Marty/Trivia

• Springtime for Hitler: A Real Life example. In 1955 somebody got the idea to adapt a popular episode of a TV anthology series to film. Burt Lancaster and his business partner decided to fund it, figuring the low-budget picture wouldn't make any money (who would pay to see a film they could watch for free on TV?) and they could use the expenses as a tax write-off. Compounding this plan was their casting of some fat, ugly guy best known for playing villains as the romantic lead. The result? Marty became a huge box office smash when its comparatively ugly actors ended up resonating as more authentic to filmgoers. It ended up winning four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and a Palme d'Or. Cracked.com's 5 Classic Movies Made by People Who Wanted Them to Fail describes its production as having "literally started out as the plot of The Producers."