THE WALTER READE THEATER
on the edge with richard widmark
a 16-film retrospective from may 18 through may 31, 2001
photo: night and the city
Special thanks to Gene R. Korf and the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation for their generous support of this program.
Although Richard Widmark has always been considered a fine actor, he has never been given his proper due. He made his reputation as the smiling, baby-faced gangster Tommy Udo, who gleefully pushed a wheel chair bound Mildred Dunnock down a flight of stairs in KISS OF DEATH. His performance was so convincing that it took years for him to live down this twisted image.
Widmark was born in 1914 in Sunrise, Minnesota, a town so small it's not even on the map. It was George Abbott who gave him his break in theater and Darryl Zanuck who started his movie career. Radio work paid the bills in between and probably honed his already distinctive voice. He made his first appearance on Broadway in 1943 and made his film debut in 1947 with KISS OF DEATH. Natural talent, craft, professionalism and an uncanny ability to empathize with flawed characters were the qualities Widmark brought to each movie. Early on he staked a claim to the noir side of human nature, especially in two films that have now attained cult status: Jules Dassin's NIGHT AND THE CITY and Sam Fuller's PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET. In both films he is utterly electric.
Widmark is equally at home in the Western landscape. From the late ‘40s though the early ‘70s, he developed a different persona in his western roles, which comprised a third of his career. In YELLOW SKY, GARDEN OF EVIL, or the vastly underrated WARLOCK, Widmark’s initially callow baby face became more rugged under the Western sun. In the 1972 WHEN THE LEGENDS DIE, his fatalistic aura lent authenticity to the role of an over-the-hill cowboy.
Widmark also excelled in another kind of role that may have been a little truer to his character. In PANIC IN THE STREETS, THE COBWEB, THE BEDFORD INCIDENT and MADIGAN, he is a professional obsessed to the point of collapse with getting the job done, whether it’s tracking down a plague-infected murderer, keeping a psychiatric institute intact, chasing a Soviet sub through Arctic waters or capturing a psycho on the loose in late 60s Manhattan. Few actors have been as adept at tapping into the neurotic undercurrents of American professional life.
For 40 years, Richard Widmark has been a superb actor, recognized by his peers as the consummate professional.With this extensive retrospective, you’ll have a chance to see a great star at work, in 35mm prints, many of which are brand new. Like his screen idol Spencer Tracy, he brings an unerring truth to every role he plays. Like Tracy, he’s never made a false move. — Joanna Ney.
This program is organized by Joanna Ney and Kent Jones. PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET and WARLOCK will be shown in recently restored 35mm prints. Twentieth Century Fox has also struck new prints of DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS, ROAD HOUSE, GARDEN OF EVIL and NIGHT AND THE CITY.
Sincere thanks to Schawn Belston and Barbara Crandall of Twentieth Century Fox restoration for their assistance.
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET
Samuel Fuller, 1953; 80m
Recently restored print
When a professional pickpocket (Richard Widmark) lifts Jean Peters's
purse on the New York subway, he gets more than he bargained for. He
has no idea that the bag contains top secret microfilm that Peters is
unwittingly transporting for her lover (Richard Kiley), a Communist spy
and rotten to the core. Kiley orders Peters to get the film back or
suffer the consequences. Enter Thelma Ritter as a street peddler who
keeps tabs on local "talent" like Widmark, now wanted by the Feds
because of stolen film. Widmark and Peters, at first adversarial, enter
into a romantic relationship, and the chase is on. Like many of Fuller's
protagonists, Widmark's " Skip McCoy" is a hoodlum but on his own
terms. A rough-tough melodrama with superb performances and moody
cinematography. You can feel the heat emanate from the city sidewalks.
Widmark and Peters create sparks. Ritter earned a Best Actress
nomination and deservedly — she lights up every scene she's in.
Fri May 18: 2 & 6:15 (Mr. Widmark to appear at the 6:15 show)
Sun May
20: 5:15 & 9
NIGHT AND THE CITY
Jules Dassin, 1950; 101m
New print
One of Jules Dassin's most exciting films, set in pre-Mod London; it's
life on the tawdry side —back streets, night clubs, bars, the wrestling
ring. The club's denizens are connivers, crooks and two-timers. That
includes Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark), an ambitious hustler who wants
to score big by promoting Greco-Roman wrestling, which he thinks will
attract customers. Harry works for Francis L. Sullivan, operator of a
club with his backstabbing wife Googie Withers, who dreams of dumping
her fatso husband and starting her own place. In this rat race it’s all
about control and money and what people will do to get them. The one
exception is Gene Tierney, who loves and supports Widmark and tries to
steer him in the direction of legitimate work, a patent impossibility.
Fri May 18: 3:45 & 8:30 (Mr. Widmark to appear at the 8:30 show)
Sat
May 19: 3:30
KISS OF DEATH
Henry Hathaway, 1947; 98m
A tense, fast-moving crime melodrama with Victor Mature giving a solid
performance as a thief who informs on his gang in exchange for parole.
The real knockout is Richard Widmark in his spectacular film debut as
"Tommy Udo," the psycho creep who at first befriends Mature when he is
released from prison. Coleen Gray is Mature's love interest and Brian
Donlevy is the assistant district attorney to whom Widmark snaps, "I
wouldn't give you the skin off a grape." Although the police work is
depicted with moderation, the film engages with its crisp Ben Hecht
dialogue and documentary flavor, including fine cinematography on
location in New York City. An uncredited Mildred Dunnock is quickly
disposed by being shoved down stairs of by the baby-faced Widmark.
Sat May 19: 1:30 & 5:45
WHEN THE LEGENDS DIE
Stuart Millar, 1972; 105m
After a series of conventional roles, Richard Widmark made an impressive
comeback as a hard-bitten, hard-drinking cowboy who becomes mentor and
father figure to a young Indian from the reservation (Frederic Forrest
in his first film), training him as a bronc rider on the rodeo circuit.
The late Vincent Canby called Widmark's performance "tough and funny"
and praised the film, as did many critics. It opened, inappropriately,
at Radio City Music Hall and quickly disappeared. As a character study
and an exploration of clashingcultures, with remarkable performances by
both Widmark and Forrest, the film deserves another look. Widmark shows
a new embittered pessimism that breaks through his affable surface.
Forrest's stoicism turns to anger, but the bond between the two cannot
be entirely severed.
Sat May 19: 7:45 (Mr. Widmark to appear at the 7:45 show); Wed May 30: 4
& 8:30
GARDEN OF EVIL
Henry Hathaway, 1954; 100m
New print
A severely underrated Scope western, shot in breathtaking mountain
locations near Cuernavaca. Widmark, Gary Cooper and Cameron Mitchell are
a trio of fortune hunters stranded in Mexico, when they are approached
by Susan Hayward to rescue her husband (Hugh Marlowe) from a caved-in
gold mine in Indian country. When they arrive at the "Garden of Evil,"
they must first battle with one another before they have to stave off
their bloodthirsty Indian attackers. Widmark gives a tough, moving
performance as Fiske, the one who sacrifices himself to save his
friends. "Every day it goes, and somebody goes with it," he says as he
watches the setting sun. "Today it’s me." This was one of the best of
Hollywood veteran Henry Hathaway’s later films. With a brilliant score
by Bernard Herrmann.
Sun May 20: 7
Mon May 21: 3:15
Tue May 22: 6
YELLOW SKY
William Wellman, 1948; 98m
One of the toughest westerns ever made. The idea of outlaws crossing the
desert had been done before, but it was never filled with such
relentlessly realistic detail or given such a terrifying edge. In the
post–Civil War west, Gregory Peck and his band of robbers make off with
the contents of a bank and ride away into the desert salt flats, leaving
the cavalry behind. Close to death from dehydration, they wind up in the
town of Yellow Sky, which has only two inhabitants: a crazy old
prospector (James Barton) and his granddaughter (Anne Baxter). As Peck’s
moral compass points in a different direction, his leadership is
threatened by the volatile Widmark. This may be Peck’s movie, but
Widmark leaves the deepest impression. Directed by William Wellman with
his customary physical frankness and beautiful sense of detail.
Mon May 21: 1
Tue May 22: 3:45 & 8
DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK
Roy Baker, 1952; 76m
A nifty thriller that takes place in real time. Marilyn Monroe (in one
of her best early roles) is the off-kilter girl whose uncle (the great
Elisha Cook, Jr.) gets her a job babysitting for a couple staying at the
hotel where he works. Widmark is Jed, an airline pilot on the outs with
his girlfriend (Anne Bancroft, in her screen debut), the hotel’s lounge
singer. Jed drowns his sorrows with the fetching babysitter, and the
film ingeniously builds around his slowly dawning realization of her
madness. A clever, intricately suspenseful 76 minutes.
Tue May 22: 2
Wed May 23: 6:15
DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS
Henry Hathaway, 1949; 120m
New print
A rousing high–seas adventure yarn, with Widmark as a newfangled,
academy-trained seaman at odds with old salt Lionel Barrymore, on board
a 19th century whaling ship; as the two men square off, Barrymore’s
grandson (Dean Stockwell) gets a sentimental education. The conflict
between the characters is perfectly mirrored by the conflict in the
styles of acting: the flamboyant Barrymore, with his always mobile
eyebrows and sermonizing voice, and the more modern Widmark, with his
sleek good looks, steady gaze and wonderfully flat midwestern delivery.
Lovingly directed by Henry Hathaway, with a great roster of character
actors as the crew, including Gene Lockhart, Harry Morgan, Jay C.
Flippen and Fuzzy Knight.
Wed May 23: 1:30
Thurs May 24: 1 & 8
ROAD HOUSE
Jean Negulesco, 1948; 95m
New print
Widmark is Jefty, the owner of a road house — the name and the
profession are both redolent of another era in Hollywood, as is the rest
of this pungent late-’40s melodrama directed by a master of the form,
Jean Negulesco. Jefty hires Lily (Ida Lupino), a chanteuse with a case
of wanderlust, against the better judgment of his business manager, Pete
(Cornel Wilde). Jefty gets his hooks into Lily right away, and when she
and Pete are eventually drawn to each other, he goes into murderous
overdrive. This is the strongest of Widmark’s flamboyantly physical,
post–KISS OF DEATH performances: that fresh young face of his lights up
the screen, powered by pure, roiling, unchecked rage.
Wed May 23: 4 & 8
Sun May 27: 6
Thurs May 31: 4:30
THE BEDFORD INCIDENT
James B. Harris, 1965; 105m
Widmark had one of his meatiest roles in this tough, psychologically
acute cold war thriller. He’s the captain of a U.S. submarine equipped
with nuclear weapons, patrolling the Arctic waters off Greenland.
There’s a reporter on board (played by Sidney Poitier) writing a
magazine story on life on a sub. The captain’s anti-Soviet zeal reaches
a Queeg-like intensity when he finds a Russian sub: as his mania to
force the sub into submission increases, so does the pressure on his
crew. This is one of the finest of Widmark’s later performances: those
fierce eyes, set within his rugged older face, suggest a will of steel.
Directed by Kubrick’s old partner, the eternally underrated James B. Harris.
Fri May 25: 2 & 6:15
Mon May 28: 6
Thurs May 31: 6:30
PANIC IN THE STREETS
Elia Kazan, 1950; 96m
Widmark is Dr. Clinton Reed of the New Orleans Public Health Service.
When he discovers that a murder victim is infected with pneumonic
plague, he spends the next 48 hours helping the local police captain
(Paul Douglas) track down the cold-blooded killers (including Jack
Palance and, in one of the more colorful performances of that decade,
Zero Mostel). The captain wants to bring them to justice and the doctor
wants to inoculate them before the plague spreads through the city. Elia
Kazan directed this mountingly tense, in-your-face thriller, beautifully
shot on location by the great Joseph MacDonald.
Fri May 25: 4:15 & 8:30; Tue May 29: 1 & 6
WARLOCK
Edward Dmytryk, 1959; 123m
Recently restored print
A great, morally complex, suspenseful western, during the genre’s final
flowering. Henry Fonda is the marshall of Warlock, a peaceful town that
is repeatedly shaken up by a gang of outlaws that everyone is too afraid
to stand up to. Widmark is the outlaw who decides to settle down in
Warlock and turn the other cheek, joining forces with the law. Anthony
Quinn (with his hair dyed blond) is Fonda’s very faithful sidekick, who
resents the attention his friend is paying to this one-time criminal
gunslinger. Directed by former Hollywood Ten member Edward Dmytryk,
WARLOCK has a quietly concentrated psychological intensity that’s rare
in the genre and for which the actors are more than game.
Sat May 26: 4 & 9
Mon May 28:1
THE COBWEB
Vincente Minnelli, 1955; 124m
Widmark brings a hard, steely intelligence to the role of a psychiatrist
in charge of a dysfunctional, high-toned mental clinic, in Vincente
Minnelli’s grand all-star adaptation of the William Gibson novel. The
action centers around the internal affairs (in both senses of the word)
within the clinic, specifically the battle over who will select the new
drapes. Will it be Widmark’s neglected wife (Gloria Grahame) or his
repressed business-affairs director (Lillian Gish) or his talented
young patient (John Kerr)? THE COBWEB is one of the most floridly
entertaining melodramas of the ‘50s, featuring a terrific gallery of
neurotic staff members and patients (Oscar Levant, Charles Boyer, Lauren
Bacall and Susan Strasberg among them) dispersed across Minnelli’s
gorgeous, dynamic Scope compositions.
Sat May 26: 6:30
Sun May 27: 8
Thurs May 31: 2
SLATTERY'S HURRICANE
André De Toth, 1949; 83m
A final heroic deed from pilot Will Slattery (Widmark) — making a
dangerous hurricane reconnaissance flight for the Weather Service in
place of an old friend he’s wronged — prompts him, in a series of
flashbacks, to look back on his tawdry, immoral past. One of many
redemptive melodramas from the late ‘40s, given a special lift by its
director, the Hungarian-born André De Toth. The hurricane itself is
spectacular, but it’s Widmark who makes this movie: he doesn’t pull any
punches as a gutless, morally bankrupt man, ready to steal someone
else’s woman or smuggle drugs to make a few dollars in the blink of an
eye. With Linda Darnell and Veronica Lake (then Mrs. De Toth) as two of
his romantic conquests.
Sun May 27: 4
Thurs May 31: 8:45
MADIGAN
Don Siegel, 1968; 101m
Widmark in one of his very best roles, as a weary police detective
hunting down a psycho killer (Steve Ihnat) in the grimy streets of late
‘60s New York. Widmark’s Madigan is just another guy trying to make a
living at what he knows best and keep his restless wife (Inger Stevens)
happy in the bargain. This is a perfect portrait of a small-scale hero:
too tired to be polite, too disillusioned to be
happy, too humble to rise any higher in the department. Widmark does a
beautiful balancing act: he gets a good sense of his character’s hard-
boiled fatigue, but he also manages to make Madigan deeply touching.
Directed with just the right blend of pulpishness and human detail by
Don Siegel, from a script by Abraham Polonsky. With Henry Fonda in an
eloquent performance as the police commissioner, Susan Clark as his
mistress, James Whitmore as the Chief, and Harry Guardino as Madigan’s partner.
Mon May 28: 3:30 & 8:30
Wed May 30: 2 & 6:15
CHEYENNE AUTUMN
John Ford, 1964; 156m
John Ford’s epic was meant as a final statement of solidarity with
American Indians, by turns sympathetic and villainous figures in his
earlier movies. Although the studio imposed a questionable cast of
non–native American stars in key roles (including Sal Mineo, Ricardo
Montalban, and Gilbert Roland) and forced Ford to use some ugly studio
interiors, this is a deeply felt valedictory work from one of America’s
greatest artists. Widmark is the cavalry captain charged with the sorry
task of forcing the fleeing Cheyenne nation back to their barren
reservation territory, selected for them by a duplicitous American
government. With Carroll Baker as a Quaker teacher sympathetic to the
Cheyennes, the beautiful Dolores del Rio as a Spanish woman, and James
Stewart and Arthur Kennedy in cameo roles as Wyatt Earp and Doc
Holliday. In Scope.
Tue May 29: 3 & 8