Marty

Marty.
1955 Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions & United Artists; distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli, Joe Mantell, Karen Steele, Jerry Paris
Director: Delbert Mann
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A winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Delbert Mann, and Best Actor for Ernest Borgnine. Marty also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, making it only the second American film (The Lost Weekend was the other one) to win both organizations' top award.

Ernest Borgnine is Marty Piletti, a butcher who lives in the Bronx with his mother. He is unmarried at his age, 34, and seems resigned to a lifetime of bachelorhood, although the idea of marriage does not seem like a bad one.

One Saturday night, his mother (Minciotti) talks him into going to the Stardust Ballroom, where Marty wears his blue suit but still insists he will not be noticed by anybody there. Marty unexpectedly connects with Clara (Blair), a plain jane schoolteacher who was abandoned by her blind date. Marty and Clara spend the evening together, bonding, and before parting, Marty promises to call her the next evening.

Neither Marty's friends or mother are terribly impressed by Clara, and feeling pressured by them and their belief that she isn't good enough, Marty doesn't call her. He quickly realizes that he's making a mistake by forgetting about her, and over the objections of his buddies, Marty runs to the nearest phone booth to give Clara a call.

A wonderful movie. Highly, highly recommended.