One more reason why I love my dad is that he took me to see this movie against the strong objections of my mom. It takes a long time to get going, but this scene provoked such screaming from the audience as I have never heard before or since. It makes me a little sad to note how tame it seems now, but as a simple revenge tragedy, I guess it still holds up. We empathize with Willard, this guy totally deserves to get eaten by rats, and with this guy out of the way, Willard seems to have a shot at a decent life. But no, now he has to pay for what it took to get him there. It sort of reminds me of Hamlet. No, really. I'll explain that if anyone wants me to, but I know this isn't Shakespeare.

Ethel Merman, who was Borgnine's ex-wife, said that she saw this movie five times.