Richard Widmark movies on TCM: Pickup on South Street, Run for the Sun
Monday, Aug. 11, highlights on Turner Classic Movies: Surely one of best movies starring Richard Widmark, Samuel Fuller’s crime drama Pickup on South Street is a Cold War tale about how a handful of social outcasts end up saving the day.
Widmark, whose performances were usually less than subtle, is actually fine as a pickpocket being pursued by Communist spies, but the film’s two best performances are those of Jean Peters – too bad she cut her career short and married Howard Hughes – and Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominee Thelma Ritter as a bag lady/professional informant.
The Long Ships is a so-so Viking adventure tale directed by Jack Cardiff, the cinematographer of Richard Fleischer’s superior The Vikings.
Run for the Sun is a less than satisfactory remake of Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel’s cheaper-looking but more thrilling The Most Dangerous Game, with nutcase Trevor Howard as the hunter and Widmark and Jane Greer as the game.
And Coma is a silly but moderately entertaining thriller about the hugely profitable organ-selling business. Future television star Tom Selleck is one of those who – literally – go under the knife.
Not recommended (unless you’re a Richard Widmark completist): Take the High Ground!, which makes trash like Taylor Hackford’s An Officer and a Gentleman and every John Wayne military flick out there look thoughtful and multilayered.
Richard Widmark movies: TCM schedule (PDT)
3:00 AM The Long Ships (1964)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn.
Director: Jack Cardiff.
Color. 126 min. Letterbox.5:30 AM The Law and Jake Wade (1958)
Cast: Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens.
Director: John Sturges.
Color. 87 min. Letterbox.7:00 AM The Cobweb (1955)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Gloria Grahame, John Kerr, Charles Boyer, Lillian Gish, Oscar Levant, Fay Wray.
Director: Vincente Minnelli.
Color. 124 min. Letterbox.9:30 AM A Prize of Gold (1955)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Mai Zetterling, Nigel Patrick.
Director: Mark Robson.
Color. 98 min.11:30 AM Time Limit (1957)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Richard Basehart, June Lockhart.
Director: Karl Malden.
B&W. 97 min.1:30 PM Run for the Sun (1956)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Jane Greer, Trevor Howard.
Director: Roy Boulting.
B&W. 99 min. Letterbox.3:15 PM Flight from Ashiya (1964)
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, George Chakiris.
Director: Michael Anderson.
Color. 102 min. Letterbox.5:00 PM Pickup on South Street (1953)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter.
Director: Samuel Fuller.
B&W. 80 min.6:30 PM Take the High Ground! (1953)
Cast: Richard Widmark, Karl Malden, Russ Tamblyn. Director: Richard Brooks. Color. 101 min. Letterbox.8:30 PM Alvarez Kelly (1966)
Cast: William Holden, Richard Widmark, Janice Rule. Director: Edward Dmytryk. Color. 110 min. Letterbox.10:30 PM The Way West (1967)
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark.
Director: Andrew V. McLaglen.
Color. 122 min. Letterbox.1:00 AM Coma (1978)
Cast: Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley, Richard Widmark, Tom Selleck.
Director: Michael Crichton.
Color. 113 min. Letterbox.
“Richard Widmark Movies on TCM” notes/references
Richard Widmark movie schedule via the TCM website.
See also: Richard Widmark’s 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Career Achievement Award.