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Sweet Smell of Success

United States

1957

96 Min
Black and White
1.66:1
English
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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DIR Alexander Mackendrick

EXEC Tony Curtis, Harold Hecht, Burt Lancaster

PROD James Hill

SCR Clifford Odets, Alexander Mackendrick, Ernest Lehman

DP James Wong Howe

CAST Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene, Joe Frisco, Jeff Donnell, Emile Meyer, Edith Atwater

ED Alan Crosland Jr.

MUSIC Elmer Bernstein

Locarno (Retrospective)

Synopsis

In Alexander Mackendrick’s swift, cynical Sweet Smell of Success, Burt Lancaster stars as barbaric Broadway gossip columnist J. J. Hunsecker, and Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, the unprincipled press agent he ropes into smearing the up-and-coming jazz musician romancing his beloved sister. Featuring deliciously unsavory dialogue in an acid, brilliantly structured script by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman and noirish neon cityscapes from Oscar-winning cinematographer James Wong Howe, Sweet Smell of Success is a cracklingly cruel dispatch from the kill-or-be-killed wilds of 1950s Manhattan. –The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Alexander Mackendrick

Gifted director whose films are marked by fine writing and acting and who is best known for his ingenious Ealing comedies. Born to Scottish parents in the US and raised in Scotland, Mackendrick worked in advertising and then made propaganda shorts during WWII. In 1946 he joined Ealing Studios, co-writing a number of Basil Dearden movies before making his directing debut with the comedy classic “Whisky Galore/Tight Little Island” (1949). It was followed by several other sharply observed, often darkly satirical comedies, such as the brilliant “The Man in the White Suit” (1951) and the equally memorable “The Ladykillers” (1955), both starring Alec Guinness and both superb examples of the dry, adult, yet farcical Ealing style.

Mackendrick’s ability to elicit outstanding performances from his actors, particularly children, is displayed in the wonderful study of the teaching of a deaf girl, “Mandy/Crash of Silence” (1952) and in the lesser but enjoyable adventure saga, “A High Wind… read more

Wall

Displaying 4 of 42 wall posts.
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Anastasia

8Apr12

Should be mandatory viewing for anyone who really wants to know the evil of New York City. The scumbaggery is so thick and dirty I felt like I had to take a shower afterwards...relishingly revolting.

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micah van hove

8Apr12

Everything you want & nothing you don't. My right hand hasn't seen my left hand in thirty years.

Picture of Diana Estrada

Diana Estrada

2Apr12

A faultless portrait of the idiosyncrasies of New York

Picture of Michael Harbour

Michael Harbour

27Mar12

As bleakly cynical as movies come but with such brilliantly clever dialog that leaves the bitter pill so sweetly coated you want to keep devouring it. Tony Curtis, and especially Burt Lancaster, reveal acting chops they rarely got to display. And the movie brings a deep soil of subtext for your imagination to plow.

micah van hove likes this

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Fans

Displaying 5 of 649 fans.

Articles

Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
W184

Austin Film Festival, Monsters and More

By David Hudson on October 21, 2010

The Austin Film Festival opens for a full week today and the Chronicle's nifty package includes Marjorie Baumgarten's piece on Sweet Smell

read article
W184

Tony Curtis, 1925 - 2010

By David Hudson on September 30, 2010

"Tony Curtis, one of the last great stars of Hollywood's golden age, died yesterday aged 85," reports the Guardian's Xan Brooks. "The death

read article

Criterion Bluray SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
This lavish edition of Sweet Smell of Success is worth your time, your money, and then some. Dialogue, music, performance, direction, cinematography and story all come together to create one of the most
read on Twitchfilm.com

Lists

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Reviews

Displaying 4 of 7

Burt as femme fatale

By Musycks on May 5, 2012

Easily one of the greatest scripts ever filmed, every line perfectly in sync with the line before it and a dazzling display of the screenwriters art from Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets. ‘Sweet Smell…  read review

Takes some time to find its stride but turns into a daunting film towards the end

By Henrik Schunk on January 17, 2012

I must admit, the first 15 minutes of the film were completely lost on me and I had no idea what was going on. Of course, I relished in seeing Curtis and Lancaster on the screen but the storyline took…  read review

Short review.

By LifeofF​iction on December 9, 2011

If ever there were a film that showed the truth behind the phrase, “The pen is mightier than the sword” it would be this one. It’s a film that leaves you at the end, of its short runtime, to marinate…  read review

Sweet Smell of Success

By Yashoda on October 31, 2011

The best kind of entertainment is that which lets us intrude on the lives of truly horrible people. When you add in a script as witty as Sweet Smell of Success’s, you have filmic gold.

When…  read review

Forum

Displaying 3 discussion topics.

Blu-ray question.

3 posts by 2 people 12 months ago

Coming to the collection

25 posts by 12 people over 1 year ago

Sweet Smell of Success Coming on Criterion

3 posts by 3 people over 1 year ago