Movie Stats:
Released 1955 (USA)
American, in English
Director – Delbert Mann
Stars – Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Joe
Mantell
Plot Summary:
Marty (Borgnine) is a 34-year-old bachelor who’s under a lot
of pressure from his family & friends to get married. He’s a nice,
successful guy but the problem is that he’s kind of homely. He finds it
difficult to meet nice girls. One night, though, while he’s out on the town, he
meets the rather plain Clara (Blair). As they stumble toward love, they face
opposition from outside forces. Will they make it in the end? Esther Minciotti
co-stars as Marty’s mother, Theresa, and Joe Mantell as his best friend, Angie.
Bad Stuff:
This movie is about two “dogs” falling in love, but I don’t
think that either Borgnine or Blair were all that bad looking. Not Hollywood
beautiful. Plain, perhaps, but not ugly. I know that Hollywood never has liked
to feature ugly people as leads. I should probably be grateful that they got
two people who were closer to ugly than most “ugly” people in modern cinema.
I’m not in love with Blair’s performance. I thought she was
okay.
The ending is really abrupt.
Good Stuff:
Great performances from Borgnine, Minciotti, and Augusta
Ciolli, who plays Marty’s aunt, Catherine.
It has a lot of humor, especially when Aunt Catherine is on
the screen.
The Verdict:
I love this sweet-tempered, kind-hearted movie. It’s got to
be one of the most forgotten Best Picture winners. I’d never even heard of it
until a few years ago, when a friend (who’d watched it on a whim) recommended
it to me. Although I’d already seen it once, believe me, it was no hardship to
watch it again now.
This isn’t a life-changing movie. It’s very simple,
uncomplicated, and honest. One of its greatest strengths lies in its ability to
get you to immediately empathize with Marty & Clara, and to have you rooting
for them as a couple from the get-go. When Marty’s family & friends respond
negatively to his interest in Clara, you just want to shake them all and tell them to stop being so selfish. That just shows you what a great job the movie has done, that it can make you feel so protective of its central
character.
If you're looking for something uplifting, you'll find it here. I give the movie 4.5 stars.
2 comments:
I know this movie because of the Robert Redford film "Quiz Show" which used Marty as a plot point. I've still not seen it, despite your recommendation earlier this year. But I want to.
On the subject of Hollywood not using ugly people as leads, I remember watching a forgettable Lindsay Lohan movie where Chris Pine (this was before the Star Trek reboot) played this nerdy guy. Ten minutes into the film, I'm thinking, "You can put dorky black glasses on him, and make him trip and fall like he's supposed to be clumsy, but I can tell that guy is dreamy and a catch. Nice try, Hollywood.
I've never seen Quiz Show! Although I was talking about it the other day for some reason. I think it had something to do with trivia night.
And yeah, Hollywood is terrible with that. One of the more egregious violations that I always think of is "She's All That," where they seem to think that giving her glasses and making her wear overalls makes Rachael Leigh Cook ugly. I'm like, "I'm not fooled!"
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