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Movies / On DVD / Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success

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Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:41

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.7/10

Consensus: Sweet Smell of Success boasts a top-notch cast, sharp direction, atmospheric cinematography, and an appropriately jazzy score, making it one of the best noir crime thrillers ever made.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Director Alexander Mackendrick breaks away from black comedy (THE LADYKILLERS) and goes for full-fledged noir in this spectacular hard-boiled tale of greed, corruption, and brutality. In the... Director Alexander Mackendrick breaks away from black comedy (THE LADYKILLERS) and goes for full-fledged noir in this spectacular hard-boiled tale of greed, corruption, and brutality. In the flashing neon nighttime of NYC, grasping press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) trawls the city's toniest nightspots--21,the Elysian--searching for the king of celebrity columnists, J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster). Falco is on the outs with Hunsecker because he hasn't successfully broken up the romance between Hunsecker's sister, Susie (Susan Harrison), and straitlaced jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Martin Milner). The all-powerful Hunsecker is punishing Falco's failure by not printing any of the publicist's items. Desperate to make a living, Falco reveals a dirty plan to separate weak-willed Susie from her beau. While disgusted by Falco's slimy trade, the threatening, malicious columnist is determined to keep Susie for himself, so he agrees. In this jazzily scored, seamy nocturnal world, everyone is expendable as Hunsecker pushes for his twisted desires and Falco grasps for success. With their machine-gun dialogue and despicable behavior, Hunsecker and Falco are as dangerous as gangsters. The person who comes out on top when the sun rises, however, is a true surprise. [More]

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Martin Milner, Samm Levine

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Martin Milner, Samm Levine, Barbara Nichols, Jeff Donnell, Edith Atwater, Emile Meyer

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Producer: James Hill
Screenwriter: Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman
Composer: Elmer Bernstein

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Sweet Smell of Success

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A masterpiece.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
04/21/09
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film is a masterpiece, intelligent Hollywood cinema at its best.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
04/21/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

With some of the sharpest dialogue ever cut in Hollywood, only on the most superficial level is this a movie about gossip and publicity. We're talking show business. We're talking America. We're talking cast-iron classic.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Colin Kennedy
Colin Kennedy
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The screen was rarely so dark or cruel.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fizzingly clever big-city satire and deeply strange late noir classic.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
09/26/01
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the sharpest and corrosively perceptive films to emerge from Hollywood.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/11/01
Jason Wood
Jason Wood
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sweet Smell, which could have been offal, is raised to considerable dramatic heights by intense acting, taut direction (by Alexander Mackendrick), [and] superb camera work (by James Wong Howe).

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
04/21/09
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mackendrick's nighthawk landscape is compellingly, poetically bleak.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/21/09
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Masterful direction and cinematography are shown off in this restored version, with Bernstein’s apt jazzy score nailing all the right notes.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

James Hill's production, locationed in Manhattan, captures the feel of Broadway and environs after dark.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/22/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Engaging, at times vicious drama w/Lancaster as acidic gossip monger, Curtis fine as wimpy sidekick.

comment Comment
02/23/08
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
07/22/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
07/22/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

A cruelly cynical take on the seamy side of New York City's swinging nightclub life.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/11/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
01/11/05
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
03/10/04
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
11/07/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

It's about hype and, although it was made decades before the word was coined, it still has eye-opening things to convey about the slippery business of celebrity journalism. Such is the value of first-hand experience.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
09/20/03
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald

No review available.

comment Comment
08/21/03
John Esther
John Esther
Pasadena Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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Latest News for Sweet Smell of Success

July 06, 2005: Legendary Screenwriter Ernest Lehman Passes Away
Veteran screenwriter / producer Ernest Lehman passed away on July 2nd after a lengthy illness. Mr. Lehman was nominated for a half-dozen Oscars over the course of his... More...

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