MARTY: he's a fat ugly man looking for love

They're Marty's words not mine. He's stout it's true, and he's no Brad Pitt in the looks department but Marty Pilletti is utterly adorable.
The chunky and not exactly handsome Ernest Borgnine deservedly won the 1956 Best Actor Oscar for his powerful and intensely moving portrayal of Marty, the tender-hearted Bronx butcher who's convinced that love has passed him by.

All his siblings and most of his friends are married with kids on the way but 34 year old Marty just can't find a woman who's interested in what he's got to offer.He feels beaten down and defeated by the constant rejection and the haranguing from customers and family about his inability to find a wife. Then one Saturday night at the local dance hall he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a 29 year old plain featured schoolteacher with equally bad luck finding a man.
If MARTY were made today rather than half a century ago, it would be classed as a chick flick, Marty would be a woman called Marti and Clara would be Chuck. Hollywood just doesn't make love stories like this anymore with a sensitive male protagonist agonising over his failure to connect with that special someone. The closest they come is when they play it for laughs with Seth Rogen or Kevin James or some other overweight comedy actor.
MARTY is a perfectly serious drama laced with a smattering of very natural humour. Marty is not a character to be made fun of or otherwise mocked. Nor is he a character to be patronised. He has some moments of self-pity (understandable after a lifetime of knock backs) but they're quickly over and he rallies himself to fight another day.
Best known for his many tough guy roles ('From Here to Eternity', 'The Dirty Dozen', 'The Wild Bunch') Borgnine is a revelation here, using his unlikely leading man appearance to Oscar winning effect. Betsy Blair is also impressive in a part that calls for a lot of confidence. Clara is referred to by numerous characters as 'a dog' (and by Marty to her face) and the camera emphsises her plain appearance and lack of conventional beauty.
MARTY is that rare breed of film I class as a revelation. I was not expecting to be as thoroughly entertained as I was or to be so impressed by the quality of the performances. Now I've seen it I can understand why it picked up 3 other Oscars (direction, best film, best screenplay) in addition to Borgnine's. This is a classy piece of filmmaking and should be on everyone's list of 100 great movies.