SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

This is a film noir, albeit without a femme fatale, about corruption: the corruption of power as represented by celebrity columnist J.J.Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), and the corruption of ambition as represented by struggling press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis).

Their seedy and symbiotic relationship is at the heart of the film.   Falco needs items in Hunsecker’s column about his clients, and Hunsecker needs Falco to dig up juicy items of gossip and to do his dirty work.

The power dynamic between them is very much in one direction, with Falco prepared to debase himself every which way, and Hunsecker all too happy to show his contempt for Falco.

The film has impressive production values: stunning black-and-white location photography of New York by James Wong Howe, a jazzy score by Elmer Bernstein, and a screenplay by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets. 

The only surprise perhaps is that this very American film is directed by British Alexander Mackendrick, whose experience at this point was entirely that of directing Ealing Studios comedies.

The shooting of the film sounds very stressful, with Odets rewriting the screenplay extensively throughout, so it is to the credit of the director and the actors that the end product is coherent and precise.

The claustrophobic plot unfolds over 24 hours, and concerns Hunsecker’s attempts to use Falco to scupper a romance between his kid sister Susie and a promising musician.

Lancaster is great as always but I was particularly taken with Curtis who delivers a memorable performance as someone able to bury his moral qualms whenever necessary, but who can generate an unexpected Ray Liotta-type energy whenever he feels threatened.

If the film has a flaw it is that the climax, which is all about the relationship between Hunsecker and Susie, doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch it needs to, either through something lacking in the writing, or in Lancaster’s performance at this point which is maybe a bit too restrained.

That quibble aside, this is a fine piece of work, well worth catching.

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can