Marty (1955)
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40 free Marty (1955) trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Marty is the small film that beat the big ones. Made quickly and cheaply with no major stars, it tells the story of an ordinary, kind-hearted bachelor who has all but given up on romance, and of the shy woman he meets on the one night he lets himself be talked into going out. Audiences recognised themselves in it, and the awards followed, at home and abroad. This quiz covers the story and its characters, the family and friends who pull Marty in different directions, and the famous ending. It also goes behind the scenes: where the story first appeared, who nearly played the leads, how the film got made at all, and the prizes and records it collected. A few questions follow the cast and crew into their later careers. The questions run from easy openers for anyone who has seen the film once to deeper cuts for classic film fans. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will learn something even when you guess.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does a stranger at the dance hall offer Marty Piletti five dollars to do in the film Marty?
Take his date home
Take his date home is the callous request Marty turns down, saying no woman should be treated that way. Moments later he asks the abandoned Clara to dance himself.
Q 02Marty star Ernest Borgnine later voiced the superhero Mermaid Man on which cartoon?
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants cast Borgnine as Mermaid Man from 1999 until his death in 2012. His old sitcom partner Tim Conway voiced the sidekick, Barnacle Boy.
Q 03Which dancing movie star, then Betsy Blair's husband, pressed the studio to keep her in Marty?
Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly reportedly threatened to pull out of his MGM musical It's Always Fair Weather unless his wife got the part of Clara. The studio backed down.
Q 04In the film Marty, what trade does Ernest Borgnine's lonely bachelor Marty Piletti work at?
Butcher
Butcher Marty spends his working day fending off customers who want to know why he is still single. Their nagging sets the whole story in motion.
Q 05Which 2019 film was the first since Marty to win Best Picture and the top prize at Cannes?
Parasite
Parasite ended a 64-year wait when Bong Joon-ho's Korean-language film repeated the double. Before Marty, only one 1945 drama had managed it.
Q 06Ernest Borgnine won Best Actor for Marty over which young star, nominated months after his death?
James Dean
James Dean was nominated for East of Eden after his fatal car crash the previous autumn. Borgnine also beat Frank Sinatra, James Cagney and Spencer Tracy.
Q 07Marty was the first film to win which top prize, introduced at Cannes in 1955?
Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or replaced the festival's old Grand Prix as its highest award that year. A low-budget American romance with no big stars was its first winner.
Q 08Which New York borough, home of Arthur Avenue, does Marty Piletti live in with his mother?
The Bronx
The Bronx appears throughout, with scenes shot on Arthur Avenue, Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road. Paddy Chayefsky, who wrote the story, was born in the borough.
Q 09Which 1960s sitcom starred Marty's Ernest Borgnine as the gruff skipper of a wartime PT boat?
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy ran from 1962 to 1966, and began as a serious one-hour drama before it was reworked as a comedy. Borgnine had spent nearly ten years as a real sailor.
Q 10Which future In the Heat of the Night star played Marty in the 1953 television play?
Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger played the lonely bachelor live on NBC in May 1953, in a part first meant for Martin Ritt, who later became a director.
Q 11What is the day job of Clara, the college graduate Marty Piletti meets at the dance hall?
Teacher
Teacher Clara gives high school science lessons and, at 29, still lives with her parents. Marty urges her to take a promotion that would mean moving out.
Q 12Which relative moves in with Marty Piletti and his mother after rows with her son's wife?
His aunt
His aunt Catherine arrives full of dark warnings that a son who weds will push his mother aside too. Her fears soon turn Marty's mother against Clara.
Q 13On which night, after a full day's work, does Marty Piletti go dancing and meet Clara?
Saturday
Saturday finds Marty tired of looking for a girl and ready to stay home. He goes out only because his mother nags him into it.
Q 21Overjoyed after seeing Clara home, what does Marty Piletti punch on the street in Marty?
A bus stop sign
A bus stop sign takes the happy blow, and Marty then weaves through the traffic to hail a cab rather than wait for a ride. It is the film's one burst of pure joy.
Q 22Which film set Ernest Borgnine against Spencer Tracy, his rival for the Marty Oscar?
Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock cast Borgnine as a villain, the kind of part he was known for before Marty. Tracy was nominated for it, and lost to his own co-star.
Q 23Which big purchase does Marty Piletti weigh up, asking his cousin Tommy for advice?
His boss's shop
Q 14Marty was photographed in which format, which still had its own Oscar categories in 1956?
Black and white
Black and white films had separate cinematography and art direction Oscars, and Marty was nominated for both. Its cameraman, Joseph LaShelle, had already won for Laura.
Q 15Before Marty, Ernest Borgnine played the brutal Sergeant Fatso Judson in which war drama?
From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity had Borgnine beating Frank Sinatra's character in an army stockade. Playing the gentle Marty two years later was a complete change of image.
Q 16Marty writer Paddy Chayefsky won a third Oscar for which film about a raging news anchor?
Network
Network made Chayefsky the first writer to win three screenwriting Oscars without a co-writer. The Hospital brought him the one in between.
Q 17Marty, filmed in under three weeks, set which record among Best Picture Oscar winners?
Shortest running time
Shortest running time suits a film that lasts about an hour and a half. It was shot in sixteen days, with three more for retakes.
Q 18What kept Betsy Blair out of films for years before Marty, despite her famous husband?
The Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist shut Blair out after her left-wing politics drew a congressional investigation. Marty restarted her career and earned her an Oscar nomination.
Q 19Which ballroom, renamed for the film version, is where Marty Piletti meets Clara?
The Stardust
The Stardust was called the Waverly in the television play. Marty's mother sends him there after hearing from his cousin that it is full of eligible girls.
Q 20Where is Marty Piletti standing when he finally calls Clara in the last scene of Marty?
A phone booth
A phone booth door closes on Marty just as Clara picks up, so the audience never hears the conversation. The film ends on his greeting.
His boss's shop is the purchase Clara tells Marty to go ahead with. His cousin, an accountant, asks why a single man would want the debt.
Q 24Which holiday does Marty Piletti ask Clara to spend with him, hinting at a future?
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is the invitation that wins Clara over, because it shows he is thinking well beyond one evening. They kiss just before his mother walks in.
Q 25Why did the star of the television Marty lose the lead in the 1955 film version?
He refused a long contract
He refused a long contract that the producers made a condition of the part, so they turned to a character actor known for playing heavies.
Q 26Which movie star co-owned the company behind Marty and introduced its trailer?
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster co-produced with Harold Hecht but stayed off screen. Hecht said they were gambling on unknown names, and the gamble won their company the top Oscar.
Q 27Which studio, co-founded by Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, released Marty to cinemas?
United Artists
United Artists agreed in 1954 to release the film. After the Oscars it ordered 200 extra prints to meet the demand from cinemas.
Q 28According to Ernest Borgnine, what was Marty first meant to be for its producers?
A tax write-off
A tax write-off was the plan, Borgnine said: start the film, abandon it and book the loss. The tax authorities insisted it be finished and shown at least once.
Q 29Which first-time director made Marty after staging the live television original in 1953?
Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann had directed more than 100 live television dramas, and Chayefsky insisted he be hired. He won the Best Director Oscar with his first feature.
Q 30Which drama about an alcoholic writer did the Best Picture and Cannes double before Marty?
The Lost Weekend
The Lost Weekend shared the top award at the very first Cannes festival, when it was still called the Grand Prix. Billy Wilder directed it.