The Sweet Smell Of Success [1957]

Amazon.co.uk Review

A classic from the late 1950s, The Sweet Smell of Success looks at the string-pulling behind-the-scenes action between desperate press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) and the ultimate power broker in that long-ago showbiz Manhattan, gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster).

Written by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (who based the Hunsecker character on the similarly brutal and power-mad Walter Winchell), the film follows Falco's attempts to promote a client through Hunsecker's column--until he is forced to make a deal with the devil and help Hunsecker ruin a jazz musician who has the nerve to date Hunsecker's sister.

Shooting on location, mostly at night, director Alexander MacKendrick and cinematographer James Wong Howe capture this New York demi-monde in silky black and white, in which neon and shadows share a scarily symbiotic relationship--a near-match for the poisonous give-and-take between the edgy Curtis and the dismissive Lancaster. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Not so sweet.......2005-04-30

A wonderful slice of not so sweet life, with Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster putting in sublime performances. Burt Lancaster plays a newspaper columnist who is rich, powerful, cold and controlling. Tony Curtis as a press agent, despises him but wants to be him at the same time. The casual manipulation of the peoples lives they come into contact with, with catastrophic results is fascinating to watch. Thoroughly recommended, the only drawback being the lip synch is badly out. If you can get past that, you're in for a treat

Magnificent sharp and bitter urban masterpiece.......2002-04-26

Fifties New York. A few night hours in the life of a parasitic press agent, Sidney Falco (Curtis) and the monster he feeds off, big-time showbiz columnist JJ Hunsecker (Lancaster).

Falco willingly submits to JJ's humiliations because he needs the scraps of publicity JJ deigns to throw Falco's clients in his daily column.

But now JJ needs a favour; will Falco destroy the lives of two innocent people just to stay JJ's favoured pet?

The two leads are brilliant. Curtis is nervous, cynical and strangely beautiful. By turns disgusted at the squalid lapdog he has become and thrilled by the reflected power of JJ.

Lancaster as JJ is as monumental a screen presence as Kane or Kurtz; the ground shakes and the air hums when he gets angry.

The scene where a Senator is paying court to JJ with Falco hovering between revulsion and reverence is near perfect: machine-gun dialogue with each bullet carefully dipped in venom.

You could cut yourself on the sharp black and white night photography and the music adds to the jittery atmosphere.

Sure, some of the lesser characters pale against the screen presence of Lancaster and Curtis, and the plot takes over a bit too much toward the end, but this is a riveting essay on power and self-loathing.

A word about the director: nothing in the prevoius work of Alexander Mackendrick prepares you for this. He directed some equally wonderful but very different films (The Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, Whisky Galore! ) and is sadly neglected in some quarters. This a dark and brutal masterpiece.

"Match me, Sidney. "

Average customer rating:

A magisterial portrayal of the seamy underbelly of US societ

Sweet Smell of Success [1957] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Burt Lancaster , Tony Curtis , Susan Harrison (II) , Martin Milner , and Sam Levene
Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Manufacturer: MGM
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Drama | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
Historical | Drama | Categories | DVD | Video
Region 1 | Special Features | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Ox-Bow Incident [1943] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

The Hindenburg (REGION 1) (NTSC) [1975]

Ace in the Hole [1951] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Bad Timing

Kiss of Death [1947] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

ASIN: B00005AUKD
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Amazon.co.uk Review

A classic of the late 1950s, Sweet Smell of Success looks at the string-pulling behind-the-scenes action between desperate press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) and the ultimate power broker in that long-ago show-biz Manhattan: gossip columnist JJ Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster). Written by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (who based the Hunsecker character on the similarly brutal and power-mad Walter Winchell), the film follows Falco's attempts to promote a client through Hunsecker's column--until he is forced to make a deal with the devil and help Hunsecker ruin a jazz musician who has the nerve to date Hunsecker's sister. Director Alexander MacKendrick and cinematographer James Wong Howe, shooting on location mostly at night, capture this New York demimonde in silky black and white, in which neon and shadows share a scarily symbiotic relationship--a near-match for the poisonous give-and-take between the edgy Curtis and the dismissive Lancaster. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

A magisterial portrayal of the seamy underbelly of US societ.......2000-05-25

'Sweet Smell of Success'? I doubt it. More like the rancid stench of social climbing and the perversion of good intent. The movie boasts an intensely stylised dialogue, with wonderful performances from Burt Lancaster as JJ Hunsecker, and Tony Curtis as a Hunsecker wannabe. Lancaster is positively reptilian as the all-powerful gossip columnist, whilst Curtis, as the furtive go-getter Sidney attempts to ingratiate himself by despoiling possibly the only loving relationship in the movie, between that of Hunsecker's sister and her jazz guitarist boyfriend. The noirish cinematography and the inspired direction by Brit Alexander MacKendrick, combined with the waspish and highly ornate dialogue make for a potent piece of cinema. The plot twists and the skewed ending of the movie make this a rivetting masterpiece that lingers long after the final credits roll. The sort of film where almost all of the characters have no redeeming qualities, 'Sweet Smell...' is nonetheless one of the truly great movies of the nineteen-fifties.

Average customer rating:

Recommend it

Home Physio - Treat Your Own Leg Pain
Starring: Judith Pitt-Brooke
Manufacturer: Homephysio Ltd
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Fitness | Fitness | Categories | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Home Physio - Treat Your Own Back Pain

ASIN: B0002VF5JS
Release Date: 2004-09-27

Customer Reviews:

Recommend it.......2004-12-02

I tried Treat your own leg pain DVD and found it very easy and informative. The detail is great. I stuck to the exercises suggested for me and it has really helped me feel a lot better. Much easier than I expected.

DVD:

DVD List

DVD