Marty
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Movie Reviews of Marty
Movie Review: ONE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN ROMANCES
Summary: 5 Stars
Marty is not only one of the great American films of the 20th Century, but the greatest American romance ever made. It's a shame they don't make em' like this anymore.
Marty Piletti is a 34-year-old Bronx Butcher who lives with his mother. He's a sweet natured guy with a good heart, stocky build and not so perfect looks. He's feeling pressure from customers, friends and family to get married. All of his brothers and sisters are married and they want him to get married. Unfortunately poor Marty has met up with so much rejection and humiliation he's become resigned to never finding that special someone. But at the goading (nagging) of his mother he and a friend Angie, head down to the Stardust Ballroom on Saturday night. There Marty meets Clara, a plain Jane 29-year-old science teacher who has been unceremoniously dumped by her date. Marty comforts Clara and asks her to dance. As, they walk around the neighborhood discussing their hopes and dreams we learn how beautiful these two people are on the inside. Over the course of a night this man who seemed so hopeless starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Sunday morning, Marty is buzzing over the chance for romance. As he starts to see opportunity for growth in his relationship with Clara, his family and friends insecurities grow over the changes in their own lives. This is the brilliant plot twist in Chayefsky's screenplay- everyone wants Marty to marry-so he can be just as miserable as they are! Marty is under pressure to not call or see Clara again, and spends a whole day debating his options. While spending another Sunday night with the fellas, he realizes that misery loves company and he has an opportunity at something better. The movie ends when he wakes up and makes the call to Clara and takes his own happiness into his own hands.
This is a great film; it deserved every Oscar it got and more, it's one of the best pictures the American Cinema has ever produced. Period. Within Chayefsky's simple character study of a South Bronx Butcher is a deep multileveled examination of love and the human condition. On the surface it looks like Marty's family and friends are interested in his happiness by pressuring him to get married. But the irony is that they want him to conform and be like them- Miserable and dissatisfied with their own lives. They secretly want to take away Marty's happiness! Clara the educated woman represents independence and self-control, things Marty desires in his own life. While Marty represents courage, drive and character to Clara, something she desires in her own life. Both inspire each other to make the changes in their lives to find happiness and self-actualization. I love this movie!
Production values are amazing on this movie. Filming on location works to great advantage for Director Delbert Mann. As a lifelong resident of the South Bronx, it was a delight to take a trip through time and see places I go to shop and hang out on the weekends like Webster Avenue and Fordham Road looked like over 50 years ago. Now I know what older people talk about when they say the Bronx was beautiful back in the day. The lights on the streets reminded me of Times Square.
Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar Winning screenplay is a work of art. Plain and simple it is brilliant. Every line has a purpose; every action has a reason for being there. The dialogue feels real, the storyline tighter than a drum It is the work of a master of his craft at the height of his prime.
The acting here is some of the best I have ever seen. Ernest Borgnine is powerful as Marty. He brings warmth, humanity and love and compassion to the character. You see every part of this man's inner torment and his daily struggles onscreen. He deserved his Oscar for best actor. Betsy is beautiful as the dowdy schoolteacher Clara. She has great chemistry with Borgnine and brings out the inner beauty of her homely character. Joe Mantell is great as Marty's buddy Angie. He felt just like a neighborhood guy from that era. Esther Minciotti Augusta Ciolli give powerful performances as Marty's Mom and His bitter old aunt. The scene where the two middle-aged women sit in the house contemplating their lonely futures is one of the best scenes in the movie; don't miss it!
Marty is a top five Shawn James essential video. YOU MUST BUY THIS ONE FOR YOUR DVD COLLECTION!
Movie Review: MARTY: Ma! I'm Ugly! Ugly!
Summary: 5 Stars
When director Delbert Mann recreated the television version of Paddy Chayefsky's MARTY, he could not have guessed that he was also creating a masterpiece that spoke volumes about the self-imposed walls of loneliness that dispirited people erect around themselves. Ernest Borgnine has never been more believable than the 35 year old pudgy butcher who has been hurt so often by uncaring women that he has despaired of ever finding a wife. Marty is a caring, decent, if not attractive Italian man still living at home with his mother. Although the film starts out as Marty's cry of pain, it soon becomes apparent that he is not alone in his solitude. His mother is a widow who fears losing her son to another women. His aunt lives with her unwilling son and his wife and fears that if she does not boss them around, they will not pay attention to her. They, in turn, need their privacy but fear telling the aunt so. Marty's best friend, Angie, is a loser who wants only to make sure that he does not suffer alone. Marty meets Clara, a twenty-nine year old plain jane who has suffered plenty herself at the hands of superficial men. Each of them seems locked into a lifestyle that consists mainly of endless repetitions of "What are you doing tonight?" But this tiresome circle is broken at a neighborhood dance where several lives unexpectedly open and blossom. Clara is brought to the dance by a cad who promptly dumps her for another woman. Marty notices her distress and talks to her, first at the dance, then for hours at a soda shop. They talk, and talk some more, and discover that in Marty's words, "Maybe we are not the dogs that people call us." As they bond, Angie sees that he is losing his buddy sufferer and tries to break them up. Marty's mother sees the bonding and she tries to break them up as well. Marty discovers that solitude is a self-imposed blanket that can be discarded at will. MARTY is a superbly entertaining movie that is not as simple as one might think, given the focused intent on the breaking of these bonds. What Ernest Borgnine as Marty and Betsy Blair as Clara prove is that if people can isolate themselves from others, then they will stay isolated until they decide that enough is enough. Marty and Clara learn this. Angie does not. We in the audience certainly do.
Movie Review: MARTY Is a Gem
Summary: 5 Stars
The golden age of television drama - plays written to be produced on TV - in the U.S. was the 1950's and early 1960's. During this era, three dramatists dominated the airwaves. They were Rod Serling (PATTERNS, REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT, THE COMEDIAN), Reginald Rose (TWELVE ANGRY MEN), and Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote MARTY. This gem of a play was produced on TV in 1953 with Rod Steiger in the title role. In 1955 it was made into a movie starring Ernest Borgnine; this is the version under consideration here.
A charming, touching ninety-minute character study, MARTY is about Marty Pilletti, a shy, heavyset bachelor who works as a butcher. This thirty-four year old man comes from a large Italian-American family in which it is a shame to be single. All of Marty's younger siblings are married, and the question on the lips of everyone - his mother, the neighbors - is, `Marty, when are YOU gonna get married?' Marty wants to make up his own mind, yet he is too kind a man to tell the others to let him alone. Then he meets Clara Snyder, a nice but plain girl, at a dance hall one night. Though they like each other instantly, Marty's bachelor friends protest his choice, while his mother begins to feel that if her son marries and moves out of her house, she will be lonely. In the end, Marty himself must choose between loneliness and love.
From the start, this MARTY has a stage-like quality; Chayefsky's dialogue bubbles along, and every word of it is genuine. Borgnine's portrayal of Marty is so tenderly emotional, so real...in short, he IS Marty. Betsy Blair matches him perfectly as Clara. Joe Mantell - who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Marty's friend Angie - speaks the script's famous, emblematic line, "So, whatta ya feel like doin' tonight, Marty?" This line sums up a beautiful movie, one which comes from TV's golden age and which should be even better known than it is.
Movie Review: Marty: Philosopher of Life
Summary: 5 Stars
A sweet,simple story about a lonely, shy butcher who grapples with balancing family and work. Struggling to find confidence due to the ridicule and rejection of people who base on outward experience, Marty maintains his dignity along with his determination to forge a better path for himself.
One night at an upscale nightclub Marty meets a kindred spirit: Clara, an intelligent, plain girl with dreams of her own.
Over many cups of coffee the two share heartfelt conversation and reveal their dreams to one another. Still, friends and family judge. In the end, however, true love prevails as Marty firmly resolves to explore a new world of possibility with Clara.
An uplifting gem with a timeless message. The dialogue is superb. And the simplicity of the story does not detract from its sheer entertainment value as Marty's mother and aunt provide archetypes of Italian culture that add just the right amount of humor to balance the more tender moments!
My only disappointment is that the DVD version cuts three to four minutes of footage as Clara spoke with her parents about her date with Marty. It was such a lovely scene and the movie is not that lengthy to start with. I hope they repackage this DVD and add those to create a theatrical version. In fact, it's my dream to see a 4 disc or a last 2-double sided discs that would include the director's cut, the original theatrical version, the 1953 TV version, and a documentary/commentary about the making of the movie.
One of the best movies ever filmed! Well-deserved Oscar for best picture and Borgnine for best actor!
Movie Review: Perhaps the best true-to-real-life romance on film.
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is for the 2001 MGM DVD.
Ernest Borgnine stars as Marty Piletti, a 34 year old marginally overweight bachelor who has no shortage of male friends but has yet to meet Mrs. Right. He still lives at home with his mother who keeps brow beating him into finding a nice girl and getting married. Marty has gotten so tired of the singles hangouts that he seems to be giving up any hope of getting married. Finally, he decides to go to the Stardust ballroom with one of his pals and his fate changes when he meets a plain looking girl named Clara Snyder (Betsy Blair). This sets up the rest of the film for a very memorable evening between Marty and Clara.
The movie is a no-frills production filmed in black and white in various parts of the Bronx in the mid-1950's with very plain, and at the time, mostly unheard of actors. The movie is a radical departure from typical Hollywood romances where the men are strong, witty and handsome, while the women are beautiful and charming, while both are usually impeccably dressed and typically members of high society. This movie doesn't have any of that and is enormously effective as it shows an honest depiction of how true romance is in real life. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and highly recommend it.
The DVD quality was just OK due to intermittent tiny specs of film deterioration throughout the movie plus a few scenes didn't have that sharp, digitally restored look to them. The sound is fine and the only bonus is a trailer hosted by Burt Lancaster.
Movie: A
DVD Quality: B-