, Nehemiah Persoff, and Betsy Palmer from the TV version). But it remains otherwise intact, telling of 24 very important hours in the lives of two lonely people. Marty is a bittersweet, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and always realistic comedy-drama about Marty Pilletti (Ernest Borgnine), a 34-year-old Bronx butcher. Approaching middle-age as a burly, somewhat overweight man who has no illusions about himself or his attractiveness to women, Marty looks forward to just one thing in life -- buying his boss's butcher shop and trying to make a success in business -- and he's even uncertain about that. A gentle, good-natured man, he lives with his mother (Esther Minciotti), a kind but emotionally smothering woman, in a too-large house and spends his time with a small circle of dead-end friends (Joe Mantell, Frank Sutton). One Friday night, Marty's mother convinces him to go to the Stardust Ballroom, where he meets a plain-looking schoolteacher named Clara (Betsy Blair), whose life appears to mirror his own -- she lives with her father, and is frightened about the one prospect she has for advancement in her job. Meeting her after witnessing a humiliating rejection by her blind date, Marty acts on his best impulses and asks Clara to dance, and soon they are actually enjoying each other's company. She is as drawn to him as he is to her, but both are so uncertain about putting themselves at risk emotionally, that the evening almost ends badly when he tries to kiss her -- but they agree to talk on the phone and go to a movie the next night. But whatever good feelings he has about Clara are soon threatened by his friends' put-downs of her, and his mother's hostility, driven by her sudden panic that if Marty marries, she'll be left living alone. Marty spends the next day alone and never does call Clara, seemingly having decided that it's best to leave well enough alone. That is, until he takes a good long look at his life, and a listen to his friends -- and he suddenly makes the decision to try for true happiness, wherever it leads. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Category: Romance

Awards: Best Film - Any Source – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Foreign Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Black and White Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Palme d'Or – Cannes Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Actor – National Board of Review Best Picture – New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor – New York Film Critics Circle Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Directors Guild of America

Features: Original theatrical trailer
English: mono
French: mono
Spanish: mono
French & Spanish subtitles

Marty

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 06/19/2001

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 1 USA & territories, Canada

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selection
1. Main Title/The Shame [3:23]
2. "Whaddya Feel Like Doin?" [4:12]
3. Mother-In-Law Trouble [9:15]
4. Loaded With Tomatoes [2:37]
5. The Stardust Swap [8:08]
6. "Dogs Like Us" [4:00]
7. The Curse Of The Old Age [5:42]
8. The Chat Machine [11:58]
9. Needed And Committed [4:36]
10. Just A Lousy Kiss [1:14]
11. Mom's Trick Question [4:56]
12. Guilt & Disapproval [7:05]
13. "I Don't Like Her" [9:30]
14. The Spillane Approach [4:11]
15. An Ugly Man's Destiny [5:32]
16. End Credits [2:16]

Richard Gilliam

Marty derives its greatness from Paddy Chayefsky's superb screenplay, which examines the reasons why people needlessly consign themselves to lives of sterile loneliness. The film makes the audience feel the ennui that surrounds Marty (Ernest Borgnine), from his mother's smothering love to the banality of his friends and his job. In one of the screen's great moments of heroism, Marty breaks free of his self-chosen prison and accepts the emotional risk of seeking happiness. There are few closing words more frightening and more hopeful than in the climactic moment when Marty picks up the phone, dials the number of the woman he has met, and says, "Hello, Clara." An oddity among Best Picture Oscar winners in that it was based on a TV drama, Marty transcends its era and speaks to the most basic needs for love and companionship. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Nehemiah Persoff  Actor 
James Bell  Actor 
Alan Wells  Actor 
Charles Cane  Actor 
Betsy Palmer  Actor 
Joe de Santis  Actor 
John Milford  Actor 
Minerva Urecal  Actor 
Silvio Minciotti  Actor 
Paddy Chayefsky  Screenwriter 
Harold Hecht  Producer 
Burt Lancaster  Producer 
Delbert Mann  Director 
Roy Webb  Composer (Music Score) 
Ernest Borgnine  Actor 
Betsy Blair  Actor 
Esther Minciotti  Actor 
Augusta Ciolli  Actor 
Joe Mantell  Actor 
Karen Steele  Actor 
Jerry Paris  Actor 
Frank Sutton  Actor 
Walter Kelley  Actor 
Robin Morse  Actor 

Country: USA