One of film noirdom's classic yikes! moments is when psycho killer Tommy Udo pushes an elderly woman tied to her wheelchair down a flight of stairs - giggling creepily as he watches her tumble to her death. Twenty-six year old RICHARD WIDMARK created the Udo giggle for his film debut, a small role that made a huge impression in KISS OF DEATH (1947). In the ensuing years, he played good guys and bad guys with equal aplomb, gracing some 40 other films in his long career, including two other classic film noirs, NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950) and Sam Fuller's PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953), both reviewed on my Film Noir site here. About that weird giggle Widmark once remarked: “For two years after that picture, you couldn't get me to smile. I played the part the way I did because the script struck me as funny, and the part I played made me laugh. The guy was such a ridiculous beast." Read the Time Magazine Rememberance and Hear Richard Widmark Speak
