Ernie: The Autobiography

Ernie: The Autobiography
by Ernest Borgnine
9780806529417
$24.95
Citadel Press
August 2008

My favorite quote: "I've gone from a working stiff who didn't want to set the world on fire, who just wanted to keep his nuts warm, to where I am."

I just finished reading Ernie's autobiography and gee was it swell! Written in a conversational style, you feel like Ernie is sitting right down next to you telling you in person the stories of his life and his movies. He's upbeat all the way through. Some have criticized this as being a major flaw in the book, but I think it just makes it more authentic. Ernie's a happy-go-lucky Italian guy who's led a long and interesting life and why wouldn't the writing reflect that? Why do biographies and autobiographies always have to be down and dirty tell-alls? Grab a nice hot beverage and snuggle up to a book that will keep you in high spirits as you take a journey through the life of one extraordinary hard-working and upbeat actor!

I only have one critique to make. And it's not about the book or its author (or ghost writer if there is one). It's a critique about myself. I haven't watched enough Ernest Borgnine films!!! I would have enjoyed the book more so if I had been more familiar with his films. The book is laid out with a unique structure. The first few chapters are about his childhood and his family. Once you get into the chapters about his film career, they are sections within each of the chapters. Each section is dedicated to one of his films and it goes through many of them. Ernie will chat to you about his unique experience with each film and the directors and actors he works with. He doesn't bad mouth anybody. If anything, he feels sorry for the folks he didn't like or he watched fall. So die-hard Ernest Borgnine fans (or at least those people who have seen enough of his films), this book was written for you!

You get such lines like "I had a helluva time", "Believe me, I'm not complaining", "you bet your life!" He won my heart when he said that he loved Bob Mitchum and lended his support to get Mitchum an honorary Oscar before he passed away. It didn't end up happening, but the fact that Ernie was rooting for him won me over. I heart Ernie. Ernie even addresses his ex-wife Ethel Merman's biography, which had a chapter in it called "Ernest Borgnine" followed by a blank page. He said "at least she didn't say anything bad about me".

This is not your average biography. This is probably the closest you'll get to the real thing. So go out and buy a copy! Now!!!

UPDATE ~ Work: My Classic Film Nest

My recent post about my work area was quite popular and I wanted to follow it up with a few things:

1) Hurricane Kyle must not have been a classic film fanatic, because due to all the rain and an unfortunate leak above my desk, my images of Marilyn Monroe and Spencer Tracy with Katharine Hepburn were destroyed due to water damage. It's a shame. Maybe I need laminated photographs?

2) Jonas of Lokomotivet started a new international blog called All Talking! All Singing! All Dancing!. His first post is a photograph of his work desk and a description of all the classic images posted. He has a poster of Hollywood Revue of 1929!!! Check it out. And maybe you'll notice which blog just happens to be displayed on his computer monitor? Hmmm.....

3) At my work, we hosted an author event that had a collegiate theme. Organizers posted huge college-style posters including the standards like John Belushi/Animal House, Led Zeppelin and the Tournée du Chat Noir. There was a humongous, bright pink Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's poster too! Once the event was over, the Hepburn poster quickly disappeared. My co-worker Frank immediately suspected me. However, I was absolutely NOT the culprit since I already have two obligatory Audrey Hepburn photos (one at work and one at home) and that poster was so big it would be an eyesore in my apartment. I'm suspicious that a resident Louise Brooks fan took it. She has a penchant for oversized posters and old film stars. The investigation is ongoing.

4) Bloggers - please feel free to post images of your work area on your respective blogs, like Jonas did! Give me a heads up when you do. Guest Bloggers - if you are blogless and want to participate, please e-mail me a contribution and I can post it here. Consider youserlves tagged!

The Great Depression ~ Ethay Reatgay Epressionday

I have been thinking about the economy a lot lately, especially how its going to affect myself and my family and how its going to affect American culture and business. I keep asking myself, how is our view of money and wealth going to change in this turbulent economic climate?

Something happened a couple of years ago that bothered me immensely. It was August 2005 and the MTV Video Music Awards were being held in Miami, Florida. I was watching the ceremony because my favorite new band was up for an award. Hurricane Katrina had just past by and the clouds were dark in the sky as the sun struggled to breakthrough. One of the VMA announcers declared how lucky they were to have escaped the storm unscathed. Instead of a red carpet, artists arrived with expensive luxury cars. Photographers snapped shots of the celebrities draped in their wealth. Cameras soaked up all the bling to transport those images to viewers who sat at home, their lustful eyes glued to the screen. The same Hurricane that left all those rich celebrities intact was headed start towards Louisiana to cause unspeakable destruction in an area populated with poor civilians. Why were the rich spared?

With all this talk about the state of the current economy, it got me thinking about the Great Depression. And when I think about the Great Depression, I think about the Gold Diggers films, especially Gold Diggers of 1933. There is that great number with all the ladies dressed in fake coins singing "We're in the Money". The lyrics dance in my head...

We're in the money, We're in the money,
We've got a lot of what it takes to get along.
We're in the money, the skies are sunny,
Old man Depression, you are through, you've done us wrong!
We never see a headline 'bout a bread line today;
And when we see the landlord,
We can look that guy right in the eye!
We're in the money, come on, my honey,
Let's spend it! Lend it! Send it rolling around!

Images of the girls borrowing clothes from each other, stealing the neighbor's milk and avoiding the landlady are burned into my brain. They had to be gold diggers. They had to do what they could "to get along"! I can see how audiences during the Depression would love this kind of film. They could identify with the lowly condition of the girls but also root them on as they tried to find a way out of their situation.

What about the flip side? Americans in the 1930's went to watch films in the cinemas as an escape from their current reality. They spent what little money they had at the pictures. Did they want to see films about poor people suffering? NO! They were living that reality and wanted to forget about it for an hour or two in a dark theater. So what did they go see? Films which had rich people as central characters. The Thin Man (1934), Dinner at Eight (1934), A Free Soul (1931), etc.

So what makes watching rich people in movies during the Great Depression different from viewing excessive spenders on reality shows and televised award ceremonies? Is it that the rich people in the movies are fictional so we can't really envy them because they don't exist? Where as those celebrities at the VMAs were real? How is this going to affect what we watch on screen? Will we continue to watch shows like Gossip Girl (fictional) and The Hills (Reality, bordering the line into fictional) and live vicariously through the characters or tune in simply to watch them fall? I don't know what's going to happen. I just know that what's on screen has to speak to us, otherwise audiences will go elsewhere.