SYNOPSIS
A two-bit, husting press agent named Sidney Falco has a problem: his clients are breathing down his neck for the coverage he promised them and he's being blackballed from the column of J.J. Hunsecker, the most widely read and powerful columnist in New York. Hunsecker is a tough, unyielding man who can make or break political careers just as easily as he can ruin an actor or actress's career in show business. Currently the columnist is down on Falco because the agent failed to deliver on a personal assignment; namely, to break up the relationship between Hunsecker's sister, Susie, and Steve Dallas, a fiercely independent jazz musician. Desperate to get back into Hunsecker's good stead, Falco spends a long night darting around town, drawing upon his unsavory connections and unethical deal-making to get Dallas fired from his job and arrested as a pot-smoking Communist. The results of his actions do indeed create turmoil in Dallas's life temporarily but they also backfire in unexpected ways for Hunsecker and his sleazy accomplice.
Director: Alexander MacKendrick
Producer: James Hill
Screenplay: Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman
Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: Alan Crosland Jr.
Art Direction: Edward Carrere
Cast: Burt Lancaster (J. J. Hunsecker), Tony Curtis (Sidney Falco), Susan Harrison (Susan Hunsecker), Martin Milner (Steve), Sam Levene (Frank D'Angelo), Barbara Nichols (Rita).
BW-97m. Letterboxed.
Why SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS is Essential
Sweet Smell of Success was too harsh, too uncompromising, too "New York" for mass tastes in 1957. A box-office disaster in the heartland, it fared much better in major cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many critics praised its stark depiction of the brutal, backstabbing world of powerful newspaper columnists and the toadying publicity flacks who fed them gossip and innuendo. But even within these favorable notices, reviewers singled out elements of the film's dark complexity as flaws. Some said press agent Sidney Falco, despite Tony Curtis's brilliant performance, was too crafty and resilient a character to be so easily dismissed in the film's final scene. As for Hunsecker's overly protective and obsession concern for his sister, what now seems to be a rather clear case of incestuous possessiveness was written off at the time as unrealistic behavior. Sweet Smell of Success was also disliked by some for casting two popular stars - Lancaster and Curtis - in such unsympathetic roles. There was even conjecture that real-life columnist Walter Winchell - who served as the inspiration for J. J. Hunsecker - would encourage boycotts of the film (He didn't). And while the film noir look and feel of Sweet Smell of Success is considered hip by today's standards, it wasn't a style that found favor with the average moviegoer who was looking for entertaining narratives and happy endings. But Sweet Smell of Success has only grown in stature since 1957 thanks to a fortuitous combination of elements - an established director (Alexander MacKendrick) moving into a new genre, top-notch ensemble performances by actors cast against type, a solid story by a man (Ernest Lehman) who had once toiled in the Broadway publicity world, a hard-hitting script by the acclaimed playwright (Clifford Odets) of the once renown Group Theatre, and photography and location shooting (by James Wong Howe) that made New York City a character in its own right. And far from ruining the careers of Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success brought both actors more challenging roles and career opportunities.
The film has been a major influence on contemporary filmmakers ranging from Martin Scorsese (whose location shooting for Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976) owes much to the look and feel of Sweet Smell of Success) to Barry Levinson (who references it in two movies) to numerous directors who have made New York based films featuring cynical and manipulative urban characters.
Sweet Smell of Success is one of those films that Nora Sayre, in her book Running Time, says "float outside the mainstream of a period" and "reveal the misgivings of that era." Here is the dark edge of 50s optimism, an unflinching examination of corrupted and corrupting power. It's unrivalled for sheer nastiness; few of the characters can actually be called sympathetic, and not even the innocent walk away unscathed. What makes all this bile so easy to swallow is the pure enjoyment of watching the whole thing mesh so brilliantly and unrelentingly through James Wong Howe's low-key photography and Clifford Odet's crackling dialogue. There's even a certain dark humor to it, especially in the verbal and moral gymnastics Sidney Falco goes through while trying to save his job. More than one observer has noted a similarity between the barbed wit of Sweet Smell of Success and the predatory comedy of Ben Johnson's Volpone, a play which was a personal favorite of director Alexander Mackendrick.
If for no other reason, the movie should be remembered for Tony Curtis's breakthrough performance. Something of a teen idol at the time of production (with throngs of fans who often made the New York location shooting difficult), Curtis was best known for his dark good looks which were showcased in period adventure movies. (The odd incongruity of his Bronx accent in medieval England was often noted by the critics). As Sidney Falco, he showed himself capable of handling contemporary roles that required a nimble layering of emotions and motivations. From here, he went on to acclaimed work in The Defiant Ones (1958) and Some Like It Hot (1959).
Burt Lancaster had successfully stretched his range and image in several movies prior to Sweet Smell of Success such as Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) and The Rose Tattoo (1955), but here he totally jettisons his beautiful athleticism and toothy grin in favor of an unapologetically evil character who speaks in a terse, exacting manner. In fact, down to the smallest role, the entire cast operates in a stripped-down style that brings a dynamic energy to the story, and if some of that was communicated to the screen, as Mackendrick said, by "hysteria in production problems," then the combination of ego, passion and chaos behind the camera makes this one of those happy accidents of film art.
In the end, what's most surprising about Sweet Smell of Success is the fact that it was totally ignored during the 1957 Oscar race. Not only was Tony Curtis's breakthrough performance as the self-loathing Sidney Falco ignored but even Elmer Bernstein's dynamic, jazz-influenced score failed to garner an Academy Award nomination. The latter featured notable contributions from Chico Hamilton's Quintet and such fine musicians as Frank Rosolino, Curtis Counce, Paul Horn, and Buddy Clark.
