Det Jim McLeod Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 He would have been 102 years old today He is the only actor to appear twice in my personal top ten of all time.(the first two on the list below) 1. "Marty"-well deserved Oscar as the lonely Bronx butcher. 2. "From Here To Eternity"-one of the meanest,most sadistic villains ever on screen. 3. "The Poseidon Adventure"-the greatest disaster movie ever made. Borgnine is one of the standouts in a great cast. 4. "Bad Day At Black Rock"-another great grinning bad guy,takes a karate chop from one armed Spencer Tracy 5. "Jubal"-excellent performance as a cuckholded husband in a great western. 6. "Pay Or Die" a starring role as a heroic Italian cop battling the Black Hand,one of his more underrated films. 7. "The Catered Affair" he is great as another nice everyman, good chemistry with Bette Davis. 8. "Hannie Caulder" he is the leader of a trio of slimy western villains, gorgeous Raquel Welch seeks revenge. 9. "Violent Saturday"a small role,but a memorable one,as an Amish farmer who wields a mean pitchfork. 10. "Willard" I had to get this guilty pleasure in there, as the boss from hell who gets his just desserts from an army of rats. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I liked him as Vaslov, the untrustworthy Russian defector in the 1968 Cold War thriller "Ice Station Zebra." The film, which featured an all-star cast headed by Rock Hudson, reunited Borgnine with "Bad Day at Bad Rock" director John Sturges. And I've added one made-for-television production. In "Portrait: Legend in Granite," a 1973 ABC Movie of the Week, Borgnine channeled Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) -- the legendary Green Bay Packers head coach of the late 1950s and 1960s. The bio focused on Lombardi's takeover of the perennially losing NFL team in 1959. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Ernest Borgnine was in a lot of good films at the beginning of his career, where he had minor roles. So are we choosing the best films he appeared in, or are we choosing films that were great because of his performance? At any rate... My selections: 1. MARTY (1955). A star turn if ever there was one. An unlikely hit, it put him in the big leagues. 2. THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956). I've always enjoyed this one. I think he and Bette Davis are perfectly cast, and I love Barry Fitzgerald's character. The younger leads are good too. 3. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953). Honestly Borgnine is the one I remember least in this movie. 4. JOHNNY GUITAR (1954). My favorite 50s western. Borgnine doesn't have a very substantial role. 5. THE BADLANDERS (1958). Another good 50s western. He's second-billed, after Alan Ladd. 6. EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE (1973). He's brilliant in this offbeat drama directed by Robert Aldrich. 7. ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968). It's slow in spots but Borgnine helps enliven things. 8. JUBAL (1956). An enjoyable Columbia western. He and Glenn Ford teamed up again for TORPEDO RUN two years later. 9. THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972). Cheesy. Gooey. Extra cheese. 10. BUNNY O'HARE (1971). He and Bette Davis pair up again, this time in a countercultural comedy. A fun film. Wish TCM would air it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det Jim McLeod Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 12 minutes ago, TopBilled said: Nice list Jim. He was in a lot of good films at the beginning of his career, where he had minor roles. So are we choosing the best films he appeared in, or are we choosing films that were great because of his performance? 4. JOHNNY GUITAR (1954). My favorite 50s western. Borgnine doesn't have a very substantial role. EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE (1973). He's brilliant in this offbeat film. 10. BUNNY O'HARE (1971). He and Bette Davis pair up again, this time in a countercultural comedy. Such a strange yet fun film. Wish TCM would air it. You can use your own judgement on your choices, just list personal favorites rather than the "best" films Even though I have seen "Johnny Guitar" I don't even recall Borgnine in it. I want to see "Emperor Of The North" as Borgnine and Lee Marvin are one of best tag team of tough guys in movie history. "Bunny O'Hare" is one I would like to see out of curiosity, even if it turns out to beneath them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt_Markoff Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I was outraged when his passing got hardly any fanfare or attention. Cliff Robertson too. It should have been major news. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I like most of the ones already listed, as well as The Vikings, Escape from New York, and The Dirty Dozen. His role in the last was brief, but I always liked his alternately annoyed and bemused general. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det Jim McLeod Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 8 minutes ago, LawrenceA said: I like most of the ones already listed, as well as The Vikings, Escape from New York, and The Dirty Dozen. His role in the last was brief, but I always liked his alternately annoyed and bemused general. "The Vikings" is one I want to rewatch, I remember it most for Kirk Douglas as the one eyed viking, but it was a good return to villainy for Borgnine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom of the Backlots Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Det Jim McLeod said: He would have been 102 years old today He is the only actor to appear twice in my personal top ten of all time.(the first two on the list below) 1. "Marty"-well deserved Oscar as the lonely Bronx butcher. 2. "From Here To Eternity"-one of the meanest,most sadistic villains ever on screen. 3. "The Poseidon Adventure"-the greatest disaster movie ever made. Borgnine is one of the standouts in a great cast. 4. "Bad Day At Black Rock"-another great grinning bad guy,takes a karate chop from one armed Spencer Tracy 5. "Jubal"-excellent performance as a cuckholded husband in a great western. 6. "Pay Or Die" a starring role as a heroic Italian cop battling the Black Hand,one of his more underrated films. 7. "The Catered Affair" he is great as another nice everyman, good chemistry with Bette Davis. 8. "Hannie Caulder" he is the leader of a trio of slimy western villains, gorgeous Raquel Welch seeks revenge. 9. "Violent Saturday"a small role,but a memorable one,as an Amish farmer who wields a mean pitchfork. 10. "Willard" I had to get this guilty pleasure in there, as the boss from hell who gets his just desserts from an army of rats. Hi, Pay or Die was a nice mafia depiction, filmed in 1960. This film was shot extensively on Lot 2. It is a really nice piece. Gene Kelly made a similar movie. It was called The Black Hand, one of his two non-musicals. I worked on Airwolff, starring Ernest Borgnine and Jan Michael Vincent. On set, what you saw was the professionalism of Borgnine and his many years in show business...a polished, class act, all the way. But sorry to say, Jan Michael Vincent was "out to lunch," in this series. His addictions were at their peak. He often couldn't be found when he was needed. And when he finally arrived on set, Borgnine would him the once over. This was not his first TV series on this lot. McHale's Navy was filmed here in the early sixties, which is Universal TV, which was called "Revue" studios, in the credits. Edited January 24, 2019 by Phantom of the Backlots added something 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonCole Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Sgt_Markoff said: I was outraged when his passing got hardly any fanfare or attention. Cliff Robertson too. It should have been major news. Yeah, but Cliff got into all that trouble where he went around telling the truth about certain declasse industry issues so he became a pariah, poor guy. I like anything Borgnine was ever involved with, except maybe for Ethel Merman though I'm not so big on McHale's Navy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougieB Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 His career was a long one, with lots of exceptional performances, but what I really love about him was that he'd give his best effort to many other films which were maybe marginal at best. He definitely was no acting snob, going where the work was and doing what he was hired to do with total dedication. He was in a few of my favorite 1960's stinkers and added his own special touch to each. In The Legend of Lylah Clare he was the blowhard studio head. In The Oscar he was a private eye digging up dirt on the "hero". And in Go Naked in the World, which I actually like a lot, he was the tycoon/patriarch dealing with the fact that his son's fiancé was actually a call girl well-known to him and his buddies. It was a good-sized role of an over-sized character; he had major scenes with his son, daughter and wife as the family kept unravelling and he managed to keep it real throughout. And, of course, Marty was sublime, which is why it seems to be the favorite of so many people. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det Jim McLeod Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 14 minutes ago, DougieB said: And in Go Naked in the World, which I actually like a lot, he was the tycoon/patriarch dealing with the fact that his son's fiancé was actually a call girl well-known to him and his buddies. It was a good-sized role of an over-sized character; he had major scenes with his son, daughter and wife as the family kept unravelling and he managed to keep it real throughout. I want to see this one, sounds interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 I'm a child of the 80s. So of course the first time I'd ever seen Ernest Borgnine on screen, it was watching episodes of Airwolf. Here he is in the opening credits: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 For Me The Mob (1951) Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) Marty (1955) Jubal (1956) The Catered Affair (1956) The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) The Wild Bunch (1969) Emperor of the North (1973) Escape from New York (1981) Renegade (2004) Sort of a Spaghetti Mystic Western.Ernest Borgnine as the wheelchair bound sheriff called "Rolling Star." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 1 hour ago, cigarjoe said: For Me The Mob (1951) I debated mentioning this one. It's number 11 on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 My top 10 favorite films Ernest was in, in chronological order; The Mob From Here to Eternity Johnny Guitar Bad Day at Black Rock Marty Jubal Man on a String The Flight of the Phoenix The Dirty Dozen The Wild Bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsan404 Posted January 25, 2019 Share Posted January 25, 2019 He's always been one of my favorite actors. Marty From Here to Eternity Emperor of the North Pole The Poseidon Adventure Bad Day at Black Rock The Dirty Dozen The Wild Bunch Willard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spauldingd Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 I read this thread just to make sure Marty was listed #1. Good job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 On 1/24/2019 at 11:18 AM, LawrenceA said: I like most of the ones already listed, as well as The Vikings, Escape from New York, and The Dirty Dozen. His role in the last was brief, but I always liked his alternately annoyed and bemused general. I was about to ask how anyone could forget Dirty Dozen, before realizing I had forgotten the Cabbie from Escape From New York. Not specifically a Borgnine role, but I remember seeing BTS footage of George Lucas working on designs for Obi-Wan's street-informer diner pal from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones ("Dexter Jettster", for the trivia-curious), trying to explain the minor unhistoried bit-character to his SFX crew: "He's sort of a guy who's got his own business, knows what's going on, and hears all the word on the street, he's...well, he's Ernest Borgnine, basically." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer5 Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 I really enjoy Borgnine in From Here to Eternity and The Catered Affair. He's also great in The Simpsons. I also loved him in The Poseidon Adventure. His greatest moment however is as "Mermaid Man" in Spongebob SquarePants. My husband and I went to The Spongebob SquarePants Movie on our first date. Lol. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhov Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 56 minutes ago, speedracer5 said: I really enjoy Borgnine in From Here to Eternity and The Catered Affair. He's also great in The Simpsons. I also loved him in The Poseidon Adventure. His greatest moment however is as "Mermaid Man" in Spongebob SquarePants. My husband and I went to The Spongebob SquarePants Movie on our first date. Lol. Yeah, I saw that one as a kid. His nemesis (The Dirty Bubble) was played by Charles Nelson Reilly, of Match Game 74 fame. It was the last screen appearance for both actors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 The Wild Bunch Emperor of the North Marty From Here to Eternity Sunday in the Country Chuka The Adventurers The Dirty Dozen Jubal Bad Day at Black Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts