Search - Marty on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations Movie Release: 1955 DVD Release: 06/19/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 15 Genres: Drama, Romance, Romantic Drama

Paddy Chayefsky's Oscar-winning slice-of-life drama is a heartwarming story about Marty Pilletti (Ernest Borgnine), a lonely Bronx butcher. Marty is a burly but gentle man, easing into middle age without much hope for romance or a career. He lives at home with his mother (Esther Minciotti), a kind but life-smothering woman, and a small circle of dead-end friends. Marty has no self-confidence and feels he's dumpy and unattractive. While it takes some doing, Marty's mother finally convinces him to go to the Stardust Ballroom in Manhattan, where he meets a plain-looking schoolteacher named Clara (Betsy Blair), whose life appears to mirror his own. He asks Clara to dance and soon they are smitten with one another. But to Marty's surprise and frustration, his friends put her down and his mother is hostile to her. Swayed by his friends and his mother, he doesn't call Clara back. But sitting at the bar with his friends the next night, Marty decides he has had enough, and defying his enclosed little world, he rushes to a phone booth to call Clara. As Marty shouts to his friends, "You don't like her. My mother don't like her. She's a dog. And I'm a fat, ugly man. Well, all I know is I had a good time last night ... You don't like her? That's too bad!" ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Ernest Borgnine - Marty Pilletti
Betsy Blair - Clara Snyder
Esther Minciotti - Mrs. Pilletti
Augusta Ciolli - Catherine
Joe Mantell - Angie

Every couple of years or so, a modest movie seemingly comes out of nowhere and steals the thunder from a number of bigger, seemingly more ambitious pictures. The bittersweet story of a lonely butcher finally spreading his wings, Marty was that rare sleeper that scored at the box office and went on to win a number of Oscars in 1955, including Best Picture. This MGM DVD release of Marty doesn't come with any extras to speak of, but the black-and-white film print has been remastered nicely and the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio track sounds as good as in the mid-'50s. Don't be alarmed that the DVD doesn't show Marty in widescreen -- the movie was shot in the aspect ratio that conforms to the full-screen dimensions of a TV set. This no-frills DVD edition of Marty matches the humble, yet eternally enjoyable movie perfectly. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide