Monday, July 9, 2012

‘MARTY’ AND ‘DUTCH’ DIED (Or, R.I.P., ERNEST BORGNINE)

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We interrupt today’s scheduled blog bit about what a lying, un-American, Marxist bastard Barack Obama is, to bring you the sad news that actor Ernest Borgnine has died.


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I actually had the good pleasure to meet Mr. Borgnine once. I believe it was in 1978, on location for a made-for-TV-movie called ‘Cops And Robin’. If that movie includes a scene at an amusement park (Knott’s Berry Farm), then I’ve remembered things correctly.
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At any rate, I was doing Background (or “Extra”) work in the movie business at that time, and I was working on location at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.
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Ernest Borgnine was starring in this movie, and although I rarely made it a point to speak with the actors on a set, I just felt compelled to approach Mr. Borgnine. He was sitting in his fold-out actor’s chair and we were filming a scene near Knott’s Berry Farm’s ‘Sky Cabin’ ride. I walked up to Mr. Borgnine and initiated a brief discussion. I can’t remember what I said to him but I’m sure it probably had to do with how much I loved and could relate to his performance in the movie ‘Marty’. (‘Marty’ won the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’ in 1955, and Borgnine won the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ that year.)

If you’ve never seen ‘Marty’, I can tell you that when someone says, “They don’t make movies like that anymore”, ‘Marty’ is the sort of movie that they’re referring to. It’s excellent; you should rent it!

Had it been some years later, I’m sure I would have been gushing to Mr. Borgnine about ‘The Wild Bunch’ instead of ‘Marty’, but in 1978, I hadn’t yet seen ‘The Wild Bunch’.

What can I tell you about our discussion? Well, I didn’t want to pester Mr. Borgnine, so I kept it brief, but what I do remember all these years later is that he was extremely nice, and he actually seemed to be almost as shy as his character Marty in the movie of the same name.
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Marty - Trailer

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And speaking of “Marty”, my old acting buddy in high school, Marty Brumer, and I used to do that ‘Marty’ bit all the time:
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"What do you want to do tonight, Marty?"
"I don’t know, Stephen. What do you want to do?"
(We’d usually end up going out to eat and discussing in great detail various acting techniques.) Marty Brumer and I knew the gig! My buddy Marty (whose name rhymed with “party”), as you’ll recall, was later killed by a car thief not far from the "Hollywood" sign.
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Anyway, Ernest Borgnine appeared in what was hands-down the greatest Western Movie ever made, ‘The Wild Bunch’, which I am proud to say I’ve seen twice on “The Big Screen” (at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood on March 6 & 12, 1995). Below are some cool videos pertaining to it:
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The Wild Bunch - His Word
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In this next video, Dutch Engstrom’s (Ernest Borgnine’s) laugh just before the massive bloodletting is classic! Translated into English that laugh says: We’re holding an entire Mexican army at gunpoint. This is the end for us underdogs but . . . it’s ON!”
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Wild Bunch music video
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Mo' 'bout this great Western can be found by clicking the link...
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Link:
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Tomorrow we will return to our regularly scheduled programming about what a lying, un-American, Marxist bastard Barack Obama is.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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10 comments:

  1. McDogg-

    I had not heard this.

    Sad.

    You're probably gonna think this is blasphemy, but he'll always be McHale to me!

    LC

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  2. Me again-I was surprised you did not post about Andy Griffith (unless I missed it).

    At least both actors had full careers and full lives.

    LC

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  3. There is little that should trump another blog reinforcing the fact that B.H.O. is a Marxist (and I don't mean Harpo) lying, thuggish, un-American (in more than one sense of the term) bastard.

    However, a tribute to Borgnine SHOULD put the bit on hold.

    He was indeed a great actor. He was sometimes made fun of occasionally by comedians on TV and nincompoop acquaintances of mine, but I never understood why. He was a super actor and gentleman. It is fun that you got to meet him.

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  4. DR. DISC ~
    Ha! Ya know, yer right... it IS kinda surprising that I created a blog bit honoring Ernest Borgnine after his death while failing to do the same for Andy Griffith.

    Not sure why that is, but I just follow my impulses sometimes without actually analyzing them.

    Maybe it was because I'd actually met Borgnine, and not Griffith; and maybe it was because Griffith had publicly supported Obama in his first presidential run, while Borgnine did not. If either or both of these are valid reasons explaining the odd action/inaction, they certainly weren't conscious reasons.

    I did NOT, however, let Andy Griffith's passing go unacknowledged; I posted a rather lengthy comment about it on Becky Povich's blog, which you would find here:

    http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2012/07/special-edition-andy-griffith.html


    SHEBOYGANBOY SIX ~
    Yep, I agree with you completely; Ernest Borgnine was unjustly joked about at times. It's understandable, I suppose, because he did indeed appear in a lot of stuffs that was beneath his talent (e.g., dreck like 'The Poseidon Adventure', and 'McHale's Navy', as mentioned by DiscDude).

    I guess it's sad but true, that actors pretty much have to take what work they can get. Hell, even James Dean appeared in a Pepsi-Cola commercial very early on, while scrounging for paying work.

    However, in my view, his roles in 'Marty', 'The Wild Bunch', and 'From Here To Eternity' (in which he played a pretty nasty thug) established Borgnine forever as a very good actor.

    And has any actor EVER looked more like the person they were playing in a biopic than Borgnine did when playing Vince Lombardi? Talk about "picture perfect" casting!

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  5. Dear Mr.McCarthy:

    While you do a lot of things well (I'm thinking about riding a horse, I'm sure. Ah, er... Ha, ha, ha) I do like it best when you write these 'tributes'. AND you got to meet him.

    Well done and thank you, even if I still can't see the video. I'll try again, late at night.

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  6. FAE ~
    "Dear Mr. McCarthy"?
    Seriously?

    M'dear, feel free to call me "M'lord".

    Thanks for the compliment (I'll overlook the "horse's ass"), but truthfully, it took four or five times as long to find appropriate YouTube videos as it did to knock out the "tribute's" text.

    I'm pleased you liked it, but I didn't/don't feel this was anything "special" (although I myself have been called "special" many times, and I don't think it was a compliment).

    I could crank out this kind of stuffs while in a drunken stupor. (Come to think of it... I probably WAS!)

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  7. McDogg-

    Just after I left my comment on Andy, I happened upon an article that mentioned his support of our beloved Kenyan Fraud, and wondered if that was the reason you hadn't posted.

    It also mentioned an episode called "Opie The Bird Man" that is supposedly one of the best TV episodes ever.

    I may have to try to get that from Netflix. I'm sure I saw TAGS episodes in the days of my yewt, but I canna remember a'one!

    LC

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  8. DR. DISC ~
    Yeah, I was aware of Griffith's support of O'Kenyan at the time it occurred and it really left a sour taste in my mouth. However, as I said above, if that's the reason I didn't rush to write a blog bit upon learning of Andy's death, it was purely unconscious.

    'OPIE, THE BIRDMAN' is the first episode of the 4th Season and it is one of the all-time best episodes according to the consensus of major TAGS fans (i.e., members of official fan clubs).

    'Opie, The Birdman' is somewhat different than the norm in that it does not have a lot of yucks - it's a much more serious and sentimental episode that shows Opie learning the lesson of taking responsibility for one's actions.

    I like it, but I wouldn't put it on a list of my personal all-time favorite episodes.

    On a 'Top Twenty Episodes' list printed in one of my books, the #1 best episode by TAGS Fan Club consensus is 'Man In A Hurry'. It's an episode about the slower pace of life in a small town (i.e., stop and smell the roses) and it's another more sentimental than funny choice. I like that one a lot, but I also doubt it would make my own Top 20 list.

    In fact, only 7 of the 20 on that list would likely make my personal Top 20 list. Just swimming against the stream as usual, I suppose.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  9. Current (power) is finally working as it should, at least for the next 20 minutes(gotta love the islands), so I came back for that music video.

    Now I remember this movie,(The Wild Bunch) while I won't argue it is a 'great' western, I love that scene on the exploding bridge (even though I'm sure animals were hurt making this movie - not that I like that, but I dislike PETA more), I do remember Mr. Peckinpah and his love of "factual cinematic violence' (I WAS about to eat dinner). SP had the ability to make those blood packs look more real than some today's CGI. After his movie 'Straw Dogs' I swore off SP cinema. Definitely a man's game, and not for the weak of stomach.

    Great video right up to the throat slitting, then it kinda headed south for me.

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  10. FAE ~
    Thanks for returning and commenting.

    >>...while I won't argue it is a 'great' western

    Are you saying you don't think 'The Wild Bunch' is a great Western?! I hope not, because it is THE GREATEST Western!

    It's only my second favorite Western though (top honor goes to the Lee Marvin version of 'Monte Walsh', as you know), but objectively speaking 'The Wild Bunch' (TWB) is the Best Western ever made.

    For many years I would watch TWB 2 or 3 times every 12 months and every time I did I would find something new in it - and I can't say that same thing for any other Western.

    I don't know anybody who loves Westerns more than I do, but TWB is just so rich and exciting that all others pale (rider) beside it. Except for 'Monte Walsh', only because that one is so personal to me.

    I've read a good amount about TWB and I can't recall anyone ever mentioning any horses being injured in the making of it.

    I think ALL of today's Computer Effects look totally phony - I can spot it a mile off. I long for the days when a script called for an exploding plane, the director would really blow up a plane!

    >>...Great video right up to the throat slitting, then it kinda headed south for me.

    Well, it does occur in Mexico (South of the border).

    Oh, c'mon! Don't get all "girlie" on me! One of the very best moments in the whole movie is when Borgnine laughs, then William Holden spots that German military advisor, he stands straight up and puts a bullet through the Kraut's heart.

    Oh well, guess we can't agree on everything. No big deal... just don't talk to me ever again.
    :o)

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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