Marty

Marty, starring Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair, is a touching story from the 1950's about two people who fall in love and want to be together. However, they come up against the gossip, social pressure, and expectations of family and friends that hold them back from their natural instinct to marry and love one another. Both are "older" by the standards of the time but that does not stop them from wanting someone special. They are both excited about the prospect of spending their lives together and then, there is a pause as the elation runs up against reality. Borgnine and Blair are excellent in the role of a young couple who desire to break away from the bonds of friends and family to form their own home life. How will it turn out? This movie is a departure from the glossy Hollywood movies of the 1950's that used colour and celebrity talent and lacked the realism and honesty of this classic. Marty was a more mature movie, with a more effective treatment of social divisions and complicated relationships. Paddy Chayefsky wrote the script and Burt Lancaster was the producer. Both were creative forces in the film world of the 1950's. Delbert Mann directed; he also directed other fine movies such as Separate Tables and Middle of the Night. This is a precious film with a place in the history of American cinema.