Delbert Mann

Plays on Stage, Plays on TV, Plays on Film, Movies on TV... and Scene

Delbert Mann—who isn't to be confused with that depressing cartoon shlub Dilbert—began his career as a regional theater director, then spent a large chunk of his time doing pretty much the same thing on TV in a teleplay series called the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse.

It was there he met Marty writer Paddy Chayefsky, who insisted that Mann be hired when the script made the jump onto the silver screen (source).

This jump got Mann his first film credit and his first and last Academy Award, as well as the Cannes Palme d'Or. Though he made a couple handfuls of other movies, none were critically notable, and soon he returned to the small screen to make TV movies for another three decades or so.

Story in the Driver's Seat

Because Mann was so used to directing live performances, Marty doesn't deviate much from this style: The actors often work in the same smallish space or sequence of spaces, working out each scene until it's time for a switch. He prided himself on harmony on the set, and the actors who worked with him admired his ability to sit back and "let the story tell itself" (source).