Aahana Swrup
Set in the year 1952, ‘Marty Supreme’ is a story that encapsulates the grit and mettle that go into the pursuit of the great American Dream. The sports drama film follows Marty Mauser, a young man who has a singular dream in his life: to become a table tennis star on a global stage. Achieving this dream comes with high effort and skill level, a dash of luck, and the right contacts. Milton Rockwell holds the ability to be the latter for the young athlete after the two cross paths through a strange series of events. The millionaire businessman, who built an empire on stationery manufacturing, holds the means to easily get the ping-pong prodigy to his international tournament matches when his own pockets run empty. However, any promises of a beneficial deal between them suffer under the weight of Marty’s pride and his ill-advised affair with Rockwell’s wife, Kay Stone, a former Hollywood starlet. Consequently, the millionaire adds a dynamic layer to the table tennis player’s storyline.
Milton Rockwell is a Fictional Businessman Who Reflects the Cultural Popularity of Ping Pong in 1950s New York
‘Marty Supreme’ is a largely fictitious story that finds partial inspiration in a real-life table tennis player, Marty Reisman, who rose to popularity in the 1950s. However, the athlete only serves as a source of inspiration for the titular protagonist, Marty Mauser, whose narrative is loosely based on the former’s career. As a result, since the overarching storyline explored in the film remains detached from reality and, particularly, Reisman’s actual career, most of the other on-screen storytelling elements are rendered entirely fictitious. This is true for Milton Rockwell, the wealthy businessman who becomes an integral part of Marty’s journey toward success. In real life, there’s no direct counterpart for the character.
Even so, Rockwell’s role in Marty’s storyline highlights a fascinating aspect of table tennis as it rose to prominence in New York City in the 1940s and 1950s. Reportedly, the New York table tennis club that Reisman frequented entertained a variety of interesting patrons across many walks of life. From UN diplomats to regular joes and stockbrokers to Hollywood actors like Dustin Hoffman, Bobby Fischer, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and more, many personalities could be spotted at the Riverside Table Tennis Club in that era. As a result, it’s not far-fetched to imagine a businessman like Rockwell might have found himself taking an interest in an up-and-coming young table tennis player. Nonetheless, while plausible, Rockwell’s character retains no actual roots in history.
For the most part, he remains a complete work of fiction created in the service of the narrative. Interestingly enough, there’s a captivating story behind the casting of the character. Kevin O’Leary, the Canadian businessman known for his work on ‘Shark Tank,’ steps into his debut acting role with Milton Rockwell in ‘Marty Supreme.’ As the story goes, the multi-millionaire was on top of Director/co-writer, Josh Safdie’s list for the role. O’Leary told Entertainment Weekly about the process and said, “Over a year ago, I got a phone call from Josh (Safdie), and he said, I am casting for a movie called ‘Marty Supreme,’ and there’s a role in it called Milton Rockwell. He’s the richest man in America in 1952, and we’re looking for a real asshole — and you’re it.” The ‘Shark Tank’ investor’s lived reality as a cutthroat businessman allowed him unique insight into his character. As a result, even though Rockwell is of fictional origins, he finds a realistic depiction on-screen.
Read More: Marty Supreme: Is Koto Endo Based on a Real Japanese Table Tennis Player?
