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Ernest Borgnine and Andy Griffith

Sadly, earlier this month movie fans lost two more classic Hollywood stars: Andy Griffith on July 3 and Ernest Borgnine on July 8. During their long careers in both films and on television, I'm sure one could find many connections between these two actors. For one, both acted in an adaptation of the story From Here to Eternity. Borgnine played Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson in the 1953 film version and Griffith played General Barney Slater in a six part television mini-series. Both starred in successful 1960s television comedies: Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show and Borgnine in McHale's Navy. But, the one connection I'm thinking of involves Midwest Street on the Warner Bros. studio lot.

Griffith & Myron McCormick in No Time For Sergeants.

In the film No Time For Sergeants (1958) Griffith plays a country bumpkin who gets drafted into the Air Force. At the beginning of the film, Griffith is brought into town and handcuffed because he is considered a draft dodger. The town is Warner Bros. Midwest Street and the location is used as the pick up spot for all the new recruits who are going to be whisked away to the Air Force base.

Borgnine in Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Twelve years later Borgnine would be on Midwest Street for the film Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970). In this film Borgnine plays a tough sheriff of a small southern town that is located near an Army base. Midwest Street is used as the location for the southern town and like in No Time For Sergeants, Midwest Street is where the new recruits are picked up to be taken to base.

I've previously done film location posts for both of these movies. You can see the locations for No Time For Sergeants here and for Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? here.

No Time For Sergeants stars Andy Griffith as a dim witted country bumpkin who gets drafted into the Air Force. Griffith's character, Will Stockdale, is similar to the character Forrest Gump, but whereas the people around Gump always benefited from his help, Stockdale always brings more trouble for those around him, especially Sergeant King, Stockdale's barracks sergeant. Sergeant King, a career military man who has found success by managing to stay under the radar by "not making waves" finds his steady career in jeopardy with simple minded Stockdale under his command.

Griffith is hilarious in this comedy. Yes, he could be funny on the Andy Griffith Show, but he is really, really funny in No Time For Sergeants. His comic timing and delivery are perfect. Myron McCormick, Nick Adams, and future Andy Griffith Show co-star Don Knotts also star in No Time For Sergeants.

In my post on the film locations for Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? (1970), Tony Curtis is seen driving a bus onto Warner Bros. Midwest Street to pick up a group of military recruits. Twelve years earlier, the film No Time For Sergeants (1958) also used Midwest Street to serve the same purpose, but in No Time For Sergeants hillbilly Andy Griffith is getting picked up for military service.

Another difference between the two films: Suppose They Gave a War, in the scene where the recruits are waiting to be picked up, filmed from the front side of the Midwest Street white chapel building. In No Time For Sergeants, Griffith, Nick Adams and the other recruits wait to be picked up on the backside of the white chapel.