TCM Schedule for Saturday, August 23, 2014 -- Summer Under The Stars - Ernest Borgnine

[Staph]

Today's Stella Estate is Ernest Borgnine, born Ermes Effron Borgnino, on January 24, 1917, in Hamden, Connecticut. After the success of RED (2010), his final Hollywood studio film, Ernest Borgnine always held out hope he'd be around to reprise his role as Henry the records keeper in the 2013 sequel. When interviewed in April 2012, he mentioned there was talk about it over the years and made one request to the producers - "I told them if they do it, I want to carry a gun this time" He kept in touch with screenwriters Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber and, in the end, would have had a major role in a sequence at the start of the movie. When Ernest passed away three months prior to the start of production, his scenes were reconfigured and would feature an uncredited Titus Welliver. Enjoy!



6:00 AM -- Go Naked in the World (1961)
A powerful businessman opposes his son's involvement with a woman with a past.
Dir: Ranald MacDougall
Cast: Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Franciosa, Ernest Borgnine
C-103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Based on the book by Tom T. Chamales. Upon its release, Bosley Crowther gave the film a scathing review: "Here is a film that its producer — not the censor, not anybody else; just its producer — should have taken out and burned."


8:00 AM -- Season of Passion (1961)
Two men continue a traditional summer rendezvous only to discover that life has changed for them all.
Dir: Leslie Norman
Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Anne Baxter, John Mills
BW-94 mins, Letterbox Format

According to the book the "Australian Film & TV Companion" by Tony Harrison, "Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth and James Cagney were originally to have starred".


9:45 AM -- The Catered Affair (1956)
A working-class mother fights to give her daughter a big wedding whether the girl wants it or not.
Dir: Richard Brooks
Cast: Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds
BW-94 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

The church where the wedding is held is the Church of St. Augustine, which was located in the Bronx on Franklin Ave. between East 167th and 168th St. The church was built in 1894. By 2009, St. Augustine's had fallen into such a state of disrepair that the building could no longer be used. With membership in the parish having dwindled to around 300, St. Augustine's was closed in 2011. The parish church, rectory and convent were demolished in 2013 to make way for subsidized housing.


11:30 AM -- The Bounty Hunter (1954)
A bounty hunter attempts to track down three killers.
Dir: Andre DeToth
Cast: Randolph Scott, Dolores Dorn, Marie Windsor
C-79 mins, CC,

Filmed in 3D, but released only in standard 2D version.


1:00 PM -- Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis
C-82 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Director -- John Sturges, and Best Writing, Screenplay -- Millard Kaufman

Ironically, this movie based around anti-Japanese bigotry was originally titled "Bad Day at Honda", long before the Honda brand was familiar in the US. One reason the title was changed was to avoid any confusion or repetition with a recent John Wayne picture called Hondo (1953).


2:30 PM -- Torpedo Run (1958)
A submarine commander is forced to blow up a Japanese prison ship carrying his family.
Dir: Joseph Pevney
Cast: Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Diane Brewster
C-95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie and Harold Humbrock

Borgnine's character Archer 'Archie' Sloan's name is a likely reference to the U.S.S. Archerfish, which in 1944 sank the Japanese super-carrier Shinano, the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine.


4:15 PM -- Ice Station Zebra (1968)
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Dir: John Sturges
Cast: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan
C-152 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Daniel L. Fapp, and Best Effects, Special Visual Effects -- Hal Millar and J. McMillan Johnson

Patrick McGoohan was filming his famous TV series The Prisoner (1967) at the time he appeared in this movie. In order to allow him to take time off from his TV series, the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" was written in which McGoohan's character, Number Six, has his mind transferred into the body of another man. "The Girl Who Was Death" was also altered so that No 6 wore a Sherlock Holmes disguise, so that his double Frank Maher could film a lot of the scenes.


7:00 PM -- Private Screenings: Ernest Borgnine (2009)
Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine sits down with Robert Osborne to discuss his life and career.
C-58 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Borgnine on Paul Newman's passing:" What can you possibly say about such a wonderful, dedicated man? He was a great guy. I feel he is much better off, God bless him, I feel so sorry for his wife, Joanne Woodward, who is just the most lovely person, too. But, hey, he left his mark, God bless him, and you can't say no more than that, by golly. He left not only that, but he left a wonderful thing that he'd been doing for everyone - I mean, donating all his money from different things that he's done to help children."



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: THE ESSENTIALS: ERNEST BORGNINE



8:00 PM -- Marty (1955)
A lonely butcher finds love despite the opposition of his friends and family.
Dir: Delbert Mann
Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
BW-94 mins, CC,

Won Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Ernest Borgnine, Best Director -- Delbert Mann, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Paddy Chayefsky, and Best Picture

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Joe Mantell, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Betsy Blair, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Joseph LaShelle, and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Ted Haworth, Walter M. Simonds and Robert Priestley

Delbert Mann had no idea who to cast in the lead role, so asked his friend Robert Aldrich. Aldrich immediately suggested Ernest Borgnine. Mann was skeptical, as Borgnine was only known for playing heavies, but Aldrich convinced him. Borgnine regularly says that he owes his career to Robert Aldrich.


10:00 PM -- Pay or Die (1960)
A policeman attempts to crack down on organized crime "protection" rackets.
Dir: Richard Wilson
Cast: Ernest Borgnine, Zohra Lampert, Alan Austin
BW-111 mins, Letterbox Format

Remake of The Adventures of Lieutenant Petrosino (1912).


12:00 AM -- The Badlanders (1958)
Western outlaws join forces for a daring gold robbery in this remake of The Asphalt Jungle.
Dir: Delmer Daves
Cast: Alan Ladd, Ernest Borgnine, Katy Jurado
C-84 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

When Alan Ladd observes Sam Edwards being flogged inside the Arizona Territorial Prison, he does so with a practiced eye having been flogged himself in "Two Years Before the Mast" (1946) and "Botany Bay" (1953).


1:30 AM -- The Wild Bunch (1969)
A group of aging cowboys look for one last score in a corrupt border town.
Dir: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
C-145 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Material Not Previously Published or Produced -- Walon Green (screenplay/story), Roy N. Sickner (story) and Sam Peckinpah (screenplay), and Best Music, Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical) -- Jerry Fielding

After filming the scene where Ernest Borgnine and William Holden sit by a campfire and their characters vow they "wouldn't have it any other way", it was hard for director Sam Peckinpah to yell, "Cut!" because he was crying.


4:00 AM -- The Split (1968)
A gang of thieves plots to rob the Los Angeles Coliseum box office during a Rams game.
Dir: Gordon Flemyng
Cast: Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, Ernest Borgnine
C-89 mins, Letterbox Format

The game footage early in the movie is of an actual Rams-Falcons game, played on December 3, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Rams did win the game by 20-3, but it was a normal regular season game, not a "playoff".