Best Supporting Actor 1947: Results

5. Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter- Bickford is certainly fine in his part, but nothing special. He perhaps could have stolen some scenes but he never is able to.

4. Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse- Although his part is fairly limited Gomez gives an enjoyable and charming performance that only adds to his film.

3. Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street- Gwenn is not really a definitive Santa Clause by any means, and this is not any sort of great performance, but it is a good one where Gwenn makes Santa Clause just as kind and warm as he should be.

2. Robert Ryan in Crossfire- Robert Ryan plays the sort of role he became best known for and the truth is there is a reason he became known for this sort of role, because he was very good at it. This is not his best variation on this sort of character though.

1. Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death- There is no question for me who wins this year though as Widmark easily gives the most memorable and most effective performance out of the nominees. Widmark becomes basically invisible in his chilling creation of Tommy Udo a psychopath who only ever finds joy from what he does.

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Best Supporting Actor 1947: Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death

Richard Widmark received his only Oscar nomination for portraying Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death.

Kiss of Death details the story of a criminal who becomes an informant to help his family, which gets him into a dangerous situation with one of the men he informed on.

Richard Widmark although had a long screen career he was only ever nominated for his for film role ever as the giggling psychopath Tommy Udo. What I found interesting from his first scene in this film was the fact that Widmark's performance here in no way resembles his later screen persona which was usually a deep voiced commanding figure. In this film though I barely recognized Widmark as he completely becomes the role of Tommy Udo.

As I said Widmark has a deep voice but here that is not apparent in the least. Widmark here instead has a rather high pitched weasel type of voice that works perfectly for the role of Tommy Udo. He makes Tommy Udo not some sort of overwhelming figure who seems to command, but far more freighting by always seeming to be dangerous by just how off of a person Widmark makes him, Widmark always shows that there is something simply off about Udo.

What makes Widmark's performance so memorable though is that Tommy is not only a Killer but a true sadist who loves to kill. The famous wheelchair pushing scene would not be nearly as memorable as it is if it were not for the grinning joyful face that Widmark has the moment Tommy is doing it. There is not a single moment in which Widmark shows any sort of sympathy inside of the disturbing Tommy.

Widmark simply makes the most out of the character of Tommy Udo who easily could have been played way over the top, but instead Widmark makes him bizarrely real in his psychopathy and all the more chilling because of that. There are so many aspects of this performance that could have gone wrong in lesser hands but with Widmark they never do. This is truly an accomplishment becuase of how risky Widmark plays his role, which is a little surprising since it was his first performance in a film.

The way he walks, the way he talks, the way he laughs, and especially the way he smiles only ever work to make Tommy Udo an unforgettable character. Every moment of the film he is in, which is not as much as one might think Widmark makes the most of. He absolutely holds your attention in every scene for every second with his fascinating portrayal. He makes Udo such an effective villain that even when he was off screen I was thinking about him. This is an amazing performance by Widmark that creates a chilling portrait of a smiling psychopath.

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Best Supporting Actor 1947

And the Nominees Were:

Robert Ryan in Crossfire

Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death

Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street

Thomas Gomez in Ride the Pink Horse

Charles Bickford in The Farmer's Daughter

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