SnoReptilePlenty
Memorable, crazy movie
Ava-Grace Willis
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Hitchcoc
Ernest Borgnine is probably most remember for playing opposite Tim Conway on "McHale's Navy." He has played many quirky characters, sometimes real villains. But his roots go back to this film, where he won an Academy Award. He plays a quiet, middle aged butcher who lives with his mother. When he's not working, he spends his time with a bunch of other guys. They are nice people, but they have little ambition. They are just marking time, with little in the offing. They talk and talk and talk. They have great moments of indecisiveness where they can't even figure out what to do. One night, Marty (Borgnine) is at a dance and talks to a rather homely girl who has been jilted by her blind date. They have a nice talk and he finds he likes her. His mother, of course, thinks little of her (the reason being that her "little boy" may want to leave her alone). Marty's friends get into the act, referring to her as a dog. He is getting pressured from all around. No spoilers. Just a recommendation that you watch this movie in some quiet time and watch a masterful, underplayed, human drama.
charlywiles
Almost beyond hope of ever finding love, a working-class Bronx butcher meets a young lady at a dance and they fall in love. That's it - it's that simple, but out of this simplicity is crafted a wonderful, real, moving film about you, me and the people we know. Borgnine, in the role of a lifetime, is superb and Blair is almost his equal. They're two lonely hearts desperate for someone in their lives. Their scenes together are so marvelous that they make us care. We WANT to see them find happiness. If that isn't great acting, I don't know what is. It is also a credit to Chayefsky's fabulous script. What a perfect little gem of a movie.
Red-125
Marty (1955) was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Delbert Mann. Ernest Borgnine plays Marty Piletti, a Bronx butcher. He's intelligent and capable, but he sacrificed his ambitions to help support his family. Marty has a large extended family, but the people we meet are his mother, played by Esther Minciotti, his mother's sister--Aunt Catherine-- (Augusta Ciolli), and his cousin Tommy, played by Jerry Paris.The primary plot involves Marty and his friend Angie (Joe Mantell). Both of them are in their 30's, but their wheels are spinning and they're going nowhere socially. Most of their dialog involves one of them asking the other, "Whaddya wanna do tonight?" The answer is invariably, "I dunno. Whaddya you wanna do?" Marty dreams of finding a woman to love and marry, but the magic never happens. He's under intense pressure from his mother and his family to marry, but he has to find the girl first.The secondary plot involves Marty's family. This is a weaker effort on the part of the writer and director. Jerry Paris as Aunt Catherine's son Tommy (Marty's cousin) appears to be a decent actor, but his character is cut out of cardboard. Karen Steele as Tommy's wife, Virginia, is too beautiful for the character she plays. And, like Tommy, she hasn't been given a great role.The primary plot progresses when Marty meets Clara (Betsy Blair). We have to suspend disbelief and accept the fact that Clara isn't beautiful. (If she were cast as a beautiful woman, the plot wouldn't work.) She's unmarried and alone, because everyone who sees her perceives her as "a dog." Of course, Blair was beautiful. But, in the context of this movie, she's not attractive.So, the main plot follows Marty and Clara as they begin to understand themselves and each other. It's a beautiful love story. Just because the movie takes place in the Bronx, it doesn't mean that the characters can't have the same intense emotions that Romeo and Juliet have in Verona.I saw this movie when it was released, in 1955, and loved it. I saw it again yesterday on DVD, and I loved it even more. I'm not alone in my beliefs that this was a great film--it won four Academy Awards--Best Picture, Best Actor (Borgnine), Best Director, and Best Writing/Screenplay. It was nominated for four more Academy Awards--Best Supporting Actor (Joe Mantell as Angie), Best Supporting Actress (Betsy Blair), Best Cinematography (B/W) and Best Art Director-Set Director (B/W).Not only was this picture considered a great movie in its day, but it wears very well. The automobiles may look primitive, but the plot is sophisticated, complex, and is as true today as it was 60 years ago. Any movie from the 1950's will look better on a large screen than a small one, but this movie worked really well on DVD. If you haven't seen it, now's the time to view it. It's an incredible film, and you won't be disappointed.Note: Betsy Blair came to Rochester NY to accept an award at Eastman House. In the Q&A portion of the evening, I was able to ask her a question: "How did you manage to look like a 'dog' when you were so beautiful?" She said, "Makeup and costume helped. However, I'm an actress, and I was doing my job."
cleigh115
Despite having only the most basic of story-lines, this is a nicely-crafted movie with a worthwhile story. The story goes beyond the surface of gloss and superficial beauty to the heart beating underneath. The film stars an admittedly unattractive person, and deals with his feelings of loneliness and insecurity. The story also shows that it is just one person you need, to peek at the good heart you carry. That's when the world goes upside down for Marty. We see Marty as he appears on the surface, then Mr. Borgnine peels away layer after layer, like an onion, revealing the real Marty deep inside. He calls himself "a fat, ugly man" but he has the most beautiful heart in the world. The supporting cast is first rate, especially Betsy Blair as the plain-jane Clara Snyder. The film explores so many issues, how people can ruin another person's happiness, how ideas and perceptions can change everything in a person's life. I cannot imagine this film being made today. Whenever they try to make films about "plain people" they end up trying to make Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino look plain. It just doesn't work. This is a film of beauty, heart and soul.
