With the Oscars just a few weeks away, I figured why not revisit the Oscar-winning films: Best Picture featured Letterboxd List for this week. I filtered out ones that I’ve already seen, then filtered down to only those that were currently available to me on streaming. From there, I honestly just chose at random and this week that landed us… Marty (1955).
Title: Marty
Director: Delbert Mann
Released: April 11, 1955 (Theatrical – Belgium, Canada, United States)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Available to stream on: Kanopy and Tubi
Marty (Ernest Borgnine) is in his mid-30s and working as a butcher in a local butcher shop. His age doesn’t really bother him that much, though it’s quite a different story for everyone around him.
Whether it is customers, friends, or his own mother, Marty can’t escape questions about his personal life.
When is he going to get married? He knows all of his brothers and sisters have already married, some of them even have kids, right?
But here’s the thing, Marty doesn’t care. He’s not going to force himself into societal norms if it doesn’t feel natural. If he ends up staying single forever, he’ll fully embrace the bachelor life.
One weekend, at the insistence of his mother, Marty finds himself at the Stardust Ballroom. The Ballroom is where singles come to mingle, so of course his mother wanted him there. While there, Marty meets Clara (Betsy Blair) after her blind date just straight up abandoned her.
Marty and Clara wind up hitting it off. They spend the rest of the night dancing, walking and talking through the streets of the city, and talking some more while at a local diner.
Now that Marty has finally found someone, will those around him finally just be happy for him?
Well, it’s easy to see why Marty (1955) was nominated for 8 Oscars.
While it wasn’t a clean sweep, Marty (1955) did win for Best Director, Actor, Screenplay, and of course Picture.
There’s an awful lot touched on in the brief 90-minute runtime. We’ve got toxic masculinity, self-confidence, being true to one’s self, and that’s all just within the first 10-15 minutes.
I loved how small scale this felt. Everything takes place within the same handful of blocks within the city and within the same 2-3 locations. The focus instead is on the story and characters. Because of this, you needed a strong lead and boy does Borgnine deliver.
This isn’t meant as a slight against him, but because Borgnine doesn’t “look like a movie star” it is easier to feel for, and relate to, Marty. There’s an everyman sort of quality to him that feels authentic and genuine.
And I mean, who amongst us hasn’t had to deal with chatter around us regarding how we live our lives?
If you haven’t seen Marty (1955), please consider this your recommendation to go and do so.
So, if you have already seen Marty (1955), I want to hear from you.
Leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and tell me what you thought of it!
As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see everything else that I’ve been watching lately.