Ernest Borgnine Movies
With a receding hairline, broad, jowly face, caterpillar eyebrows, bulgy eyes, and an incongruent but charming gap-toothed grin, versatile veteran actor Ernest Borgnine's resemblance to a pug dog pretty much relegated him to character roles, but occasionally he was given the opportunity to play leads, and when he did, proved himself a powerful performer.Born Ermes Effron Borgnino in Hamden, CT, to Italian immigrants, he spent five years of his early childhood in Milan before returning to the States for his education. Following a long stint in the Navy that ended after WWII, Borgnine enrolled in the Randall School of Dramatic Art in Hartford. Between 1946 and 1950, he worked with a theater troupe in Virginia and afterward appeared a few times on television before his 1951 film debut in China Corsair. Borgnine's stout build coupled with his homely face led him to spend the next few years playing villains. In 1953, he won considerable acclaim for his memorable portrayal of a ruthless, cruel sergeant in From Here to Eternity. He was also praised for his performance in the Western Bad Day at Black Rock. Borgnine could easily have been forever typecast as the heavy, but in 1955, he proved his versatility and showed a sensitive side in the film version of Paddy Chayefsky's acclaimed television play Marty. Borgnine's moving portrayal of a weak-willed, lonely, middle-aged momma's boy attempting to find love in the face of a crushingly dull life earned him an Oscar, a British Academy award, a Cannes Festival award, and an award from both the New York Film Critics and the National Board of Review. After that, he seldom played bad guys and instead was primarily cast in "regular Joe" roles, with the notable exception of The Vikings in which he played the leader of the Viking warriors.
In 1962, he was cast in the role that most baby boomers best remember him for, the anarchic, entrepreneurial Quentin McHale in the sitcom McHale's Navy. During the '60s and '70s, Borgnine's popularity was at its peak and he appeared in many films, including a theatrical version of his show in 1964, The Dirty Dozen (1966), Ice Station Zebra (1968) and The Wild Bunch (1969). Following the demise of McHale's Navy in 1965, Borgnine did not regularly appear in series television for several years. However, he did continue his busy film career and also performed in television miniseries and movies. Notable features include The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Law and Disorder (1974). Some of his best television performances can be seen in Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Ghost on Flight 401 (1978), and a remake of Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). In 1984, Borgnine returned to series television starring opposite Jan Michael Vincent in the action-adventure series Airwolf. The series ended in 1986; his career has continued to steam along though he generally plays much smaller roles. Between 1995 and 1997, he was a regular on the television sitcom The Single Guy. In 1997, he also made a cameo appearance in Tom Arnold's remake of Borgnine's hit series McHale's Navy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
- NR
- Add Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders to QueueAdd Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders to top of Queue
Merlin the wizard and his wife Zurella time-travel to the 20th century to set up a special magic shop. They bring with them some funny magical critters in hopes of inspiring his clients. Though many people believe he is indeed the Merlin the Magician, reporter Jonathan Cooper remains skeptical and so tries to prove the old sorcerer a fake. Trouble comes to the shop when a toy monkey with potent powers is stolen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernest Borgnine, George Milan, (more)
- 1992
- R
Successful character actor Barry Primus spent seven years trying to get financing for his feature debut as a writer-director, Mistress. In the film, a once-promising writer-director, Marvin Landisman (Robert Wuhl), who now directs instructional videos, is sitting home one night, watching his own print of Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion, when he gets a strange phone call. A producer, Jack Roth (Martin Landau), formerly a bigwig at Universal, tells Marvin he was cleaning out his office when he came across Marvin's old script, "The Darkness and the Light." Jack claims he can get financing to make the film, and agrees to Marvin's stipulation that he be attached to direct. They "take a meeting" at a low-rent diner, and Jack brings along a gung-ho novice screenwriter, Stuart (Jace Alexander), to help Marvin polish the script. They meet with three potential backers, played by Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello, and Robert DeNiro, each one more meddlesome than the last, and each with a girlfriend (played by Tuesday Knight, Jean Smart, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, respectively) whom they demand be cast in the film. At first, Marvin adamantly resists changing his serious, downbeat, and very personal script, about an painter who commits suicide, rather than betray his ideals. But eventually, Marvin gets caught up in the momentum of actually getting his dream project made, and starts compromising. He agrees to cast the three women; he agrees to make the script funnier and sexier; he even agrees to change the painter to a photographer to please his backers. Laurie Metcalf plays Marvin's long-suffering wife, and Christopher Walken has a cameo as a tortured actor. Mistress was the first film produced by DeNiro's independent production company, Tribeca Films. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wuhl, Martin Landau, (more)
- 1991
"A Thieves Christmas" and "The Gift" are read by a grandfather who finds his grandchildren lacking in the spirit of the Christmas season. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1990
After witnessing the cruelty of the dreaded SS, a German Naval officer begins to question his allegiance to the floundering Nazi party in this WW II drama set near the end of the war. He is stationed upon an island and is helping to prepare a missile attack on Washington, D.C. when the SS slaughter all the civilian residents there. Compounding the officer's dilemma is the fact that he has fallen in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this action adventure tale, Professor Braun (Ernest Borgnine), an expert in weapons technology, is kidnapped by Soviet terrorists who intend to force him to make a high-tech laser cannon for them. Intelligence agents Michael Gold (Brandon Lee) and Alissa (Debi A. Monahan) are sent in by the CIA to rescue him and recover a cache of stolen diamonds before it's too late for Braun and the world at large. Laser Mission marked Brandon Lee's first starring role in a U.S. feature film, three years before his tragic death while shooting The Crow. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1990
John Savage plays a roving reporter on assignment in Africa. While nosing around in the jungle, Savage stumbles upon an unregenerate Nazi war criminal. As he mulls over what do with this information, the Nazi continues laying the groundwork for a worldwide neofascist conspiracy. Despite the presence of such thespic heavyweights as William Hickey and Ernest Borgnine, Any Man's Death never quite lives up to its potential. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Savage, William Hickey, (more)
- 1990
Appearances began life as a 2-hour TV pilot film. A Midwestern family tries to carry on after the sudden death of the family's son. Everyone puts up a brave public front, but the artifice results in gradual erosion of family solidarity. Ernest Borgnine fares best as the clan's patriarch. Appearances never developed into a series, though it has been released to home video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
In this mystery, based on a novel by L.A. Morse, retired L.A. detective Jake Spanner enlists the aide of a group of senior citizens to help him find an ex-mobster's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
This action-adventure film is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. In the story, Colonel Smith (Ernest Borgnine) is an aging military man whose son is a CIA agent. His son has been captured by a bevy of iron-curtain bad-guys involved in a civil war in the African country of Angola, and Col. Smith is determined to rescue him. He puts together a group of military types to effect the rescue, and runs afoul of all sorts of nefarious characters in the process, including an East German military advisor (Robert Vaughn) and a shady diamond company security chief (Oliver Reed). Lovely Sam (Nancy Mulford) adds visual interest to the rescue team, and manages some dandy hand-to-hand combat moves. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernest Borgnine, Robert Vaughn, (more)
- 1989
In this comedy/drama, teen-aged Tony (Bentley C. Mitchum) has never known who is father is. Together with his best buddies Peter and Susan, he tracks down the clues he has as well as he can. Meanwhile, the twin brother of a Spanish priest has set out from where he lives in order to find his son, whom he has never met. (The priest and his twin are played by Christopher Mitchum.) The two search parties meet in the village where the priest lives, giving rise to all sorts of misunderstandings - for instance, that the priest was the father, and not his twin brother, whose existence no one else knows about. This leads to all sorts of trouble for the priest from his diocesesan bishop (Ernest Borgnine) and other priests. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Mitchum, Robi Rosa, (more)
- 1989
- R
After witnessing her boyfriend's killing by gangsters, a woman escapes to Florida with the mob hot on her trail. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Blair
- 1988
- R
An up-and-coming prizefighter inadvertently entangles himself with the mob after he saves a young woman's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Made for television, this is the third sequel to the popular war adventure. This time, a group of rag-tag soldiers must somehow shape up and take on a group of Nazi soldiers who are riding the Orient Express to Istanbul to establish their latest empire. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
In this comedy drama, Spike Fumo (Sasha Mitchell) is a Brooklyn streetfighter with pugilistic aspirations. With Spike's mafioso father in Sing Sing, mobster and former fighter Baldo Cacetti (Ernest Borgnine) looks out for Spike by getting him some bouts and every once in a while convincing the fighter to throw a match. When Spike meets and falls for Baldo's daughter Angel (Maria Patillo), Baldo suddenly sours on Spike. The father wants Angel to marry the college-bound son of a cocaine-snorting congresswoman (Sylvia Miles), and Baldo only envisions Spikes' future as being a mob enforcer. Eventually, Spike moves away from his embittered lesbian mother (Geraldine Smith) and moves in with the Puerto Rican boxer Bandana (Rick Aviles). He soon has two women pregnant in two different neighborhoods as he contemplates his future. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
A small community must band together in order to oust the criminals running their town in Big Turn Around. Legion (Rick Le Fever) thinks he has a small South Western town under his thumb; he smuggles drugs, guns, and even people through it and over the border with Mexico. What he doesn't know is that a humble priest (Ernest Borgnine) and a down-on-his-luck doctor (Bryan Cranston) are hatching a plan to take their community back once and for all. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Jerry Orbach makes a return appearance as Boston P.I. Harry McGraw, who in this episode has given up sleuthing to enter the world of professional boxing. No, Harry hasn't donned the gloves himself, but he is a suspect in the murder of a crooked boxing manager. Enter Jessica (Angela Lansbury), who has inherited a percentage of the dead man's prize boxer, and who of course is convinced that her old friend Harry is innocent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The second television film to capitalize on the classic original, The Deadly Mission concerns another team of convicts, this time assigned to rescue Nazi scientists working on a chemical-weapons project. Telly Savalas plays a different role than he did in the original (unlike Ernest Borgnine). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1986
In this drama, a man who is unjustly imprisoned escapes, and soon the manhunt is on. After a stranger (John Ethan Wayne) buys two horses at an auction in Tucson, he stops to water them on the property of rancher Ben Robeson (Ernest Borgnine). The unscrupulous rancher sees an easy mark, so he accuses the stranger of stealing the horses from his stables and ultimately gets him thrown in jail for three years. Determined to get revenge against the rancher, the stranger escapes with justice on his mind. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ethan Wayne, Raimund Harmstorf, (more)
The third season of Airwolf continues to spotlight its title "character," a state-of-the-art helicopter with a full arsenal of high-tech weaponry and the capability to fly anywhere at the fastest possible speed without the necessity of refuel. Still in charge of Airwolf are maverick pilot String Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent), his mechanic buddy Dom Santini (Ernest Borgnine), and spunky female pilot Caitlin O'Shaughnessy (Jean Bruce Scott). And, as before, the Airwolf team accepts various dangerous assignments -- ranging from rescue missions to thwarting government takeovers -- from Michael Archangel (Alex Cord), the mysterious, white-suited emissary from the Firm, the top secret organization for whom Airwolf was created. Naturally, the Firm would like Airwolf all to themselves, but the fiercely independent String continues to hold off turning the vehicle over to them until his brother, a MIA from the Vietnam War era, is located and rescued. Keeping a close eye on the Airwolf team's activities is another rep from the Firm, the bold and beautiful Marella (Deborah Pratt) -- formerly a series regular, now a recurring character. Canceled by CBS at the end of season three, Airwolf would return to the airwaves courtesy of cable's USA Network beginning in January of 1987 -- but not without several sweeping cast changes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1985
The first of two full-length television sequels which reprise the 1967 original, finds two convicts (Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine) again forced to lead a suicide mission behind enemy lines. This time, they head into Germany to thwart an unbelievable plot to assassinate Hitler. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
- 1984
This made-for-Disney drama is the fact-based account of Morris Frank (Timothy Bottoms), who, during the 1930s, trained America's first seeing-eye dog. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
