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Sweet Smell of Success | Actors/Actresses: - Burt Lancaster - Tony Curtis - Alexander Mackendrick white cityscapes of cinamatographer James Wong Howe and the acid dialog for one hell of a ride. Burt Lancaster projects icy menace as the powerful, Walter Winchell-derived J. J. Hunsecker. Tony Curtis has the role of his life as the oily, grasping press agent, Sidney Falco. (In fact, I think this is the only movie in which Curtis could be mistaken for a good actor.) Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman turned out a script that's a caustic indictment of the American worship of money, fame, power...but that makes it seem serious and dull. There's a tightly-wound, over-the-top quality to the dialog and characterizations that's fun and enormously entertaining. The evocation, too, of New York circa 1957 gives the whole thing context and heft. There are loads of location shots, almost all at night, that give a real feel of the city----the clubs, the all-night diners, the newstands, the trash, the neon. You can almost taste it. Plus the real-life Chico Hamilton Quintet plays on screen! "AN APPLE MADE OF ARSENIC." One of the problems with studying in film school, being a movie buff and getting older is that at some point in ones' life a man ventures into the video store, peruses the shelves and reaches the conclusion that he has seen every movie worth seeing. Outstanding One critic I read touted the masterful dialogue in this movie, and after having seen it, I would say the hard-hitting and corrosive dialogue in this film literally singes the air, remembered long after the movie screen itself has faded. This classic 50's drama of the poisonous relationship between an influential and power-mad newspaper columnist, played by Burt Lancaster, and a corrupt and deperate press agent, played by Tony Curtis, still packs a considerable punch. I suspect Lancaster's character of J.J. Hunsecker was based on the life of Walter Winchell, but anyway, he portrays a manipulative gossip columnist who will stop at nothing to get his way. Curtis stars as the venal and morally bankrupt publicist, doing Lancaster's dirty work for him as he tries to get back into Hunsecker's good graces and his clients back into the pages of Hunsecker's influential and widely read column. The acerbic dialogue by Lehman and Odets is virtually over the top during much of the movie. The performances by Lancaster and Curtis are really outstanding, and it was also interesting watching them play real bad guys, rather than the good guys they normally seem to play. Set against a superbly and even menacingly realized backdrop of New York in the 1950s, Lancaster as the megalomaniacal political columnist and Curtis as the completely amoral publicist show one aspect of the soft underbelly of the Big Apple in the behind-the-scenes string-pulling dramatized in this film. All in all still a fine movie, as well as a still relevant commentary on the abuses of the mass media. Big Steve says go rent it and don't Bogart the popcorn. Dripping with contempt, loathing, and hatred This is a film that holds up well to repeated viewings. The jazzy score by Elmer Bernstein combines with the beautiful black & white cityscapes of cinamatographer James Wong Howe and the acid dialog for one hell of a ride. Burt Lancaster projects icy menace as the powerful, Walter Winchell-derived J. J. Hunsecker. Tony Curtis has the role of his life as the oily, grasping press agent, Sidney Falco. (In fact, I think this is the only movie in which Curtis could be mistaken for a good actor.) Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman turned out a script that's a caustic indictment of the American worship of money, fame, power...but that makes it seem serious and dull. There's a tightly-wound, over-the-top quality to the dialog and characterizations that's fun and enormously entertaining. The evocation, too, of New York circa 1957 gives the whole thing context and heft. There are loads of location shots, almost all at night, that give a real feel of the city----the clubs, the all-night diners, the newstands, the trash, the neon. You can almost taste it. Plus the real-life Chico Hamilton Quintet plays on screen! Buy Sweet Smell Of Success at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Sweet Smell Of Success Search with the Priority Search Engine on Sweet Smell Of Success This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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