Happy 100th birthday, Mr Widmark

So here we are, 26 December 2014, what would have been Richard Widmark's 100th birthday.  At about 6pm UK time I'll be raising a glass to the memory of a man whose acting talents brought so much pleasure to so many people and who, through the various fan clubs, has united people from all over the world who come together in friendship because of that common ground - we admire and like Richard Widmark.

Like seems too weak a word but 'love' can be overused and misunderstood.  I'm reminded of an interview where he commented once that he  hadn't slept around with other women "because I happen to like my wife a lot."  I think that use of the word 'like' says so much more than 'love' would; implying a deep relationship based on friendship and respect.

I've had some comments that it's a bit sad to be celebrating a dead actor's 100th anniversary; sad in the derogatory sense and applied to those celebrating that is!   In one sense it could be sad; sad that he's no longer with us, sad that he didn't do more films, sad that he didn't do things that we'd have particularly liked to see - (my wish would be for him in Shakespeare, as Richard III, Iago, Caesar) - sad that he wasn't recognised with an Oscar as he certainly should have been, an omission which seems egregious to his fans.  But the politics of Oscars are what they are and their decisions are not always based on the talents of those getting an award.

So instead of being sad, let's celebrate.  There's a huge range of films and radio work that we can enjoy and many bear repeating several times over.  Let's enjoy it all, celebrating a long life well lived, a great actor admired by many, and by all accounts from those who knew him, a truly lovely person as well.

God bless you, Richard Widmark, and thank you. 

Richard Widmark: A Princeton legacy - Christmas stories

Richard Widmark: A Princeton legacy

Becoming Richard Widmark - Christmas Stories

Published: Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 2:07 p.m. CST

http://www.bcrnews.com/2014/12/17/richard-widmark-a-princeton-legacy/a8fs3ne/?page=3

The Great Lakes have a big influence on the climate of the surrounding landscape, acting like a giant heat sink, moderating the temperatures of the summers and winters. This results in a milder climate in portions of the basin compared to other locations of similar latitude. The lakes also act as a giant humidifier, increasing the moisture content of the air throughout the year. In the winter, this moisture condenses as snow when it reaches the land, creating heavy snowfall in some areas, known as "snow belts" on the downwind shores of the lakes. The shores of Lake Superior are prone to this "lake effect" snow and have recorded up to 350 inches of snow in a single year. The weather can go from one extreme to another.

There was a record high of 62 degrees in the St. Paul, Minn., area on Nov. 26, 1914, but this was a full month later, Dec. 26 now, with 4 inches of snow on the ground, a gray overcast sky, and temperatures back down to the normal of zero and below, with more snow to come. "Wait a day and the weather will change" is an apt description of weather in the Lake Superior region. The small community 50 miles northeast of St. Paul, along the St. Croix River had the same conditions that day, and wouldn't see the sun peak through until just past the midday Meridian, its highest point on the horizon. The area was along the eastern Minnesota border, 100 miles south of the southern tip of Lake Superior. It had grown from a farm established in the 1850s, followed by a store, hotel, sawmill, a post office and a church that still exists today. In 1857, a large colony of settlers from western New York state arrived and began establishing farms, homes and businesses. On Oct.26, 1858, it was organized as a township — Sunrise Township, Chisago County, Minnesota.

The buildings in Sunrise, in 1914 were all wooden structures, many with false fronts to make them look taller. One of the largest establishments, using no false front, was Elias Nordgrens Mercantile Store. It was a two-story building on two lots. It had a wooden storefront walkway, like an uncovered porch, and four large display windows, two in each of the twin buildings that made up the mercantile. There were living quarters on the second floor for the owner and a large livable lean-to attached to the store for hired help. The mud streets and rooftops were covered with snow. Smoke lazily drifted up from the chimneys of the buildings, carrying particles that sparkled and glistened in the emerging rays of the sun.

A young man and woman, married Jan. 16, 1914, had been living with family in Sioux Falls, S.D. In the early part of the year they then moved almost 300 miles to Braham, Minn., where the husband found work, until a more inviting opportunity became available in Sunrise Township. It was just another 30 miles from Braham to Sunrise Township, for a clerking job in Elias Nordgrens Mercantile Store, with living quarters provided. It was like a shining star in the sky, employment with lodging included. The couple were expecting their first child, a wonderful gift to each other at this special time of the year.

There is no movement on the street until a man, the young husband in shirt sleeves, bursts from the lean-to looking for another person, any person. He has great news to share and dashes for the house next door and pounds on the door. The owner cautiously opens it just wide enough to identify his caller, his neighbor, the clerk from the mercantile. “I have a son,” the man in shirt sleeves announces with excitement, “His name is Richard.” The young father was Carl Henry Widmark and his wife was Ethel Mae (Barr). Their new son was Richard Widmark, born at 12:45 p.m., on Dec. 26, 1914, in Sunrise Township, Minn. A Christmas gift that would entertain the world on the silver screen for 40 years and many Christmases still to come.

It is almost 31 years later, the middle of June 1945, and Christmas is months away. Richard Widmark is in New York City starring in "Kiss Them For Me" at the Fulton Theater. He had married Ora Jean (Hazlewood), April 5, 1942, and was soon to be a new father himself. The play opened on March 20 at the Belasco Theater but moved to the Fulton on May 14. It would have a run of 110 performances and close June 23, 1945. The cast included Judy Holliday, Richard Davis and Jane (Cotter) Meadows, soon to be the wife of Steve Allen.

Carl and Ethel Widmark had a second son, Donald, born July 25, 1918. He is a bomber pilot during World War II and is shot down three times, never failing to go back into the fray. Donald suffers a head injury during his final flight in the summer of 1943, is captured and interned as a POW by the Germans at Stalag 13 in Barth, Germany. Germany surrenders in the early summer of 1945, and American prisoners are liberated. The war ends Sept. 2, 1945. Richard and his family have had a tense unhappy time for two years since receiving word that Don was missing in action, and another Christmas loomed as being no better than the last two.

Richard Widmark remembered it this way, telling of his most memorable Christmas. "We'd lost hope of ever seeing Don again," he recalled, "Then months before Christmas, I had a short third act exit in the play ("Kiss Them For Me") and went into the wings. I had to go on stage again within minutes. When I turned around I was stunned. There stood my brother. Don had returned home completely unannounced. I only had time to shake his hand before going back on stage. I never talked so fast in life to get through the rest of the third act. With Don back, that coming Christmas was the happiest in my life." Don was home to celebrate with his brother when daughter, Anne, is born on her uncle's birthday, July, 25, 1945. The Christmas of 1945, the best that Richard Widmark could have hoped for, a new daughter and a brother thought lost.

The first story on Richard Widmark's birth took root, somewhat, from an article by Carol Dahlquist, in a 2006 issue of Heritage, a publication of the Chisago County Historical Society.

The second story is based on a story published December 25, 1954, in the Brownwood Bulletin, Brownwood, Texas, by Vernon Scott. Research on this story led me to disagree with its author on some of what he wrote. He may have taken a little too much artistic license, so I rewrote it from what I found. Scott writes that "Kiss Them For Me" at the Foulton Theater, was in 1944, but it opened March 20, 1945, and closed June 23, 1945. He has Widmark saying, "it was a few days before Christmas" but it was in June. As Jean Widmark tells in a story in "Silver Screen," January, 1949, Donald Widmark was there for the birth of his niece and to celebrate with his brother in July. Scott had his facts skewed, but he had the sentiment right.

Happy 100th Birthday, Richard Widmark, and thanks for the many years of great entertainment. Have a "Christmas To Remember," and I'll continue next year with Classmates - Tom Best, Gail Castner and Lester Peterson. There's still time for your last-minute shoppers to get entered into my Widmark Framed Prints Give-Away and get a free Richard Widmark DVD Movie. Stop by and take a look.

 

Football, Warlock and speed

Three titles which could mean completely different things!

I suppose what brought this to mind was recently getting my telly reattached to an aerial and being able to watch live TV for the first time in several years.  I hadn't really missed it but was glad to be able to watch the rugby international game between Wales and New Zealand, especially the sheer excitement of a player running to get a try, the physicality of the hard tackles (surely that has to hurt?), the eyeball-to-eyeball contact of the scrum, and the ruck and maul.  I don't pretend to understand the rules, but I can't help but watch if it's on.

Richard Widmark played football at college, as any biography with any detail will tell you.  Most will also add that at 5'10" and with a slight build, he certainly wasn't one of the biggest guys on the team and indeed must have had to be pretty persistent - and tough - to get there at all.  The thought behind the Wales/NZ analogy is that American football seems closer to rugby than it does to what we usually call football (soccer) - which is supposed to be relatively contactless.  You certainly don't expect the head-on tackles there that you see in American football and in rugby.

But even in our national game of good old rugby football, there's a place for the smaller and lighter guys who are quick on their feet, so I suppose it must be the same for the game they play on the other side of the pond, even if they do get to wear a lot more body armour when they do it.  (Though you have to wonder if that makes the game tougher.  If you think you are protected, would you not tackle a lot harder than if you just have a couple of bits of electrical tape holding your ears in place, or your knee together?  Maybe.)

This is a pretty circuitous way of saying that Richard Widmark was quick on his feet.  Well watch any of his early films and you know that.  In a lot of them, there's often an awful lot of running, most famously of course in 'Night and the City' where near the end, there's that long shot of him running across a bridge and along the Embankment - all filmed in one shot with several cameras, a first for its time.  And since he often played the bad guy, he must have had a lot of hard falls too as his character got his come-uppance and was gunned down  by the law.

But what came to mind most was a certain scene from Warlock, rather than all that running around.  You know the one; where Johnny Gannon visits San Pablo at incredible personal risk to himself in order to warn off McQuown and to stop him coming into town.  (This scene, incidentally, is lifted almost verbatim from the Oakley Hall novel which I can't recommend highly enough even though some characters got changed (most notably Dad McQuown) and their words were given to others . If you like this film but haven't read the novel, I seriously recommend it - it adds so very much.)

This scene works better in the film version actually, as it's less wordy but keeps the essential action.  And the bit I always bring to mind is when Gannon (Widmark) sees where things are going, takes the initiative to attack, puts his head down and just charges at McQuown.   In one sense it looks like what small boys do in fights at school - and apparently both Widmark brothers had plenty of those too, whilst growing up.  But it also looks like a classic rugby football tackle, head down, all the power and strength behind the shoulders. It's  hard and fast and certainly effective  and it throws McQuown nearly off balance, right back into the kitchen and against the stove.  You can imagine Widmark taking himself back to his football days with that move.

Yep, given that time machine, I'd like to have seen Richard Widmark play football.  I have absolutely less than zero per cent interest in American football, but I'd have gone to watch him.

And by the way, Wales lost, 10-33, losing it in the second 40 mins after an extremely close and hard-fought first half.   That's the way it goes, sometimes.  In Real Life, sadly the underdog doesn't always come good.