Marty (1955)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Marty (1955) -- D. Mann

There is a very 1950s feel to this tale of a 34-year-old unattractive butcher (Ernest Borgnine) who feels the pain of romantic rejection very strongly, especially because all of his siblings have already gotten married.  So, when Marty meets Clara, a woman feeling the same kind of rejection (based only on looks) that society propagates so well, he feels a bond. They are both sensitive and sincere people.  Of course there are flies in the ointment. He lives at home with his mother who starts to feel worried that he might abandon her (based on the experience of her sister whose son and daughter-in-law want her to move out) and his friends think Clara is a "dog" which almost stops him.  Paddy Chayefsky's script is very knowing, if sentimental. It's very sad to see that the culture promoting beauty on the outside (only) has gotten even more entrenched since 1955 -- so much so that the film feels unsurprising.  A winner of the Oscar and the Palme D'Or, although perhaps only because it said things that Hollywood didn't usually say.