Marty is an American motion picture that brought a new sense of realism to Hollywood filmmaking. The movie deals with a 34-year-old unmarried butcher in New York City named Marty. The butcher sees his life slipping away and fears he will never marry because he is unattractive. He meets an unmarried young woman at a party, and they start a relationship as the movie ends.
Marty was released in 1955 and became the surprise hit of the year. Its sympathetic treatment of the lives and problems of ordinary people won the hearts of audiences. The film won the Academy Award as best picture of the year, and Ernest Borgnine won the Oscar as best actor for his performance as Marty. Delbert Mann won the Academy Award as best director, and Paddy Chayefsky received an Oscar for his poignant and sensitive screenplay. The motion picture was an adaptation of Chayefsky’s highly praised television play that was broadcast on the “Goodyear TV Playhouse” in 1953. In the TV production, Rod Steiger played Marty.
Marty authentically reproduced the environment of middle-class Italian life in the Bronx borough of New York City. The movie is filled with sharply etched characters, including Marty’s overprotective mother, other family members, and his male friends. The friends hang out at night, their lives without purpose. Their rootless existence is summed up by the phrase, “I dunno, Angie, what do you want to do,” a saying that entered American culture.
Marty also featured Betsy Blair as the plain young schoolteacher who becomes the butcher’s first true love. The other supporting players included Joe Mantell, Esther Minciotti, Jerry Paris, and Karen Steele.
