There are those, like Ernest Borgnine, who have created brilliant film careers but sometimes are only remembered for the novelty of their later, less important work. This usually occurs in Hollywood when one of two things occur: an actor no longer fits the "type" of roles they once played or there are a lack of good projects for those that are considered (by the industry) to be "past their prime." Ernest has done a few disaster films, as well as inferior televison work and even accepted jobs for the paycheck (or so it seemed). But even in the lousiest of films, one always believes that Ernest has found the heart and soul of the character he is portraying. Ernie is the real deal.

Ernie as "Tough Guy"

Ernie's tough guys can be viewed as three different types: First, and also earliest in his career, was the "meathead;" These characters were ignorant and cruel. As Sgt. Fatso in From Here To Eternity he is the ultimate bully, who sadistically and cruelly bates, then destroys, Frank Sinatra's Maggio. In Bad Day at Black Rock, he is one of three small minded thugs that attempt to make life miserable for Spencer Tracy's one-armed man. In a fantastic sequence, Ernie's bully gets his at the hand of Tracy's hero who karate chops him in the throat and sends him whimpering on his way. Usually all of these characters, with their bad karmas tied around their necks, meet with a justified fate of death or humiliation (or both). Ernie's next type of toughie was that of the "reformed meathead." As Mike the Bull in The Last Command, his character's big mouth gets him into one hell of a knife fight with Sterling Hayden's Jim Bowie, in which he gets his ass kicked and arm cut open. But from this confrontation he gains a respect for Bowie and eventually fights beside him in the Texican's stand against Santa Anna's army at the Alamo. In the exciting conclusion of the film, he is wildly knifing a dozen or so Mexican soldiers before he is bayoneted by a flank of charging men and dies knife in hand and with that patten Ernie grin as a death mask. The third type is the older, wiser tough guy. He acts when necessary, is never brash and is actually quite virtuous. In no other role is this exhibited in more than as Dutch in Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece The Wild Bunch. He serves as the councilor to Pike's (William Holden) role as leader of the bunch; He remains forthright and level-headed throughout the story until the final gun battle. In possibly the greatest cinematic shoot out of all time (in my opinion, the bank heist in Heat is a close second), the bunch is finally forced to confront the Mexican army after their fellow gunfighter is killed at the hands of the drunken general. Both the soldiers and the bunch stand frozen in time, no one is quite sure as to what is to happen next. Overwhelmed by the tension of the moment, the unbearable wait for their imminent fate is too much, and it is Borgnine's Dutch who frees them all. With the release of a giddy, nervous laugh, and his legendary grin painted across his face, Dutch breaks the silence and triggers Pike to release the first shot of deadly fire, putting a bullet in the brain of the conniving German Colonel and allowing the fatal gunfight to commence. After The Wild Bunch, Ernie would go on to do lesser Western/Action picks, providing solid work in all. But it is with his role as Dutch that Ernie forever placed himself at the top of the tough guy A - list. You the man, Ernie, you the man. Must See Ernie Tough Guy Flicks: From Here To Eternity Johnny Guitar Bad Day at Black Rock The Last Command The Wild Bunch Emperor of the North *excerpt from Film This! Tough Guys - Issue #3

Coming Soon: Ernie as "Everyman"