Marty (The Philco Television Playhouse)

Last updated
"Marty"
The Philco Television Playhouse episode
Martymarchandsteiger.jpg
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 23
Directed by Delbert Mann
Teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky
Cinematography byAl McClellan
Original air dateMay 24, 1953 (1953-05-24)
Running time51 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"A Little Something in Reserve"
Next 
"The Way of the Eagle"
List of episodes

"Marty" is a 1953 television play by Paddy Chayefsky. It was telecast live May 24, 1953, on The Philco Television Playhouse with Rod Steiger in the title role and Nancy Marchand, in her television debut, playing opposite him as Clara. Chayefsky's story of a decent, hard-working Bronx butcher, pining for the company of a woman in his life but despairing of ever finding true love in a relationship, was produced by Fred Coe with associate producer Gordon Duff. [1]

Contents

The teleplay was adapted into the feature film Marty starring Ernest Borgnine in 1955. It was directed by Delbert Mann and written by Chayefsky.

Development

In his collected Television Plays (1955), Chayefsky recalled:

I set out in Marty to write a love story, the most ordinary love story in the world. I didn't want my hero to be handsome, and I didn't want the girl to be pretty. I wanted to write a love story the way it would literally have happened to the kind of people I know... The actor who played Marty, Rod Steiger, is one of the most gifted young actors in the theater, and I owe him a genuine debt of gratitude for all that he contributed to this show. [1]

The story originated by chance when Delbert Mann and Chayefsky were rehearsing The Reluctant Citizen in the old Abbey Hotel's ballroom on West 51st Street, which was also used for Friday night meetings of the Friendship Club. After Chayefsky wandered around and spotted a sign which read, "Girls, Dance With the Man Who Asks You. Remember, Men Have Feelings, Too", he told Mann he thought there was a play possibility about a young woman in that type of setting. Speaking to Mann later that day, he told him that such a drama could work better with a man as the central character rather than a woman. Mann told him to go talk to Fred Coe, which Chayefsky did. He pitched the idea by simply saying, "I want to do a play about a guy who goes to a ballroom." Coe told him to start writing it. [2]

As Chayefsky was in the middle of writing the script (at this point entitled "Love Story"), Coe and Mann unexpectedly rejected another script that was scheduled for production. Coe then called Chayefsky to ask him how the "Love Story" script was going, hoping that it could be put into production immediately. At that point, Chayefsky was partway through act 2, and thought he could have it finished in a few weeks, but after talking with Coe he agreed to turn around material in only a few days.

The piece was cast and rehearsals got underway with only acts 1 & 2 having been delivered. Chayefsky delivered Act 3 one day later than expected, but still in time to give the cast and crew several days of rehearsal with the complete teleplay.

Chayefsky's original title "Love Story" was deemed unacceptable by NBC, who requested the title be changed. Chayefsky's alternative title of "Marty" was used instead.

Reception

Tony Schwartz reviewed the television production in The New York Times:

It's the stark, simple portrait of a gentle, lonely man, played by Rod Steiger, who lives with his mother, works as a butcher and longs for a loving relationship as he heads toward middle age. "I'm 36 years old and I've been lookin' for a girl every Saturday night of my life," he tells his best friend. "I'm a fat little ugly guy and girls don't go for me, that's all." It's just that sort of unfettered sentiment that gives the drama such powerful resonance. The story centers mostly on a single Saturday night in Marty's life. After despairing about how to spend it, and then suffering another humiliating rejection when he calls a girl to ask her out, Marty finally decides to attend a lonely hearts social at the Waverly Ballroom. There he meets a girl (Nancy Marchand) who has just been ditched by her blind datea slick fellow who offers Marty "five bucks if you take this dog home for me". Marty approaches her, and in their mutual misery they find a bond. She rejects his first fumbling attempt to kiss her, but mostly in an effort not to seem overeager. Even in the afterglow of a wonderful evening, Marty is subjected the next day to ridicule from his friends, who insist that the girl is a homely loser not worth pursuing. The story hinges on whether he'll follow their advice or follow his own instincts to see her again. The drama is most convincing when it sticks with Martyand much less so when it drifts off into a stilted subplot about his mother's attempts to convince a sister to move into their household. Because the whole play is less than an hour long (a subsequent film version of the play ran 90 minutes), the second story simply gets in the way. [3]

The acclaimed television drama was honored a decade later when the kinescope of the production was selected for showing at the Museum of Modern Art on February 17–20, 1963, as part of Television USA: Thirteen Seasons, described by MoMA Film Library curator Richard Griffith as "a grand retrospective of the best that has been done in American television." [4]

It was released on VHS by Wood Knapp Video.

The original 1953 telecast is commercially available as part of a three-DVD set, "The Golden Age of Television" (Criterion Collection), a series which aired on PBS in 1981 with Eva Marie Saint as the host of Marty. It features interviews with Steiger, Marchand and Mann.

Only Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli and Joe Mantell repeated their 1953 TV drama roles in the 1955 film adaptation.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rodney Stephen Steiger was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played, which at times led to clashes with directors and co-stars. He starred as Marlon Brando's mobster brother Charley in On the Waterfront (1954), the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964) which won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and as police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967) which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an episode of an anthology series. In internal industry usage, however, all television scripts are teleplays, although a "teleplay by" credit may be classified into a "written by" credit depending on the circumstances of its creation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddy Chayefsky</span> American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (1923–1981)

Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Marchand</span> American actress (1928–2000)

Nancy Lou Marchand was an American actress. She began her career in theater in 1951. She was most famous for her television portrayals of Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant – for which she won four Emmy Awards – and Livia Soprano on The Sopranos, for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delbert Mann</span> American television and film director (1920–2007)

Delbert Martin Mann Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty (1955), adapted from a 1953 teleplay of the same name which he had also directed. From 1967 to 1971, he was president of the Directors Guild of America. In 2002, he received the DGA's honorary life member award. Mann was credited to have "helped bring TV techniques to the film world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Mantell</span> American film and television actor

Joe Mantell was an American film and television actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as best friend Angie in the 1955 film Marty, which he reprised from the original live teleplay with the same creative team. The teleplay was a surprise hit and the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

<i>Playhouse 90</i> American television series

Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s usually were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual: a weekly series of hour-and-a-half-long dramas rather than 60-minute plays.

<i>The Bachelor Party</i> 1957 American film

"The Bachelor Party" is a 1953 television play by Paddy Chayefsky which was adapted by Chayefsky for a 1957 film. The play premiered to critical acclaim.

<i>A Gathering of Eagles</i> 1963 film by Delbert Mann

A Gathering of Eagles is a 1963 SuperScope Eastmancolor film about the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War and the pressures of command. The plot is patterned after the World War II film Twelve O'Clock High, which producer-screenwriter Sy Bartlett also wrote, with elements also mirroring Above and Beyond and Toward the Unknown, films written by his collaborator, Beirne Lay Jr. The film was directed by Delbert Mann.

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Coe</span> American film director

Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe was an American television producer and director most famous for The Goodyear Television Playhouse/The Philco Television Playhouse in 1948-1955 and Playhouse 90 from 1957 to 1959. Among the live TV dramas he produced were Marty and The Trip to Bountiful for Goodyear/Philco, Peter Pan for Producers' Showcase, and Days of Wine and Roses for Playhouse 90.

Goodyear Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television.

<i>Marty</i> (film) 1955 American romantic drama film directed by Delbert Mann

Marty is a 1955 American romantic drama film directed by Delbert Mann in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay, which was broadcast on The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse and starred Rod Steiger in the title role.

Days of Wine and Roses (<i>Playhouse 90</i>) 2nd episode of the 3rd season of Playhouse 90

"Days of Wine and Roses" was a 1958 American teleplay by JP Miller which dramatized the problems of alcoholism. John Frankenheimer directed the cast headed by Cliff Robertson, Piper Laurie and Charles Bickford.

<i>Middle of the Night</i> 1959 film

Middle of the Night is a 1959 American drama film directed by Delbert Mann and starring Kim Novak and Fredric March. This story of a May-December romance was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from his own 1954 teleplay and 1956 Broadway play, both of the same name. The film was entered into the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or, and was released by Columbia Pictures.

Paul Monash was an American television and film producer and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rod Steiger on screen and stage</span> American actor (1925–2002)

Rod Steiger was an American actor who had an extensive career in film, television, and stage. He made his stage debut in 1946 with Civic Repertory Theatre's production of the melodrama Curse you, Jack Dalton!. Four years later, he played onstage in a production of An Enemy of the People at the Music Box Theatre. A small role in Fred Zinnemann's Teresa (1951) marked his film debut. In 1953, he played the title role in the teleplay "Marty" to critical praise. His breakthrough role came with the crime drama On the Waterfront (1954), which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination, and subsequent appearance in Fred Zinnemann's musical Oklahoma!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Plot to Kill Stalin</span> 1st episode of the 3rd season of Playhouse 90

"The Plot to Kill Stalin" was an American television play broadcast on September 25, 1958, on the CBS television network. It was the first episode of the third season of the anthology television series Playhouse 90. Delbert Mann was the director, and the cast included Melvyn Douglas as Joseph Stalin, Eli Wallach as Stalin's personal secretary, and Oskar Homolka as Nikita Khrushchev. It was nominated for two Sylvania Television Awards: as the outstanding telecast of 1958 and for Douglas as outstanding actor in a television program.

A Town Has Turned to Dust (<i>Playhouse 90</i>) 38th episode of the 2nd season of Playhouse 90

"A Town Has Turned to Dust" is an American television play broadcast live on June 19, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. Rod Serling wrote the teleplay, and John Frankenheimer directed. Rod Steiger and William Shatner starred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Minciotti</span> Italian actress

Esther Cunico Minciotti was an Italian actress.

References