Armchair Commentary

Ernest Borgnine, 1917- 2012

Actor Ernest Borgnine, who died on July 8th, 2012 at 95, had a career so long that how he will be remembered will depend on your age bracket. For the World War II generation, he will forever be either Sgt. “Fatso” Judson, Frank Sinatra’s nemesis in 1953’s From Here to Eternity, or else the title character in 1955’s Marty, which brought him an Oscar; movie buffs will also know that he was one of both The Dirty Dozen and The Wild Bunch. For baby boomers, Borgnine is synonymous with Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale on the mid-'60s sitcom McHale’s Navy (some may also recall that he was the very first "center square" on The Hollywood Squares in 1965), while TV viewers in the ‘80s will know him as Jan-Michael Vincent’s sidekick in Airwolf. And so it goes, through literally hundreds of big and small screen roles right up into the new millennium, when the actor, then well into his nineties, found a whole new audience as the voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants.

Born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917, in Hamden, CT, Borgnine was the son of Italian immigrants. He turned to acting after spending ten years in the Navy, his first big break coming when he debuted on Broadway with a role in Harvey in 1949. Four marriages, including one to Ethel Merman that lasted all of one month (in her biography, Merman’s chapter about that union consisted of one blank page), ended in divorce before he married the former Tova Traesnaes in 1973.

In 2007, Borgnine became the oldest Golden Globe nominee ever, at 90, for the TV movie "A Grandpa for Christmas." It came 52 years after his only other Globe nomination, for "Marty," which he won. Although he didn't win that second time, Borgnine was as gracious as could be about it.

--Sam Graham

Andy Griffith Dies at Age 86

Andy Griffith, one of television's most treasured icons, passed away at the age of 86. Here's hoping they're biting in heaven's fishing hole. Griffith may be gone, but we will always have Mayberry, the rural haven that Griffith's Sheriff Andy Taylor presided over with a firm hand, country smarts, and down-home charm.

If you grew up in the 1960s, I'll bet you couldn't help but get a little verklempt once Earle Hagen's timeless, finger-snapping The Andy Griffith Show theme kicked in during Ron Howard's hilarious and heartwarming 2008 "call to action" for Barack Obama, in which Howard, clad as Opie, was reunited with his TV dad. In 2004, TV Guide ranked Andy Taylor TV's eighth greatest patriarch. Only eighth? Watch the Season Three episode "Mr. McBeevee" in which Andy's unshakable faith in his son is rewarded when Opie's suspect imaginary friend turns out to be a real person. Andy should have been much higher in the standings. As the rock solid anchor of that show, Griffith should also at least have been nominated for an Emmy, but he was snubbed throughout the show's eight top-rated seasons. It was up to the TV Land Awards to recognize him and his show with its coveted Legend Award in 2004.

With Andy Tayor and foxy, folksy Southern lawyer Matlock under his belt, Griffith's legacy is secure, but there are some fascinating aspects to his career that might get lost in the outpouring of tributes. Griffith got his start as a comedian, a sort of hillbilly monologist. His most famous routine was "What it Was Was Football," in which a rube unwittingly attends his first football game. He adapted other routines, such as his re-telling of "Romeo and Juliet," for The Andy Griffith Show. He was also a fine dramatic actor, exploring the dark side of the strapping, gregarious country boys he so indelibly embodied. A career benchmark is A Face in the Crowd, in which he portrays Lonesome Rhodes, a drifter who becomes a dangerously powerful TV demagogue. In 1981, he was nominated for his only Emmy for his sinister turn in Murder in Texas. Griffith kept working over the course of his more than 50 year career. In 2007, he earned accolades for a rare big screen appearance as a curmudgeonly diner owner in the sleeper hit Waitress. There are so many ways to celebrate his career. The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock are available on DVD. His comedy and gospel music recordings are out on CD. He wrote his autobiography, I Appreciate It: My Life, scheduled for publication in 2010. But let's end this on a characteristically modest and touching grace note, Brad Paisley's 2009 music video, in which Griffith, as a sage, overalls-bedecked elderly gent, offers an impatient Paisley advice on "Waitin' on a Woman." --Donald Liebenson

Amazon Studios Announces Winners of $1.1 Million in Annual Awards

Congratulations to 12 Princesses and Origin of a Species, the projects selected today by a panel of top industry judges to receive Annual Awards totaling $1.1 million from Amazon Studios, the movie-development arm of Amazon.com.

“It has been an exciting year for Amazon Studios. We received projects from all over the world and have enjoyed collaborating with filmmakers and screenwriters to develop their original stories,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “Choosing the best test movie and the best script was extremely challenging; with thousands of projects submitted it was difficult to recognize only two.”

The $1 million Best Test Movie Award went to 12 Princesses, the musical tale of a farmboy who risks his heart (and his life) to discover how royal sisters escape each night from the imprisonment of their mad father. Rob Gardner of Mesa, Ariz., wrote and directed the test movie, based on his stage musical version of the Grimm fairy tale of “The 12 Dancing Princesses.”

“It was really well received and, since then, I’ve felt like it would make a great film,” Gardner said. “When I heard about the Amazon Studios contest on NPR, it sounded like the perfect avenue to try to get such a movie made.”

12 Princesses and other top Amazon Studios test movies are available to download or stream for free at the Amazon Studios site, and at Amazon Instant Video.

The $100,000 Best Script Award went to Origin of a Species, the story of a former police officer whose German Shepherds are infected with rabies and terrorize a small, Midwestern community. Brooklyn-based screenwriter Matthew Gossett said his story has roots in reality: “I used to work with a guy in Cincinnati who was embroiled in a property line dispute with his elderly neighbor, and as their confrontations escalated, I wondered what would happen if chaos erupted. This screenplay is about chaos fed by humans and set loose upon a town.”

Annual Awards judges included Lawrence Bender (producer, Inglourious Basterds), Akiva Goldsman (writer, A Beautiful Mind), Trevor Groth (director of programming, Sundance Film Festival), Alexander Payne (writer/director The Descendants) and Courtenay Valenti (Executive Vice President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures).

More than 7,000 scripts and 700 test movies have been submitted to Amazon Studios since its launch in November 2010. And in the past year, dozens of scripts, test movies and trailers have been awarded nearly $2 million.

Emmys Best & Worst Moments

This year's Emmys likely threw all oddsmakers off their game, because a lot of the "should win but won't" contenders actually took home a trophy this year (more on that in a minute). Though Modern Family dominated the Comedy category such that host Jane Lynch at one point said "Welcome to the Modern Family Awards," there was still plenty of trophy love to go around. Speaking of Lynch, the Glee star proved a very game Emmys host, throwing herself into the song-and-dance opening number that has become requisite for these events. While she didn't have as many sight gags and good one-liners as previous hosts Jimmy Fallon and Neil Patrick Harris (her take on Jersey Shore was totally unnecessary), her effusiveness still carried the ball well. On the downside, there was some spice missing from the presenters (no Steve Carell, no Stephen Colbert to perk up a telecast), which ranged from bland to awkward at times.

You can see the complete list of winners & nominees here as well as buy past winners at Emmy Central. Here's a rundown of highlights and lowlights for this year's awards.

BEST

• Amy Poehler, who years ago rallied her fellow nominees into wearing funny eyewear when their names were called, was likely the culprit behind this beauty-pageant reinvention of the Lead Actress in a Comedy category. Poehler and the other contenders actually ran up to the stage during the reading of the nominees, then stood holding hands and shedding pre-emptive tears (Tina Fey). Then, when Melissa McCarthy's name was called, everything from the camera zoom to the rose bouquet and crown that appeared made this a true "winner" moment, which was not only hysterical but heartwarming in that whole female empowerment vein. No wonder there was a standing ovation *before* the winner was announced.

• Host Jane Lynch's opener featured her appearance in a number of TV series. While this is nothing new, her interaction with the Mad Men cast was fantastic, particularly when a) Lynch hit on Peggy, b) Roger Sterling tried to imagine "watching the Emmys on your phone" by putting the handset up to his eyes like binoculars, and c) Don Draper ordering Lynch out the door when she suggested in the future people would fast-forward commercials.

• What a swan song for Friday Night Lights, which finally picked up some Emmy love, including Kyle Chandler for Lead Actor in a Drama. The only downside here is that he beat Jon Hamm, who was finally about to pick up his first win for his finest work to date on Mad Men.
• Critical favorite Margo Martindale (Supporting Actress in a Drama for Justified) was also a surprise winner but a deserving one, totally screwing over anyone's predictions. The tearful reactions from her castmates Walton Goggins and Timothy Olyphant says it all.

• The wife of Steven Levitan (creator, Modern Family), who gave the camera some priceless eye-rolling while her husband discussed their sex life in front of millions.

• The medley by Lonely Island, which livened up a buttoned-up awards show like the Emmys (sample tunes: "Three-way," "I Just Had Sex"). It's not every day you see Michael Bolton in guyliner (watch the original SNL digital short here). Bonus for having John Stamos, Ed Helms, and Maya Rudolph sub for Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga. Best part: when they "freaked Bill Macy."

• The Office-set sketch involving a revolving door of characters from other shows, interviewed mockumentary-style: Law & Order SVU's Mariska Hargitay, Castle's Nathan Fillion were among those interviewed in character. And Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul sold crystal meth to Creed. Ha!

WORST

• Lynch employed a Celebrity Doo-wop group called the Emmytones (including Zachary Levi, Joel McHale and Taraji P. Henson) who sang introductions to the genres during the telecast (comedy, drama, reality series). This sounded good in theory, but the singers were neither funny nor impressive. However, it did get me to look up what else Wilder Valderrama has ever sung on YouTube.

• The horrible voice-overs accompanying the winner's walk to the podium, which were intended to be dry and witty but were awkward and corny at best. Sample: "Julian (Fellowes) is British. And he lives England." "Ty Burrell was a linebacker at Hidden Valley high. His mascot was not shaped like a bottle of salad dressing."

• Yet another gag involving Sofia Vergara where her accent gets made fun of. It's happened every awards show; it's getting old now.

• The rehabbed Charlie Sheen appeared to wish the cast and crew of Two and a Half Men all the best; however, he half looked like he was holding back the urge to add something scathing. And it didn't help that Jon Cryer and new star Ashton Kutcher poked fun at him in a later appearance.

• Drew Barrymore, producer of the new Charlie's Angels show, appearing with the show's stars to say that "Hollywood loves a legacy" and she's "passing the torch." Does anyone even remember that movie? Is Charlie's Angels considered a legacy?

MEMORABLE QUOTES
"I don't know what I'm going to talk about in therapy now." --Julie Bowen, winner of Supporting Actress in a Comedy

"I'd like to thank my dog sitter, Kitty, for taking care of my dog, Kevin." --Peter Dinklage, winner of Supporting Actor in a Drama

“There are so many movie stars doing TV now that TV stars have been forced into providing voices for video games. And those very same video games are then turned into movies starring the very same people who put the TV stars out of work in the first place. Hakuna Matata, my friends, circle of life?” --Jane Lynch

"I got to have sex with Kate Winslet many, many times... thank you for allowing me to insert myself into your world of Mildred. And to my wife Kate, for having to listen to me talk about that every day... Thank you my darling, and I'm sorry." -- Guy Pearce, winner of Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

"A lot of people are very curious why I'm a lesbian. Ladies and gentleman, the cast of Entourage." --Jane Lynch

"We are showing the world that there's absolutely nothing wrong with a loving, committed relationship between an old man and a hot young woman. Looking around this room, I see many of you agree." — Steven Levitan, accepting for Modern Family

What did you think of this year's Emmys? --Ellen

"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" Star Andy Whitfield Dies at 39

More sad news today: Spartacus: Blood and Sand star Andy Whitfield, who was battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, died today at the young age of 39.

The Welsh-born actor was diagnosed in March 2010, and Starz halted production of season two and filmed a six-episode prequel instead called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena while Whitfield was undergoing treatment. Whitfield was declared cancer-free two months later, but a recurrence and the need for aggressive treatment forced him to announce he could not return for the second season. Under his blessing, Starz cast Aussie actor Liam McIntyre (HBO’s The Pacific) a few months later to assume the title role in what is now titled Spartacus: Vengeance.

 “On a beautiful sunny Sydney spring morning, surrounded by his family, in the arms of his loving wife, our beautiful young warrior Andy Whitfield lost his 18-month battle with lymphoma cancer,” Whitfield’s wife Vashti said in a statement cited by the Associated Press. “He passed peacefully surrounded by love. Thank you to all his fans whose love and support have help carry him to this point. He will be remembered as the inspiring, courageous and gentle man, father and husband he was.”

--Ellen A. Kim

Cliff Robertson: 1923-2011

Cliff Robertson, the handsome leading man who acted steadily for several decades, including in the recent Spider-man film, has died at age 88. Robertson died on Saturday, Sept. 10, of natural causes at a hospital on Long Island, N.Y.

Robertson was born on Sept. 9, 1923, in Southern California, and first made an impression on the big screen in 1955's Picnic. His handsome good looks and self-assured persona would guarantee that Robertson would steadily work from them nearly until his death. While still a relative youngster, he hammed it up as the surfer dude Kahuna in the 1959 film version of Gidget, opposite Sandra Dee.

Robertson's career eventually turned more serious. He memorably played John F. Kennedy in the World War II action film PT 109, and then went on to win an Oscar for his touching portrayal of a mentally disabled man who's given an all-too-brief look at the life he might have lived in 1968's Charly. He also steadily worked on TV series from The Twilight Zone to Falcon Crest, while appearing in films through 2007. In 1983 he portrayed an assured but vaguely distasteful Hugh Hefner in Star 80. And in 2002, he appeared as Uncle Ben Parker in the first Spider-Man film. Robertson also played a very different sort of role--as whistleblower in a strange check-forging scandal in the late '70s that involved David Begelman, then the head of Columbia Pictures. Robertson received a tax form saying he'd been paid $10,000 by Columbia for the previous year, but he hadn't worked for Columbia. After notifying the police with no action having been taken, he contacted the FBI, which found that such a check had been cut, and Robertson's forged signature applied to it. Travelers checks had been paid out--but Robertson hadn't received any of that money. Once the scandal came to light, Begelman was convicted of several crimes (though he went on to a successful producing career before he took his own life in 1995). Robertson was well liked by his Hollywood peers and kept a good sense of humor and perspective about the vagaries of acting. "This isn't exactly a stable business," he once cracked to a reporter. "It's like trying to stand up in a canoe with your pants down." Luckily for Robertson's fans, he took that canoe for several rounds around the lake. He'll be missed. -- A.T. Hurley

 

Cliff Robertson Essentials

Charly

Spider-man

Picnic

Gidget

PT 109

  Star 80

The Twilight Zone, Season Two 

Sunday in New York

Just One More Thing: Peter Falk: 1927-2011

Actor Peter Falk, best known for the Columbo TV series and television movies, died Thursday in his Beverly Hills home at the age of 83. He suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Clad in his rumpled raincoat, Lieutenant Columbo cemented his image in the public's consciousness, but five-time Emmy winner Falk's contributions to cinema also deserve credit. Best known on the big screen for popular comedy The In-Laws and Wim Wenders' art house hit Wings of Desire, Falk became part of John Cassavetes' repertory company before turning to television for most of his career (conversely, Cassavetes honed his chops on TV before transitioning to film). (Below, a clip of Falk with Cassavetes and Ben Gazzara in 1970's Husbands)

Born in New York City, Falk lost his right eye at age three due to a malignant tumor, but went on to play Little League, become high school class president, serve in the merchant marine as a cook, and get a master's degree from Syracuse University.

After working as a management analyst in Hartford, Conn., and dabbling in theater, he returned to NYC in 1955 to act full-time. Not long after relocating to Hollywood, he received Oscar nods, for 1961's Murder, Inc. and 1962's Pocketful of Miracles. Of his five Emmys, four were for Columbo, while the first was for an appearance on 1961's The Dick Powell Show. His friend, Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner, scooped up two Emmys of his own for guesting on Columbo.

Falk made his debut as the disheveled Los Angeles detective in 1968 telefilm Prescription: Murder, while the series ran on NBC from 1971-78, followed by 39 movies on NBC through 2003. In 2000, the readers of TV Guide voted him their favorite sleuth after Jim Rockford. Of his character, Falk said, "He has a sly sense of humor, is by nature polite and totally devoid of pretension." Two of his more prominent protégés include Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Robert Goren and Monk's Adrian Monk.

Other noteworthy Falk projects include off-Broadway's The Iceman Cometh (with Jason Robards), Broadway’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue (for which he won a Tony), Elaine May's Mikey and Nicky (with Cassavetes), Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective, Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride, and the four films he made with Cassavetes, especially Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes also appeared in a 1972 episode of Columbo).

In 2006, Falk recounted his life story in Just One More Thing. Two years later, his daughter, Catherine, revealed that her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease (a former PI, she failed in her bid to take conservatorship of his affairs). Peter Falk is survived by Shera Danese, whom he married in 1977, and Catherine and Jackie, his adopted children with first wife Alyce Mayo. --Kathy Fennessy

Saying Goodbye to Kenickie

After a long-documented battle with drugs and alcohol, 60-year-old Jeff Conaway died after being taken off life support while in a medically induced coma. The actor had been found unconscious in his home. Conaway's manager Phil Brock told the Hollywood Reporter that the actor had overdosed on painkillers. However, Dr. Drew Pinsky, who worked with Conaway on Celebrity Rehab, tweeted that the actor that the actor was suffering from pneumonia and sepsis, a possibly deadly blood infection.

Conaway was best known for his role as Kenickie, in the 1978 film Grease. He had played John Travolta’s role of Danny Zuko on the Broadway stage, but on film Conaway made bad-boy Kenickie come alive with lines like, “A hickie from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card, when you only care enough to send the very best!” 

He went on to star as Bobby Wheeler in the television show Taxi for three seasons and was nominated for two Golden Globe awards for the role.  His role as a luckless actor on that show seemed to foreshadow the ups and downs of his career. Though he had success for three years on the TV show Babylon 5, his post-Taxi career primarily consisted of made-for-TV movies and short-lived series, such as Wizards and Warriors and Berrengers.

Conaway was born on Oct. 5, 1950 and had his first Broadway role at age 10 in All the Way Home, opposite Lillian Gish and Colleen Dewhurst. His first film was 1971’s Jennifer on My Mind, in which he co-starred with a young Robert De Niro. Conaway played a heroin addict in the film. He guest starred on TV shows such as Barnaby Jones, Happy Days, and Mary Tyler Moore, before finally landing the role of Kenickie.

In recent years, Conaway became famous for his stints on Celebrity Fit Club and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. On Dr. Drew’s show he revealed that he’d been an addict since his teen years and admitted to suicidal thoughts. 

In 2010, the actor fell in his home and suffered a broken hip, broken arm, brain hemorrhage, and fractured neck. 

Conaway’s co-stars never forgot him. Taxi co-stars Marilu Henner and Tony Danza reportedly visited him in his final days, and Travolta reportedly offered to pay for the actor to go back into rehab. 

“He’s a wonderful man,” Brock told Reuters prior to Conaway's death, “As a human being, he’s the person who’d literally give the shirt off his back for someone.” -- Paige Newman

 

"Titanic" Coming to 3D: Will You Watch?

Paramount and 20th Century Fox announced today that James Cameron's Titanic will be re-released in 3D on April 6, 2012, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the ship's sailing.

Like most of the world, I watched this back in 1997 in the theater (3rd row, it was pretty crowded even on a Monday night), and even in 2D I remember feeling like I was actually bobbing in the water with the passengers, out in the vast, pitch-black ocean. While Titanic has its many, many detractors, the conversion to 3D will be an intriguing one given that the only film that has made successful use of 3D since it hit the mainstream is Avatar, also directed by Cameron.

How will the epic scenes play out in 3D? The boarding of the ship, the submarine exploration, "I'm flying!" and of course, the entire last hour of the film. Would you watch it again in 3D? What other older films do you think might actually benefit from a 3D conversion? --Ellen

Director Sidney Lumet Dies

Director Sidney Lumet died today at the age of 86. The Philadelphia-born, five-time Oscar nominee went on to become the consummate New York director. In the pantheon of Big Apple greats, he ranks with Martin Scorsese and William Friedkin, though his style was often more intimate (Lumet was a master of cramped spaces, as exemplified by 12 Angry Men and The Pawnbroker).

He got his start as a child actor in the 1930s before transitioning to television and film in the 1950s, and embraced digital technology in the 2000s (he shot Before the Devil Knows You're Dead in hi-def, and vowed to shoot all subsequent movies the same way).

Throughout his career, Lumet collaborated with top actors and writers (notably Al Pacino, Sean Connery, and Paddy Chayefsky) and tackled a variety of genres (though he remains best known for his crime classics). After the success of 2007's Devil, he signed a three-picture deal, a remarkable feat for a director well past retirement age.

Career highlights include Fail-Safe (which inspired a remake with George Clooney), 12 Angry Men (which generated an Oscar-nominated Russian edition), Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Hill, Serpico, Murder on the Orient Express, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Prince of the City, and Q&A.

Like Scorsese and Friedkin, Lumet was specifically associated with the corruption-filled NYC of the 1970s, and his morally complex pictures hold their own with Mean Streets and The French Connection. Like his contemporaries, he also had his share of flops, such as The Wiz and Garbo Talks, in which the normally flexible helmer lost his footing.

Aside from his accomplishments for stage and screen, Lumet wrote Making Movies, a clear-eyed look at his career and a practical primer for filmmakers Roger Ebert claims it "has more common sense in it about how movies are actually made than any other I have read." Lumet is survived by his fourth wife, Mary (they wed in 1980), and daughters Amy, a sound editor, and Jenny, the scribe behind Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married.

Lumet’s films have garnered 31 Academy Awards, including wins for Ingrid Bergman and Peter Finch, who played the Network newscaster who shouted, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" But it's best to let David Mamet, who penned Lumet's The Verdict, have the last word. “Sidney," he once said, "is the maestro.” --Kathleen C. Fennessy

See Also: Sidney Lumet's Essential Films