Script To Screen: “Marty”
The final scene from the 1955 drama Marty, written by Paddy Chayefsky, one of three screenplays for which he won an Academy Award.
The final scene from the 1955 drama Marty, written by Paddy Chayefsky, one of three screenplays for which he won an Academy Award.
Setup: Two lonely people, Marty and Clara, have almost resigned themselves to never being truly loved.
187TH STREET. BAR. NIGHT. CLOSE-UP of Marty leaning against the wall in front
of the bar. A group of young men lounge about,
killing time. Angie, Leo and Joe are among them. There are perhaps
four or five other young MEN, loosely divided into
two groups. The group that concerns us has Marty and
the others mentioned and GEORGE, a young man in a
sport jacket. LEO
What time is it? JOE
About eight o'clock. ANGIE
(to George)
You don't feel like going downna
Seventy-Second Street? GEORGE
It'll take an hour anna hour back,
and the whole evening's gone. JOE
What's playing on Fordham Road? I
think there's a good picture in the
Loew's Paradise. GEORGE
You guys feel like working up a game-
a cards? ANGIE
Come on, let's go down Seventy-Second
Street, walk around. We're sure to
wind up with something. CLOSE-UP of Marty, his head down, his eyes closed.
The group continues their dialogue back and forth.
Their VOICES can be heard as Marty's head slowly
comes up. JOE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
I'll never forgive LaGuardia for
cutting out burlesque outta New York
City... GEORGE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
There's a burlesque in Union City.
Let's go over to Union City... ANGIE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
Yeah, you're the one who don't even
wanna take a ride onna subway for
half an hour. Now, you wanna go alla
way over to Union City... GEORGE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
I feel like playing cards. I saw
Richie Rizzo, that's what he said he
felt like doing... JOE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
I don't feel like playing cards.
Waddaya feel like doing tonight,
Angie? ANGIE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
I don't know. Wadda you feel like
doing? JOE'S VOICE
(off-screen)
I don't know, Angie. Wadda you feel
like doing? A fury rises in Marty's face. He cries out at them. MARTY
"What are you doing tonight?"... "I
don't know, what are you doing?!"... CAMERA ANGLES over to the others who, at this
outburst, stare at Marty astounded. MARTY
(continuing)
The burlesque! Loew's Paradise!
Miserable and lonely! Miserable and
lonely and stupid! What am I, crazy
or something?! I got something good
here! What am I hanging around with
you guys for?! He has said this in tones so loud that it attracts
the attention of the few PEOPLE on the street. A
little embarrassed by the attention he's getting, he
turns, opens the door to the bar, and goes into it. After a stunned moment, Angie hurries after him. INSIDE THE BAR. Marty marches the length of the room toward the phone
booths in the rear. CAMERA ANGLES to disclose Angie
right behind him. Marty is about to enter one of the phone booths, but
he stops as Angie hurries up to him. ANGIE
Watsa matter with you? Marty pauses, one foot in the booth. MARTY
You don't like her. My mother don't
like her. She's a dog, and I'm a
fat, ugly little man. All I know is
I hadda good time last night. I'm
gonna have a good time tonight. If
we have enough good times together,
I'm gonna go down on my knees and
beg that girl to marry me. If we
make a party again this New Year's,
I gotta date for the party. You don't
like her, that's too bad. Marty has been fishing in his pocket for his address
book. He opens it to its proper page and steps
decisively into the phone booth. Nearby, Angie prowls around outside the booth. The
booth door is open. Marty starts to dial. A hush
fills the room except for the CLICKING of the
telephone dial. INSIDE THE PHONE BOOTH. The look of fury has drained from Marty's face. He
holds the receiver to his ear, glances out toward
Angie. CAMERA ANGLES to include Angie. MARTY
(his old amiable self)
When you gonna get married, Angie?
Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're
thirty-three years old. All your kid
brothers are married. You oughta be
ashamed of yourself. Still smiling at his very private joke, Marty returns
to the phone, and after a fraction of a second... MARTY
Hello... Clara?... As Angie looks miserable, and Marty slowly reaches
out and pushes the phone booth door shut, and
continues to talk into the phone, we very slowly... FADE OUT. THE END
Here is the scene in the movie:
Chayefsky originally wrote this as a television drama, an intimate story of two ordinary people finding something akin to love in their meager world. You will note how the dialogue is almost word for word the same in the movie. Nobody messed with Chayefsky’s dialogue.
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
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