Kiss of Death (1947)

[thunderw21]

I recently watched this movie. Pretty good but what I want to talk about is the performance by Richard Widmark as the deranged killer Tommy Udo.

What a creepy character, chilled me down to the bone. The character's black shirt and suit foretold of villainy and Widmark made the most of it, smiling and chuckling all the way as he left a path of death and destruction. Pushing a wheelchair-bound old woman down the stairs? Brutal.

With the release of "The Dark Knight" and Ledger's great performance in it as the Joker, I would not be surprised if Widmark's performance was examined in the development of Ledger's performance as the Joker.

Edit: I just read that Widmark was a big fan of Batman and was inspired by the Joker for this role. Cool!

 

[BeBopBaby]

What I love about Kiss of Death is that Widmark is on the screen maybe a total of 15 minutes during the entire film and he completely steals the whole movie. Truely one of the greatest film noir roles ever and a major inspiration for The Joker. Classic.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Richard Widmark is also very chilling in No Way Out(1950). I haven't seen many actors that are this nightmarishly real in bad-men roles.

 

[dhermann1]

On the totally other side of the coin, he made a great Ben Franklin, in the 1974 mini series "Ben Franklin". Probably the most accurate depiction ever.
I mean, what's not to love with Richard Widmark!!??

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Richard Widmark was great as Tommy Udo.

The Tommy Udo role almost went to Harry The Hipster Gibson, who was the choice of Henry Hathaway until Darryl Zanuck saw the screen test Richard Widmark had done for the role.
It's interesting to contemplate what Harry The Hipster might have done, if they could have kept him away from the drugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql-1_uolBF4