#73 - Delbert Mann - 26/6/10

Notable films: Marty (1955), The Bachelor Party (1957), Separate Tables (1958), Lover Come Back (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962).

Delbert Mann, one of the most prolific directors during the "Golden Age of Television", died on November 11, of pneumonia, in Los Angeles, California. The Oscar winning director of Marty, was 87 years old.

Born on January 30, 1920, in Lawrence, Kansas, his family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where his father taught at Scarritt College. Mann received his first dramatic training in a Nashville community theater group, while attending Vanderbilt University. He developed a life-long friendship with Fred Coe, who was a director at the theater. After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1941, Mann served as a bomber pilot during World War II. When the war ended, he attended the Yale School of Drama, which led to stage managing and directing jobs in community theaters in Tennessee and South Carolina. He succeeded his friend Coe as director/producer at the Town Theater in Columbia, S. C. Coe had left for a position with NBC Studios in New York City. In 1949, Mann followed him to New York, where he started off as a floor manager at NBC, then became an assistant director. In the next half-dozen years, Mann would direct more than 100 television productions for the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, with Fred Coe as the producer. One of the productions, in 1953, was a drama by a young playwright named Paddy Chayefsky. It was called Marty, and it starred Rod Steiger as a lonely butcher. The show was a hit. Steiger, however, refused to play the role in a feature film version, as he did not want to be tied to a contract with the producers. Ernest Borgnine replaced him, with Delbert Mann making his feature film directing debut. The results: Oscars for Mann, Borgnine, Chayefsky and the film was awarded Best Picture of 1955. Mann's accomplishment, directing a Best Picture winner on his feature film debut, would not be repeated until 1999, when Sam Mendes won for directing American Beauty.

Ernest Borgnine's nomination (and win), along with Supporting nominations for Joe Mantell and Betsy Blair, were the first of 8 nominated performances by actors in Mann-directed films. Borgnine, David Niven (Best Actor for Separate Tables) and Wendy Hiller (Best Supporting Actress for Separate Tables) all took home the golden statue. Here is a list of Mann's nominated films, with the number of nominations, and Oscars won:

Marty (1955) 8/4
Bachelor Party (1957) 1/-
Desire Under the Elms (1958) 1/-
Separate Tables (1958) 7/2
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) 1/-
Lover Come Back (1961) 1/-
That Touch of Mink (1962) 3/-
A Gathering of Eagles (1963) 1/-
Dear Heart (1964) 1/-
Mr. Buddwing (1966) 2/-

Delbert Mann specialized in character-driven dramas, featuring everyday people with deep-rooted problems. He ventured into comedy on occasion, but only the two vehicles with Doris Day (Lover Come Back and That Touch of Mink) proved successful. In 1968, he directed one of the most controversial TV-movies of all time, although he wasn't responsible for the controversy. The movie was Heidi, a retelling of the classic Johanna Spyri tale. The film was scheduled for a showing at 7PM on a Sunday night in November. Prior to that, a football game between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders was being aired. With under two minutes to play, and the Jets leading by three points, NBC cut away at seven o'clock to show the film. Oakland scored 14 points in the remaining time to win the game, prompting numerous protesting calls to the network for their decision. The game forever became known as "The Heidi Bowl", and forced all networks televising football to ensure that all games would be shown in their entirety after that season.

With few exceptions, Delbert Mann returned to his TV roots throughout the rest of his career. His last effort came in 1994.

Some of Delbert Mann's films that did not receive Oscar consideration: Middle of the Night, Quick Before It Melts, The Outsider, Fitzwilly, The Pink Jungle, Kidnapped and Birch Interval.