Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
 |
Review #1,326 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
Plot: Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
Genre: Drama / Film-Noir
Awards: Nom. for 1 BAFTA - Best Foreign Actor
Runtime: 96min
Rating: Not rated. Likely to be PG13.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
International Sales: Hollywood Classics
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.”
One
of the great American noirs of the '50s, Sweet
Smell of Success comes with high reputation and expectation. It is also director Alexander Mackendrick's
most well-known work, and it might just be his finest.
Set
in the glitz and dog-eat-dog world of print media, public relations and high
society, we first get acquainted with Sidney Falco, played by Tony Curtis with
boundless energy whose character has a fondness of making snide remarks and
always has a comeback line in any argument.
He is a shady press agent who would feed scandalous information to
columnists in a bid to make big bucks and grow his connections, however
unethical his methods are.
Sweet Smell of Success pits him against his old friend J.J. Hunsecker, a
high-flying and popular columnist—a Burt Lancaster whom you wouldn't want to
mess with. Their relationship is subject
to severe strains when Falco fails to do a task well for Hunsecker, that is to
break up the romance between the latter's sister and a jazz guitarist through
malicious media writing.
There
are twists and turns, most of them within Falco's control, who tries to outwit
everyone and get back in the good accounting—in every sense of the word—books
of Hunsecker. Despite the nefarious world
these people operate in, Falco and Hunsecker are made to be likable characters—you
won't endorse their tactics and worldview, but you will like them enough to
want to see them succeed (or fail).
That
all boils down to the strength of the screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest
Lehman based on the latter’s novel, and Mackendrick bringing the best out of
the actors through the dialogue. There's a potent and cruel dose of heavy
cynicism, borne out of sneering sarcasm, and the masculine desire to dominate
and be the master of his own destiny.
Hunsecker's
sister is powerless, under the spell of her more famous and overprotective
brother—there's a hint of incest, and in some illicit way, Hunsecker's desire
to destroy the romance between her sister and the musician speaks of his
distaste for anyone who is less of a man.
The acerbic dialogue, plus James Wong Howe's off-kilter if moody cinematography
add to the whole experience. In sum, Sweet Smell of Success is startling,
revolting and entertaining. Don't miss.
Verdict: With acerbic dialogue performed by the great
Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, this noirish drama is a cruel dose of heavy
cynicism and malicious intent.
GRADE: A-
Tweet
Follow @Filmnomenon
Click here to go back to Central Station.
TRAILER:
OST:
Comments