I had a choice between PANIC IN THE STREETS and THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU to watch last night and chose BUREAU. I'll correct my oversight tonight. A wonderful film presence.

Also:

THE ALAMO
KISS OF DEATH
MADIGAN
SWARM (In a certain mood)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/arts/26c...YddjuHQqztwEuLQ

This is sad. One of the greats. A dependable star presence in all kinds of genres. He never became the iconic star that his contemporaries, Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, William Holden and Gregory Peck became, but he was less a movie star and, often, a better actor than them. I loved him in westerns (the first movie I saw him in was HOW THE WEST WAS WON and he held his own in that all-star cast) and would particularly recommend Henry Hathaway’s GARDEN OF EVIL, John Sturges’ BACKLASH and Edward Dmytryk’s WARLOCK, where he has the less showy part in a cast topped by Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn, but the more difficult part representing the film’s moral center. Not to mention John Ford’s TWO RODE TOGETHER. His Jim Bowie in THE ALAMO is problematic for me because I’ve read a lot about Bowie and, like a lot in John Wayne’s movie, it doesn’t quite jell with the reality.

Of his villain roles, he’s always cited for Hathaway’s KISS OF DEATH (1947, his film debut), where he pulls out all the stops as giggling Tommy Udo, who pushes a woman in a wheelchair down the stairs, but he’s much better in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ NO WAY OUT, where he plays an out-and-out racist, a poor guy from the wrong side of the tracks in a racially tense industrial (Midwestern?) city, and he makes the guy human and not a caricature. It's a brave movie, with a lot of brave actors in it, but Widmark really stands out. He’s also quite awesome in Jean Negulesco’s ROAD HOUSE (1947), where he starts out pretty normal and his psychosis only gradually reveals itself until he becomes a particularly hateful character as he tries to maintain his hold on Ida Lupino after she falls for Cornel Wilde. (Something like that—it’s been years since I’ve seen it.)

He played a lot of military men over the years, which helped to keep him from remaining typecast after KISS OF DEATH, and he was very good in those roles (PANIC IN THE STREETS, HALLS OF MONTEZUMA, HELL AND HIGH WATER, TIME LIMIT, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG, TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING, et al). He played a marine corps drill instructor in TAKE THE HIGH GROUND (1953), which was directed by Richard Brooks who had been in the marines in WWII and whose drill instructor was… my father! So I watched TAKE THE HIGH GROUND to see if there was a trace of my father in Widmark’s portrayal. None was found.

Other films I liked him a lot in: Don Siegel’s police thriller, MADIGAN, and Robert Parrish’s domestic drama, MY PAL GUS (1952), made 27 years before the very similar KRAMER VS. KRAMER. (Widmark returned as the Madigan character in a TV series of that name.)

Among the great directors he’s worked with: Ford, Hathaway, Sturges, Siegel, Brooks, Elia Kazan, Lewis Milestone, Sam Fuller, Robert Aldrich, Stanley Kramer, Robert Wise, Jules Dassin, Delmer Daves, Phil Karlson, Vincente Minnelli, etc. Not a bad resume.

I’ve seen 32 Widmark movies. Ones I’ve taped but haven’t seen yet include: THE STREET WITH NO NAME, DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS, NIGHT AND THE CITY, DESTINATION GOBI, THE COBWEB, THE MOONSHINE WAR, etc.

He's awesome in PANIC IN THE STREETS, a key precursor of the "Sheriff Brody" approach to naturalistic protagonists in a high concept piece.

Brian you've got to see NIGHT AND THE CITY. It is quintessential Widmark, Tommy Udo on steroids!

I loved Widmark, more character actor than star. His Noir work is my favorite, especially NIGHT AND THE CITY and PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET. His Western and War films are great too.

Favorite Widmark films:

NIGHT AND THE CITY
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET
KISS OF DEATH
NO WAY OUT
ROADHOUSE
PANIC IN THE STREETS
THE STREET WITH NO NAME
MADIGAN
YELLOW SKY
GARDEN OF EVIL
WARLOCK
HELL AND HIGH WATER

It's a sad day, but he had a long life, and ...

Richard Widmark will live forever in the movies.

Richard Widmark was a patient in the otolaryngology practice I worked at for many years in New York. He was always courteous and, according to my wife, had beautiful eyes.

And now he'll probably finally get the honorary Oscar he deserves. Nice going, Academy.

I'll alwways have a soft spot for him because I got the chance to show PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET to my students in Shanghai. I was wondering how they'd deal with the anti-Communist stuff in the film, and in fact, they thought it was hilarious! They'd seen plenty of anti-capitalist propaganda, and it was really fun for them to see something from the opposite side. It was a really interesting experience, watching them watch the movie, and talking with them about it. I have PANIC IN THE STREETS, and now I'll watch it soon, but I think I'll always remember Widmark as the star of PICKUP.

It'll be NIGHT AND THE CITY for me.

Though, PICKUP is my second fave Widmark performance. :)

. . . sorry I am late to this discussion, but I have been out of town; many of my favorite Widmark performances have already been mentioned, however, one of my favorites has yet to be named - his work as "Comanche Todd" in Delmer Daves' western THE LAST WAGON (1956) . . . yet another example of the ability of this wonderful actor to be a combat military officer, a crazy New York street tough, a noir hero loose on the streets of London, or, in this case, a person adopted by the Comanches who is hated by other white men - he doesn't care much for them in return, particularly after his American Indian wife and children are killed; what's more, see no reason why he should help a wagon train fend off an Apache attack, particularly after they tie him to a wagon wheel . . . this excellent movie is available on a nice looking DVD from 20th Century Fox . . .

Finally caught PANIC IN THE STREETS tonight, which co-stars Barbara Bel Geddes (DALLAS) and Tommy Rettig (LASSIE) as Widmark's family. Great work by Widmark and a good job by Paul Douglas, a blustery type I've never loved. Best of all is Jack Palance, so tall with that amazing glass-cutter of a face that it's impossible not to look at him, even while Zero Mostel is sweating and whimpering right next to him.

I'm surprised no one has thought of remaking this, though I've seen variations of it on episodic television (a THRILLER with Robert Lansing looking for a bomb hidden inside an unknown woman's purse comes to mind).