The Promotion of Marty

The block-square, million-dollar Shoppers Market in Santa Monica, Calif, was having its grand opening. Behind the butcher counter stood Actor Ernest Borgnine, a smile on his face and a meat cleaver in his hand. The man who proved, in Marty, that butchers are nice people, was being spurred on by throngs of movie fans and pressagents and a group of scantily clad models with placards announcing, "I Love Marty." Reporters, newsreel cameramen and photographers were on hand, and two representatives of the Santa Monica Bay District Meatcutters Union, Local 587 (the Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of North America, A.F.L.-C.I.O.), presented Borgnine with a gold urn trophy. His portrayal of Marty, its inscription said, "reveals the meatcutters of America as friendly, humble, sincere and accredited members of the human race."

What Borgnine, the producers of Marty and their pressagents were revealing was an interest in publicity, the kind that might help Marty win some of the eight Oscars it has been nominated to compete for. Winning them in Hollywood next week would mean up to $500,000 at the box office for Marty. Its producers and publicists have already demonstrated that they have both the cash and the know-how to go after it. To date the ballyhoo for Marty--including trade paper advertising, 16-mm. prints of the film, personal appearances of Borgnine on TV and radio, rhinestone cleavers and knives for the butcher-counter routine--has cost $350,000, a little more than the $343,000 it cost to make the movie.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.