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"Oh, crap."
Marty's last words.

Marty Gilbert was the manager of Compact Cable in New York City and a friend of his employee David Levinson.

Biography[]

Marty was known for his perpetual state of high anxiety and this is compounded by his stressful job of operations manager for one of the largest cable providers in America. His job was, in his words, "to be in charge of every little thing."[1]

During the War of 1996, Marty's company was having trouble dealing with the interference appearing in every network television caused by the aliens' arrival. Marty quickly accosted David for his help to solve the problem; in which David reassured Marty that he could find a way to block the interference, thereby also allowing Compact Cable to be the only company broadcasting a clear picture in New York. Marty was delighted by David's solution in which he expresses his enthusiasm by kissing David on the lips.

By the time David was cracking the interference's codes, Marty and his employees were watching a news broadcast about the strange phenomenon appearing in the skies. Upon learning one such phenomenon was heading for New York, Marty evacuated his employees into the building's old bomb shelter before realizing to call his mother.

After the arrival of the City Destroyer over New York, Marty was cowering under a desk and on a telephone trying to calm his mother until David told him to tell his mother to immediately leave for Atlanta. Marty does so before demanding an explanation from David; in which the latter explains to Marty about the interference's ties to the aliens as part of a global coordinated attack on Earth, to Marty's horror.

Although Marty attempted to leave New York, he was trapped in a traffic jam and was killed when the City Destroyer fired its weapon on the city, with his car (with him still inside) being crushed beneath debris.

Gallery[]

Memorable Quotes[]

"There's no shame in hiding. Oh, I'd better call my mother."
―Marty to David after evacuating his employees.

"Oh, my God! Oh my God! I gotta call my brother, I gotta call my housekeeper, I gotta call my lawyer. Nah, forget my lawyer."
―Marty reacting to David's explanation of the aliens' plans to attack.

Appearances[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Marty's planted kiss on David was ad-libbed by Harvey Fierstein and was cut out from the theatrical release. The scene is restored in the Special Edition.
  • The line, "Eh, f*ck my lawyer," was said by Harvey Fierstein and the expletive was dubbed over with "forget" in the final cut.[2]
  • While stuck in traffic, Marty demands over his cellphone that he speak with Dr. Katz. The doctor is a reference to Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist in which Harvey Fierstein himself was previously a guest character on the show.[3]
  • In the original script, Marty sends his wife and children to Atlanta, rather than his mother. This change may have had to do with casting openly gay actor Harvey Fierstein in the role.

References[]

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