my most-watched romcom: marty (1955)

this couple has the highest chemistry-to-game ratio i've ever seen

i found the movie scrolling in a bad mood through the “last chance! titles leaving in [month]” section on prime i hadn’t heard of it before—no expectations. “a lonely, heavyset bronx butcher, who lives with his mother, finds his soul mate in a shy schoolteacher.” i watched tfw no gf back when it came out, too.

maybe a couple of you will watch these first two minutes—

—and, maybe, be as instantly charmed as i was, watching ernest borgnine handle specialty meat orders while being berated by a line of italian housewives for not being married when all his younger siblings are. “you oughta be ashamed of yourself!”

i dont know if i could have gotten through this movie without that “finds his soulmate” in the summary. marty seems very believably like someone who might not make it. ernest borgnine married five times, but he plays beginning-of-the-movie marty with the turned-in gestures of a big man who feels bad about taking up space. marty makes a lot of unforced errors—the formality of his “would you care to dance?” at the stardust ballroom when everyone else is saying “wanna dance?” made me wince, so chuuni.¹

but i say “wince” instead of “cringe” bc, i don’t know, i felt with him too much for the scenes of him fucking up to be “cringe” exactly. i haven’t ever tried to write a movie review before, so i can use every movie review cliche once—i was rooting for him. when he meets clara, who is sweet and awkward & superlittle in a way that i think appeals to modern tastes a bit too much for us to understand why everyone acts like she’s unattractive, i was biting my nails (another cliche crossed off the list) over whether he would take the $5 her blind date was offering him to “get her off his hands.”

clara & marty have the highest chemistry-to-game ratio of any movie couple i’ve ever seen (which seems like it would be a technical challenge for the actors—i was very impressed). during their first dance, they talk about how much they both cry. he talks too much, the makeup she puts on in the middle of their date is inexpert. the leadup to their first kiss is painfully awkward—both of them scared of each other, both hurt by the other’s fear. but his big hands look so good on her shoulders, & betsy blair plays clara with a clever little trick of holding her chin at a kind of unflattering angle except when she’s looking up at marty.

im not sure what you’re supposed to say in a movie review. i would happily go through marty & clara’s ups & downs beat by beat—& i have hardly mentioned how *funny* movie is, or the incredible side characters, especially marty’s mom. in fact i feel kind of weird about the whole project of reviewing this movie. i never care about spoilers, but i loved the surprise of watching this random little last-chance-on-prime romcom i had never heard of, & only afterwards finding out it got four oscars & a palm d’or. but i guess i can’t count on all of y’all just happening across this movie, and i think if you’re here reading this & you enjoy a good movie cry, you would really like it

1. im actually not so sure about this, is it chuuni. do i get it