After three decades of struggling with the crises of the World Wars and the domestic issues of the Great Depression, the 1950s at last brought a time of mostly rest and prosperity to the United States. Americans were tired—physically, emotionally, psychologically. The 50s brought a renewal of sorts, a hearkening back to earlier, simpler times. Instead of concentrating on giant world issues, people focused on their personal lives—lives that were based upon solid family units. And in order to have a solid family unit, a person needed to be married. By 1957, ninety-seven percent of all Americans of marriageable age were married. Of course, so many marriages led to the baby boom and a profusion of children, and every activity in society was based on these burgeoning families that centered around couples. “It was a couples’ society, we did things in couples…The thing was to be married and keep the home together,” one 1950s housewife explained. If one wasn’t married or had been divorced, one found it difficult to have a social life at all.

Clara and Marty experience an awkward conversation with Marty’s mother–during their first date.

This is the predicament of the title character in this week’s Best Picture winner, Marty (1955, Hecht-Lancaster Productions). Poor Marty, he’s 34 years old and still single. He must really be a “dog,” as people keep telling him. Or, something is wrong with the society Marty lives in. We’ll discuss more about this marriage/society idea in the weekend post. But for now, let’s just sum up this film by saying that it’s an odd love story—odd because the two lead characters are misfits. The film repeatedly harps on the fact that both Marty and his love interest Clara are old and unattractive. What’s interesting is that, as noted above, the majority of people in the 1950s were married; so a small minority of single people could have identified with Marty’s character in the film. Yet the film far exceeded box office expectations, grossing over $5 million after production costs of $340,000. Marty was also the first (and only) adaptation of a television comedy-drama to win Best Picture. It was originally a 48-minute long presentation featured on NBC’s Philco Television Playhouse on May 24, 1953. I think it’s quite fitting that, with the advent and swift preeminence of television in the 1950s, a TV adaptation would garner Academy recognition (although the TV version of Marty was snubbed by the Emmys that year).

Ernest Borgnine looking pretty thrilled with his Oscar for Marty. — Image by © Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis

Altogether, Marty (the film) received eight Oscar nominations, including Art Direction (Black-and White), Cinematography (Black-and-White), Actress in a Supporting Role for Betsy Blair as Clara, and Actor in a Supporting Role for Joe Mantell as Angie (he’s hilarious in this movie!). The film took home the coveted statuettes in the following categories: Directing for Delbert Mann, Writing (Screenplay) for Paddy Chayefsky (who modified his original teleplay for the film), Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine as Marty, and Best Motion Picture. Not too bad for a film that, to me, looks like it’s a decade (at least) older than it actually is and metaphorically equates with an urchin in rags when set alongside BP epics wrapped in the magisterial robes of a Gone with the Wind or Titanic. Nevertheless, Marty is a fine film in its own way.

For more thoughts on Marty and its significance, please check out the full post this weekend!