The Bridges At Toko-Ri

In November 1952, off the coast of Korea, U.S. Navy helicopter pilots Mike Forney and Nestor Gamidge rescue bomber pilot Lt. Harry Brubaker from the icy Pacific after Harry is forced to ditch his damaged plane. Mike, who wears an emerald green top hat and scarf during his rescues, delivers Harry safely to the deck of his aircraft carrier, which is under the supervision of Rear Adm. George Tarrant. Impressed with Harry’s professionalism, George later advises him to pursue a career in the Navy, but Harry disdains the notion. Harry, a lawyer in civilian life, complains about being recalled to duty after serving in World War II and questions why America is fighting in Korea. After responding that America must fight in order to keep Communism in check, George states that a successful attack on the bridges at Toko-Ri would greatly help the war effort. George then reveals that Harry’s wife Nancy and young children, Kathey and Susie, are in Tokyo, where the crew is due for a five-day leave. Later, as the ship is approaching Tokyo, Cmdr. Wayne Lee, who heads Harry’s air group, argues with George about the berthing procedure, which he feels is overly stressful for his pilots. When George criticizes him for going over the ship captain’s head and jeopardizing his chances of promotion, Wayne backs down, and George laments privately that Wayne is a weak officer. Upon docking in Tokyo, Harry joyfully reunites with Nancy, while Mike reunites with his Japanese girl friend, Kimiko. Harry and Nancy then join their daughters at a hotel in Fujisan, where George also is staying. That evening, Nestor finds Harry at the hotel bar and beseeches him to help Mike, who, he explains, was arrested by MPs in Tokyo after brawling with a sailor over Kimiko. Harry agrees to intercede, and while he drives to Tokyo with Nestor, in Fujisan, George gently lectures Nancy about facing up to the grim realities of war. George, who lost two sons during World War II, tells Nancy about his daughter-in-law and wife, both of whom were destroyed psychologically by the war. Nancy takes George’s words to heart and, after Harry returns, having bailed the heartbroken but feisty Mike out of jail, insists that he stop protecting her and talk about his upcoming mission in Toko-Ri. Harry describes the strategically vital, heavily fortified bridges, which span a narrow gap between two mountains, and the difficulty he will have in bombing them.

Though disheartened, Nancy states that in order to survive emotionally, she, too, must face the bridges at Toko-Ri. After Harry and his family make the most of their time together, enjoying a dip in a public bath, Harry bids Nancy goodbye at the dock. Later, in preparation for the Toko-Ri bombing, Harry, Wayne and other pilots escort a plane equipped with a motion picture camera to photograph the Korean defenses there. Although the mission is successful, Wayne overshoots his on-deck landing and breaks the net barrier, forcing Harry to land without a barrier. Under pressure, Harry executes a perfect landing, but after viewing the Toko-Ri footage, which shows the camera plane flying through a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, is filled with dread. Wayne notices Harry’s unease and advises him to bow out if he is unsure of himself. Harry declines and takes off with the other pilots. Despite heavy enemy flak, the bombers blow up all the bridges, and Wayne decides to continue the mission and shell secondary targets. Harry’s plane is hit and he is forced to crash-land in the hills. After a rough landing, Harry jumps from his wrecked plane and hides in a nearby irrigation ditch, but is soon spotted by enemy soldiers. Armed with only a pistol, Harry is relieved when Mike and Nestor’s helicopter arrives, but the Koreans immediately disable the craft and kill Nestor. Although the American bombers return to strafe the Koreans, Harry and Mike are eventually cornered in the ditch and killed. Later, when questioned by George, Wayne firmly defends his decision to continue the mission after the bridges were bombed, and though greatly saddened by Harry’s death, George admits that Wayne, like Harry, is a “good man” after all.

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Cineastes may have dismissed Borgnine for his occasionally broad performances and roles in campy B-movies, but the actor was a favorite of film directors Delbert Mann, Robert Aldrich and Sam Peckinpah. He was a solid television presence in the 1960s on “McHale’s Navy” (ABC, 1962-66), during the 1980s in “Airwolf” (CBS, 1984-86), and in the new millennium as a superhero voice on “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Nickelodeon, 1999- ).

To fans of classic Hollywood, Borgnine was recognized as a versatile performer who was equally adept at playing all-too-human heroes as he was hissable villains.

Born Ermes Effron Borgnine on Jan. 24, 1918 in Hamden, CT, he was the only child of immigrant parents from Northern Italy. After his parents separated when he was two, he lived in Italy with her mother before returning to the United States at the age of five. After graduating high school in 1935, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was discharged in 1941.

When the United States entered World War II, he re-enlisted and served until 1945. After returning to civilian life, Borgnine labored at various factory jobs, but he found little enjoyment in a blue-collar career. Sensing his disillusionment, Borgnine’s mother suggested that his larger-than-life personality and imposing presence might be positive qualities for an actor.

In agreement, he enrolled at the Randall School of Drama in Hartford, CT. After graduation, he joined the well-regarded Barter Theater in Abington, VA, and honed his craft while working odd jobs at the theater. Finally, a break came in 1949 when he landed a supporting role in a Broadway production of “Harvey” with Joe E. Ross.

Flush with success, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1951 and began landing supporting roles in films and on live television shows. His large frame, boxer’s face (which frequently flashed his trademark gap-toothed smile) and husky tone made him a natural for heavies – so not surprisingly, he made his first impression on movie audiences as “Fatso” Judson, the vicious enlisted man who kills Frank Sinatra’s Maggio in “From Here To Eternity” (1953).

Borgnine’s forceful turn in the Oscar-winning Best Picture led to other bad-guy roles in major films, including the Western “Johnny Guitar” (1954) and “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955) – in which he portrayed one of the local heels who threaten Spencer Tracy.

In 1955, director Delbert Mann approached Borgnine to play the lead in a feature film version of Paddy Chayefsky’s TV drama, “Marty.” The original star, Rod Steiger, was unavailable, so Borgnine was tapped to play the title character – a lonely Bronx butcher who finds love with a shy schoolteacher (Betsy Blair). Borgnine’s heart-rending performance earned him Academy Awards for Best Actor in the United States and Britain, as well as a Golden Globe.

No longer relegated to villain status, the newly minted star enjoyed a wide variety of roles throughout the 1950s and 1960, including a cuckolded rancher in the Western “Jubal” (1956), the cabdriver husband of Bette Davis in “The Catered Affair” (1956), a Norse chieftain in “The Vikings” (1958) and a Mob-busting New York cop in “Pay Or Die” (1960).

In 1962, Borgnine starred in an episode of the anthology series, “Alcoa Premiere” (ABC, 1961-63) as the commander of a WWII Navy PT boat crew that had gone native while avoiding Japanese patrols in the South Seas. The episode later served as the launching pad for “McHale’s Navy” (ABC, 1962-66), a broad service comedy that enjoyed healthy ratings during its network run.

The hit show even spawned two theatrical features, “McHale’s Navy” (1964) and “McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force” (1965) – though Borgnine did not participate in the latter, due to scheduling conflicts with his role in Robert Aldrich’s superior adventure film, “The Flight of the Phoenix” (1965). Years later, Borgnine would re-team with his “McHale” co-star Tim Conway to provide the voices of aging superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy for the popular animated series, “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Nickelodeon, 1999- ).

After “McHale’s” concluded its network run, Borgnine returned to a busy schedule of film appearances in Hollywood and abroad. Among his better projects were the WWII action flick “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), again for Robert Aldrich; 1968′s “Ice Station Zebra,” in which he played a duplicitous Russian for his “Bad Day at Black Rock” director John Sturges; and as the sympathetic Dutch Engstrom, second in command of “The Wild Bunch” (1969) for Sam Peckinpah.

Borgnine also appeared in several Italian westerns and action films during this period and was the first “Center Square” on “The Hollywood Squares” (NBC, 1965-1982) when it premiered in 1965.

Borgnine became even busier in the Seventies, though the quality of his films seemed to vary from project to project. No matter, though – his performances were consistently believable. Borgnine was the morally questionable New York cop who survived “The Poseidon Adventure” (1973) and a brutal conductor locked in combat with a willful train-hopping hobo (Lee Marvin) in Robert Aldrich’s violent “Emperor of the North Pole” (1973).

He even played real-life boxing coach Angelo Dundee opposite Muhammad Ali (as himself) in “The Greatest” (1977). Borgnine also stole scenes as the sadistic boss who was devoured (“Tear him up!”) by Bruce Davison’s trained rats in “Willard” (1971) and re-teamed with Peckinpah for the truck-driving action pic, “Convoy” (1978).

In many cases, Borgnine was the best part of his films – he was the sole high point of the wretched Satanic thriller “The Devil’s Rain” (1975), for which he endured a ridiculous make-up job which turned him into a ram-headed devil, and survived the box-office debacle that was Walt Disney Pictures’ live action sci-fi adventure, “The Black Hole” (1979).

During this period, Borgnine even found time to pop up on television, most notably as a celebrity guest on “The Dean Martin Show” (NBC, 1965-1974), but also as a series regular on the short-lived sci-fi program, “Future Cop” (ABC, 1976-77) and as a worldly-wise soldier in Delbert Mann’s moving adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1979). Borgnine received an Emmy nomination for his performance in this production.

The Eighties provided less substantial roles for Borgnine, but the actor, who was entering his sixth decade, showed no signs of slowing down or losing interest in his craft. Episodic television provided a steady flow of work for him, and he enjoyed a renewed burst of popularity as the jocular co-pilot and sidekick to taciturn hero Jan-Michael Vincent in the action series, “Airwolf” (CBS, 1984-1986).

But there were interesting supporting roles for Borgnine throughout the decade, including the enthusiastic Cabbie in John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” (1981), the menacing leader of a rural religious community in Wes Craven’s little-seen “Deadly Blessing” (1981), and as J. Edgar Hoover in the Jimmy Hoffa/Robert Kennedy drama, “Blood Feud” (1983).

But for the most part, Borgnine passed the decade in obscure low-budget productions on both sides of the Atlantic. When pressed, he simply stated that he liked to work.

And he continued to work throughout the 1990s, albeit in largely unseen independent films or foreign productions. He did enjoy the occasional guest shot on an episodic television series, and had a few fun turns – most notably in a reunion with many of his surviving “Dirty Dozen” co-stars, who voiced a squadron of animated toy commandos in Joe Dante’s “Small Soldiers.”

His expressive voice made him a natural go-to for cartoon voice-over work, and he could be heard in the “All Dogs Go to Heaven” sequels and series (ABC/Fox Family, 1996-99), among many others. Borgnine also made a brief return to sitcoms with the tepid comedy “The Single Guy” (NBC, 1995-97), for which he earned a smattering of press that trumpeted his “comeback;” however, even a passing glance at his endless list of credits made it clear that Borgnine had never entirely gone away.

The relative slowdown of his career allowed Borgnine to indulge in a passion for driving around the country in a customized motor home, from which he would meet and talk with people in small towns. His wanderlust was the subject of a short documentary, “Ernest Borgnine On the Bus” (1997). Borgnine also frequently appeared in print and television ads for a cosmetics company owned by his fifth wife, Tova.

Borgnine had been married a total of five times – prior to Tova included Mexican actress Katy Jurado and Broadway star Ethel Merman, whom he famously divorced in 1964 after just 32 days. His first marriage produced one child, while a fourth marriage to Donna Rancourt from 1965 to 1972 gave him two more children.

As the 1990s flowed into the 21st century, Borgnine was introduced to a new audience when he was cast in a recurring voice role as Mermaid Man, a television superhero admired by absorbent man-boy “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Nickelodeon, 1999- ) on the top-rated cable cartoon.

He was back in front of the camera playing a chauffeur wooing a small-town grandmother (Eileen Brennan) in the direct-to-video release “The Last Great Ride” (1999), and his booming baritone was tapped again to narrate the documentary “An American Hobo” in 2002. Borgnine earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for his starring turn as a retired song-and-dance man in the TV movie, “A Grandpa for Christmas” (Hallmark, 2007), while reflecting on his own history in showbiz with the release of the 2008 memoir Ernie.

He further added to his historic resume with a guest appearance in the series finale of NBC’s Thursday night staple “ER” (NBC, 1994-2009), offering a performance as a grieving widower that was recognized with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor.

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In principle the desire of their parents was to study medicine, but his bad behavior at school led to his expulsion from the Phillips Academy and joining the U.S. Navy.

When I was fighting in World War I, Bogart suffered in a boat accident that left him paralyzed his upper lip, making this a significant physical tara speech.

After completing the Great War, Bogart returned to the Big Apple and start his career as a stage actor with William S. Brady.
After passing through Broadway with little success he moved to Hollywood to try to seek his fortune in the movies, getting his debut in a short musical called “Broadway’s Like That” (1930), which would films like “A devil with women” (1930) and “Upstream” (1930), a prison comedy directed by John Ford.
His classic type of drive would be established in those years 30, when he starred for a number of Warner titles in the psychology of his characters had been defined by an attitude rarely inclement and imperturbable.

Among them, films like “Bullets or Ballots” (1936), William Keighley’s film co-starring Edward G. Robinson, “The Petrified Forest” (1936), a film by Archie Mayo which also involved Bette Davis and Leslie Howard, “Dead End” (1937), directed by William Wyler, “Marked Woman” (1937) Lloyd Bacon and Bette Davis, “The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse” (1938), a curious and magnificent title directed by Anatole Litvak in which they shared credits again with Edward G. Robinson, “Angels with Dirty Faces” (1938) by Michael Curtiz and James Cagney and Pat O’Brien as co-stars or “The Roaring Twenties” (1939), directed by Raoul Walsh film was played by Cagney.

Humphrey Bogart was a very handy player for Warner but his status was far from being a big star in Hollywood.
Begin the 40 was ended at 30, showing Bogie gangster in “Brother Orchid” (1940) Lloyd Bacon.
Before starring in the two titles that would raise to stardom, Bogart appeared in “They Drive by Night” (1940), a great film by a great director, Raould Walsh. With the same director starred “The last refuge” (1941), a beautiful title that became one of the most acclaimed of its protagonist, confirmed acclaim for starring in the directorial debut of John Huston, The Maltese Falcon ” (1941), film in which Bogart played in a superb detective Sam Spade. From there, the New York actor became one of the great icons of cinema.

The next year, “Casablanca” (1942) by Michael Curtiz would make him an idol and a legend for all generations moviegoers.

The number of master titles Bogart starred in the decade of the 40 is overwhelming, “Sahara” (1943) Zoltan Korda, “Have and Have Not” (1944), Howard Hawks key title, which helped him learn to love of her life, Lauren Bacall, “The Big Sleep” (1946), also directed by Hawks, “The Dark Passage” (1947) in Delmer Daves, “Dead Reckoning” (1947) John Cromwell, “Key Largo” ( 1948) by John Huston, The Treasure of Sierra Madre “(1948) again with Huston or” Knock on Any Door “(1949), a film co-starring John Derek and directed by Nicholas Ray.

Friendly, sports-loving, independent (had set up his own production company called Santana Pictures) and committed (he was one of the main supporters of the protest in Washington against the Witch Hunt), Bogie was also a celebrity and a beloved character out of the screen.

If the forties were good for his film career, the fifty continue the same course. “In a Lonely Place” (1950) by Nicholas Ray, “The African Queen” (1951) directed by his friend John Huston, “The Fourth Estate” (1952), a story about journalism signed by Richard Brooks, “The Barefoot Countess “(1954) by John L. Mankiewicz, “Beat the Devil” (1954) by John Huston, “The Caine Mutiny” (1954), directed by Edward Dmytryk title, “Sabrina” (1954) Billy Wilder, “Desperate Hours” (1955) by William Wyler and his latest film, the masterpiece by Mark Robson set in the world of boxing, “The Harder They Fall” (1956) assume the title of a recent extraordinary films.

For his performance in “The African Queen” (1951), Humphrey Bogart get the best actor Oscar, having as co-nomination for Montgomery Clift in “A Place in the Sun”, Marlon Brando for “A Streetcar Named Desire” Fredric March in “Death of a Salesman” and Arthur Kennedy’s “New Dawn”. His last nomination would be for “The Caine Mutiny”, getting the prize Marlon Brando for “On the Waterfront.”

Although married four times, the most important woman to always be Bogey Lauren Bacall, with whom he married in 1945. Was previously married to actress Helen Menken, Mary Phillips and Mayo Methot.
Bogie died on January 14, 1957 in Hollywood because of throat cancer. He was 58.

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Carole Lombard life and legend