9 Great Best Picture Winners That You May Not Have Seen

Marty (1955)

Like the aforementioned The Lost Weekend, Marty is the second (and last) Best Picture winner to also win the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Unlike the more esoteric appeal of more current Palme D’or victors, this is heartwarming, humane entertainment, relying on character over concept. It’s a sweet little film about a lovelorn butcher, played by Ernest Borgnine, searching for a woman to settle down with.

The whole film isn’t a shot of vigorous originality, but Borgnine’s performance deserves all of the praise it gets. Marty Piletti, humble and hard-working yet aspiring not to be alone, is as encompassing a role as the screen legend will ever play. The film was curt, clocking in at just 94 minutes, but its emotional resonance triumphed over more ambitious titles.

Marty may have seemed like an unlikely winner in a decade filled with big-budget spectacles emerging with the top trophy, but it was adapted from a telenovella from the great Paddy Chayefsky (Network) that worked as well on a small screen as it did on a large one. The universal truths, heartfelt situations and strong characters had an indelible impact on Academy voters and 60 years later, this remains one of the most moving films to win Best Picture.