Or - what to say to someone that's never heard of Richard Widmark .... or have seen some of his films but just didn't realise who it was ... what films would you point them to as the best to watch? Well, having seen 40-odd films out of the 60-odd total made, here's a stab an an answer. If you want to get a good dose of Widmark's excellent acting in some good, watchable films, get these in:
If you like film noir
Film noir is a bit of an oddity in the 21st century. Who on earth watches films for in black and white, with such often low-key dialogue and action? Well, watch some of these, and get rid of the rush-rush-rush attitude of 21st century action movies and relax back into the 1950s. Here the photography (in the essential point of the term) is key, the focusing on faces and actions and eye movement, such little things, meaning so much.
Noir was big in the late 40s and early 50s, so Widmark came in near the end of that period, but there are some really great films of that genre. Pickup on South Street is apparently still used to teach the basics of film making and setting a scene without dialogue. Watch the first ten minutes and you'll see why. The film is is just so taut and tense and Widmark such a great antihero that you can't fail. Night and the City is one of the most famous noirs possibly of all time and certainly has the most energetic chase sequences (Widmark reckoned he lost nearly 2 stone in the making of this film and if you watch the serious amount of running going on, you can see why). That look of sick dread when he realises his fate is closing in on him is unbeatable. Others to look out for are Roadhouse (don't get confused with the Patrick Swayze version) which would be worth taking in just for Ida Lupino's singing, Street with no Name, even though its documentary-style voiceover seems odd now, and No Way Out. To my mind, this is probably the film that should have got Widmark an Oscar in his role as hate-filled racist Ray Biddle. It took some acting to pull that off, but you can see why the Oscar crowd wouldn't go anywhere near that film, especially given that some areas of the country refused to screen it at all.
Westerns
In some ways, the successor to film noir, and still incredibly watchable. It's difficult to pick just a few, but I think these are the absolute best of what is a very good bunch of films.
Warlock is very complex - not your usual straightforward Western! - and if you read the novel it's based on, you see it could have been even more so, but it's well worth it. Backlash, to my mind, is one of the best and most underrated Westerns ever made with Widmark as the complex and deeply conflicted Jim Slater. The Law and Jake Wade has Widmark as the baddest outlaw ever amongst the stunningly beautiful Rockies in winter and Death of a Gunfighter should have an honourable mention despite that fact that although it was made in 1969 it now looks more dated than films made over ten years earlier. Others to look out for would include Garden of Evil, Alvarez Kelly and Yellow Sky.
If you like war films:
It may be an indication of the USA's late involvement in WWII (polite cough) that all the war films are in the Pacific theatre. Halls of Montezuma is probably the best well-known, but a better one is The Frogmen, a drama based around the work of an Underwater Demolition Team. I think it was filmed in black and white to incorporate genuine WWII footage - it certainly looks like it in some scenes. Judgement at Nuremberg is set some time after the end of the war and deals with the war crimes in Berlin. It's far more sombre, not least because it uses actual footage from the concentration camps.
If you like drama:
Escape to the Sun was not highly rated by Widmark himself, but I like it; a film that can stand up to several viewings must be good in some way. Ditto for The Trap, which manages to keep the tension and sense of claustrophobia going very well. The Alamo may be historically poor, but beautifully done if you can put up with John Wayne, and for a bit of a difference, take in The Clarion Call from O Henry's Full House, one of five short films each starring a different cast and held together with narration by John Steinbeck.
So there you go, a brief introduction to the best of Widmark's work. Other great films are out there, but I've reviewed them all on other pages and I live in hope that the 100th anniversary of his birth might be celebrated by a re-run of some of his work on TV.
Enjoy.
If you like film noir
Film noir is a bit of an oddity in the 21st century. Who on earth watches films for in black and white, with such often low-key dialogue and action? Well, watch some of these, and get rid of the rush-rush-rush attitude of 21st century action movies and relax back into the 1950s. Here the photography (in the essential point of the term) is key, the focusing on faces and actions and eye movement, such little things, meaning so much.
Noir was big in the late 40s and early 50s, so Widmark came in near the end of that period, but there are some really great films of that genre. Pickup on South Street is apparently still used to teach the basics of film making and setting a scene without dialogue. Watch the first ten minutes and you'll see why. The film is is just so taut and tense and Widmark such a great antihero that you can't fail. Night and the City is one of the most famous noirs possibly of all time and certainly has the most energetic chase sequences (Widmark reckoned he lost nearly 2 stone in the making of this film and if you watch the serious amount of running going on, you can see why). That look of sick dread when he realises his fate is closing in on him is unbeatable. Others to look out for are Roadhouse (don't get confused with the Patrick Swayze version) which would be worth taking in just for Ida Lupino's singing, Street with no Name, even though its documentary-style voiceover seems odd now, and No Way Out. To my mind, this is probably the film that should have got Widmark an Oscar in his role as hate-filled racist Ray Biddle. It took some acting to pull that off, but you can see why the Oscar crowd wouldn't go anywhere near that film, especially given that some areas of the country refused to screen it at all.
Westerns
In some ways, the successor to film noir, and still incredibly watchable. It's difficult to pick just a few, but I think these are the absolute best of what is a very good bunch of films.
Warlock is very complex - not your usual straightforward Western! - and if you read the novel it's based on, you see it could have been even more so, but it's well worth it. Backlash, to my mind, is one of the best and most underrated Westerns ever made with Widmark as the complex and deeply conflicted Jim Slater. The Law and Jake Wade has Widmark as the baddest outlaw ever amongst the stunningly beautiful Rockies in winter and Death of a Gunfighter should have an honourable mention despite that fact that although it was made in 1969 it now looks more dated than films made over ten years earlier. Others to look out for would include Garden of Evil, Alvarez Kelly and Yellow Sky.
If you like war films:
It may be an indication of the USA's late involvement in WWII (polite cough) that all the war films are in the Pacific theatre. Halls of Montezuma is probably the best well-known, but a better one is The Frogmen, a drama based around the work of an Underwater Demolition Team. I think it was filmed in black and white to incorporate genuine WWII footage - it certainly looks like it in some scenes. Judgement at Nuremberg is set some time after the end of the war and deals with the war crimes in Berlin. It's far more sombre, not least because it uses actual footage from the concentration camps.
If you like drama:
Escape to the Sun was not highly rated by Widmark himself, but I like it; a film that can stand up to several viewings must be good in some way. Ditto for The Trap, which manages to keep the tension and sense of claustrophobia going very well. The Alamo may be historically poor, but beautifully done if you can put up with John Wayne, and for a bit of a difference, take in The Clarion Call from O Henry's Full House, one of five short films each starring a different cast and held together with narration by John Steinbeck.
So there you go, a brief introduction to the best of Widmark's work. Other great films are out there, but I've reviewed them all on other pages and I live in hope that the 100th anniversary of his birth might be celebrated by a re-run of some of his work on TV.
Enjoy.
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