christopher-underwood What a sparklingly brilliant and horrible noirish movie this is. Even beneath the opening credits the film is bursting forth with crowds bustling, newspaper lorries gushing forth and neon reflecting onto the dark and wet pavements. The fast pace is maintained throughout and there is a slight problem at first in ascertaining what is going on because we find it so hard to accept that Tony Curtis is playing a bad man. Hardly any good men in this, though, as we see how the popular newspaper gossip writers go about their business and the pleasure they take with their snide insinuations and malicious digs. Curtis is fantastic playing against type and this is probably his finest work, Lancaster is similarly playing it more darkly and is so scary, with minimal movement and a steely glare. Much has been said about the seeming weakness of the young lovers and maybe Lancaster's sister could have been more of a wild child and her jazz friend more of a hip cat. But it is a minor moan when the picture before you glows and glistens in glorious b/w before exploding in the midst of its manipulative nastiness.

Ross622 Alexander Mackendrick's "Sweet Smell of Success" is a movie about journalists that is unlike anything that I've ever seen before and when it comes to the journalism industry it is even more shocking than Sidney Lumet's "Network" (1976) which was released 19 years after this movie came out in 1957. Burt Lancaster stars as JJ Hunsecker a very powerful columnist for the New York Globe and who has lots of readers to his name, asks a young press agent named Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) to break up the relationship between Hunsecker's little sister Susie (Susan Harrison) and a jazz musician named Steve Dallas (Martin Milner) while Falco tries to go even further as to framing him as a dope smoker. The film isn't a typical film noir with a private eye investigating a murder though it does have the ingredients of one. This is a movie that is truly flawless thanks to the extremely intense screenplay written by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, the glorious black and white cinematography by James Wong Howe, Mackendrick's direction, and all of the performances especially from Lancaster and Curtis stand out from all the rest and each of them give some of the best work of their respective careers and are truly Oscar level work that was snubbed that year. In his review of this movie Roger Ebert wrote that the relationship between the Lancaster and Curtis characters was like "two junkyard dogs". of which there is no better way for me to describe it. Burt Lancaster is one of my all time favorite macho men in the movies along with John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, Clark Gable, Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford and many others. This film is also one of the best noirs that I've ever seen and not only is it a masterpiece, it is also one of the ten best films of 1957.

k-ellinger This is the type of movie that you need to pay close attention to to understand what is going on. There's a lot that could happen in such a short period of time and if you miss it, then you could be lost for the rest of the movie. The acting in this job is amazing. With the good looks from Tony Curtis and the controlling demeanor from Burt Lancaster's character, you'll be in for a treat with this movie. This movie has a combination between love, hate, and control. In this drama film, we see Burt Lancaster's character try to use Tony Curtis' character to try to break up his sister with her fiancé because he loves her and doesn't want to lose her. While watching the film, the audience has to sit and figure out why he would do something like that but we quickly discover that it's out of love.

SnoopyStyle J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is the most powerful gossip columnist writing for the New York Globe. He can make or break any entertainer or even politician. He is obsessed with his nineteen year old sister Susan and is determined to bring down her boyfriend jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. He has commanded press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) to split them up and is icing him out due to his continued failure to do so. Falco is a sleazy desperate opportunist willing to do anything and use anyone like cigarette girl Rita.This did poorly upon its release as the fans were repulsed by their matinée idols portraying ugly villains. Hunsecker and Falco have absolutely no redeeming values. The dialogue is beyond great. It snaps with fun craziness. Falco's sleaziness is delicious. I could do with a darker ending but the movie is already so dark. That would have been an even tougher sell.