Night and the City / Richard Widmark

[lester1/2jr]

Fox movie channel has shown a bunch of movies starring this psycho lately.  I saw this one today, about a guy who gets caught up in wrestling promotion (  isn't that always the way?)   in London.  It's apparently always night there.  Richard Widmark is awesome.  He is either totally confident and elated or totally scared and frantic.  He should really have done some meditation or something.  I also caught "slattery's hurricane" actually halfway through, he does a similar sort of thing in that one.  He gets all loaded and p**ses everyone off.  I'd like to hang out with him.

[yaddo42]

Widmark is actually a quite calm, intelligent, and rational man from what I've seen of him in interviews. He played a lot of straight-laced types as well (military officers, politicians, doctors, cops, etc.) but he is great at edgy wackos and shifty characters. Watch him as psycho Tommy Udo in the original "Kiss of Death". He's also fun in the western "Alverez Kelly" and plays it stright in another underrated western "Warlock" with Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn.

Since "Night And The City" was a later day film noir, it's fitting that the action would take place at night when hustlers and crooks like his character would operate in the bars and hangouts where they do business.

He's retired now (and wheelchair bound possibly when they did a "Biography" about him on A&E) but he's who I wish would play Cohen the Barbarian if they ever make any films of Terry Prachett's Discworld books.

[BoyScoutKevin]

A great film (IMHO) Not only an example of later film noir, but, an example of British film noir.
Not only does Richard Widmark turn in a good performance, but, so does the British Sidney Greenstreet, Francis L. Sullivan. Remade to lesser effect with Robert De Niro. And if one likes Greco-Roman wrestling, then watch the wrestling match between Mike Mazurki and Stanislaus [Stanley] Zbyszko. They were both professional wrestlers and it shows. Probably one of the greatest wrestling matches ever seen on film. Enjoy!

[lester1/2jr]

wow is he related to Larry zbyszko?