{"id":35490,"date":"2016-01-29T21:42:02","date_gmt":"2016-01-30T05:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=35490"},"modified":"2016-01-29T21:42:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T05:42:02","slug":"challenge-week-4-marty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/challenge-week-4-marty\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 4: Marty"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen as pure a cinematic expression of joy as the look on Marty’s face after he drops Clara off at her apartment and realizes he’s just had the best time of his life talking with this girl. Maybe Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain<\/em> after he drops Debbie Reynolds off at her apartment…you get the idea. But let’s back up.<\/p>\n

Marty is a 35-year-old bachelor whose friends and family are after him to get married, but he’s got Ernest Borgnine’s face, so he can’t seem to drum up much interest no matter how nice he is (and he is genuinely nice, not the “nice guy” type who isn’t really nice at all)…until he meets Clara, who’s also rather homely. It would be easy to write this off as “two ugly people finally find other ugly people and settle,” but it’s so much more than that. Granted, it is a bit on the simplistic side in terms of message, but it’s so charming and Borgnine and Betsy Blair are so charismatic that I didn’t care about that.<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-dancing\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Marty<\/em> is one of the few Best Picture winners I’ve never gotten around to seeing, partially because “ugly guy finds ugly girl” doesn’t sound like a particularly interesting plot. It’s a lot funnier than I was expecting, and a lot lighter. What I really didn’t expect was to identify with the main characters quite so much – I’ve never thought of myself as particularly attractive, and also never had much luck in love until I met my now-husband, at age 29. I’ve had that awkward should-we-kiss-now moment, and that electric “I think this is the one” moment, and I had them at very similar stages in life to these two.<\/p>\n

It’s also filled with some great supporting characters, like Marty’s mother Teresa (Esther Minciotti), who at first is all about Marty getting married, then realizes thanks to a subplot involving her sister that when sons get married, mom kind of gets replaced by the new wife and suddenly tries to discourage him. It was interesting to see Jerry Paris, who I’ve previously only seen as the neighbor on The Dick Van Dyke Show<\/em>, in a more dramatic but equally loud-mouthed role. Betsy Blair doesn’t get quite enough to do as Clara, but she has a few good moments and the story is mostly about Marty anyway – I’d like to see the Clara<\/em> companion piece.<\/p>\n

\"tf-Clara-smiling\"<\/p>\n

Their date is like a microcosm of the beginning of relationship – tentative at first, then Marty turns into a chatterbox while she smiles softly at the words pouring out of this former wallflower. But she gets her chance, too, laughing and telling her stories at the diner, then intimacy grows as they take a turn by his home. She even gets to meet his mother in this accelerated timeframe (unconsciously bolstering Teresa’s fears of being pushed out by a potential new daughter-in-law). It may only be one night, but in terms of character-building and romance-building, it’s pretty amazingly written and performed. Borgnine won an Oscar for this role, and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s also better-shot than I expected, with high contrast lighting glorifying the city at night, slow but deliberate camera movements making the most of the actors performances, and composition showing us exactly what we need to see to establish character beats and relationship shifts.<\/p>\n

The film is kind of interesting from a historical viewpoint – it’s clearly a product of its time in terms of the expectations of marriage, the mentions of Mickey Spillane and the single guys’ admiration of “how he handles women” (I haven’t read a lot of Spillane, but it sounds like a precursor to Bond’s sexual domination), and the necessity of men making all the movies – Clara waits for Marty to call her, for example, rather than just call him up. Marty’s decision to pursue Clara because he enjoys being with her even though his buddies call her “a dog” seems obvious yet is meant to be revelatory – but how strong is peer pressure even now? How many groups of men just assume they should get any girl they want? Marty’s heartfelt desire for love and yet acceptance of rejection marks him out as one of the good guys, and he really is – that’s why we care so much when he has a chance.<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-ballroom\"<\/p>\n

At the same time, the film marks a new kind of filmmaking in 1955 – focused on working class characters living ordinary lives, no glamour, no heroics, not even any “spirit of the downtrodden” as you’d find in something like The Grapes of Wrath<\/em>. But it isn’t pure kitchen sink drama, either – it’s very written, and despite the strong Italian-American New York accents, these characters wouldn’t talk like they do here, and I really enjoy this type of slightly heightened writing in mostly realist films.<\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

1955, USA<\/em>
\ndirected by Delbert Mann, screenplay by Paddy Chayefksy<\/em>
\nstarring Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Joe Mantelli, Jerry Paris, Karen Steele<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Marty<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

Marty<\/b> > Beetlejuice
\nMarty<\/b> > The Thirteenth Floor
\nMarty<\/b> > Ben-Hur
\nMarty < Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels<\/b>
\nMarty<\/b> > Blue Valentine
\nMarty < Stranger on the Third Floor<\/b>
\nMarty < My Cousin Vinny<\/b>
\nMarty<\/b> > American Beauty
\nMarty<\/b> > Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
\nMarty<\/b> > The 39 Steps
\nMarty<\/b> > The Master
\nMarty<\/b> > The Squid and the Whale<\/p>\n

Final ranking #309 out of 3584 films on my chart (91st percentile)<\/p>\n

It is now my #1 Delbert Mann film, my #1 Ernest Borgnine film, my #22 Romantic Drama, my #19 Best Picture Winner, and my #7 film of 1955.<\/p>\n

Marty<\/em> was recommended by Greg Dorr, a friend from the Flickcharters Group on Facebook. Averaging together this #309 ranking with my #486 ranking of his other film, The Visitor<\/em>, Greg gets an average ranking of #397.<\/p>\n

A few quotes…<\/h3>\n

[spoilers]<\/p>\n

Everybody, basically:<\/b> [to Marty] \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You oughta be ashamed of yourself. When are you gonna get married?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n

Angie:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you feel like doing tonight?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nMarty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I dunno. What do you feel like doing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m 34 years old. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m tired of looking. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you think I want to get married? Everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always saying why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you get married. I want to get married!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sooner or later there comes a point in a man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to face some facts. And one fact is that whatever it is that women like, I ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You get kicked around often enough you get to be a real professor of pain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dogs like us, we ain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t such dogs as we think we are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Teresa:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like to visit you, Catherine, because you always have such cheery news.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be a butcher.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nClara:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing wrong with being a butcher.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Aunt Catherine:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153College girls are one step from the street, I tell you. My son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s girl, she does the typewriter? One step from the street.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marty:<\/b> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like her. My mother don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like her. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a dog, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a fat ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna have a good time tonight. If we have enough good times together I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna get down on my knees and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna beg that girl to marry me. If we have a party on New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a date for that party. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like her, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too bad!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-Marty-heartbreak\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-Clara-roof\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-&-Clara\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Clara-laughing\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-chairoscuro\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-reject\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-kiss\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-meeting-mom\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Marty-joy\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen as pure a cinematic expression of joy as the look on Marty’s face after he drops Clara off at her apartment and realizes he’s just had the best time of his life talking with this girl. Maybe Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain after he drops Debbie Reynolds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[3049,3050,3048],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/tf-feat-Marty.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35928,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/challenge-week-20-sneakers\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 20: Sneakers","author":"Jandy","date":"May 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I hadn't heard of this movie at all until it came up on a podcast I randomly listened to a few months ago, and I was intrigued because I love spy-type and hacker-type movies, so I was glad to have a push to see it. I didn't know much what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"tf-listening","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tf-listening.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36630,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/challenge-week-49-loves-enduring-promise\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":1},"title":"Challenge Week 49: Love’s Enduring Promise","author":"Jandy","date":"December 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the (first) sequel to Love Comes Softly, so it was nice to see them so close together. And I was actually interested to see more of Marty and Clark's story, even though the first movie tied it off pretty nicely. This is mostly Missy's story, though - the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/tf-feat-lovesenduringpromise.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36629,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/challenge-week-49-love-comes-softly\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":2},"title":"Challenge Week 49: Love Comes Softly","author":"Jandy","date":"December 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I tend not to seek out Hallmark-type movies, but when on vacation with my cousins this year, they heard about my challenge and wanted to give me some movies, and this is what my cousin's teenage daughter assigned me. I'm game for anything! The pioneer setting helps a lot, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/tf-feat-lovecomessoftly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36387,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/challenge-week-39-the-docks-of-new-york\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":3},"title":"Challenge Week 39: The Docks of New York","author":"Jandy","date":"October 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've actually had this on my media server for quite a while unwatched, so I was really glad that Jeremy gave me the boost to go ahead and watch it. Unfortunately, I've had it for long enough that I have no idea if it had the score he recommended (Gaylord\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/tf-feat-docks.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35754,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/challenge-week-13-my-best-girl\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":4},"title":"Challenge Week 13: My Best Girl","author":"Jandy","date":"April 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've literally been looking forward to this one since even before the Challenge started, as Dan let me know earlier that he would probably pick this one. It did not disappoint! I think it probably came up in conversation after I saw and LOVED Why Be Good? (1929) at last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/tf-feat-My-Best-Girl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2006\/12\/de-canonization\/","url_meta":{"origin":35490,"position":5},"title":"De-Canonization","author":"Jandy","date":"December 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"What do grad students talk about in their downtime? Why, what books to kick out of the canon of English literature, of course! I think between ten or so of us, we nominated the following for de-canonization: F. Scott Fitzgerald Romeo and Juliet (not all of Shakespeare, just R&J) Thomas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Reading"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Reading","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35490"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}