Sweet Smell of Success

19571957
ApprovedApproved
1h 36min

8.0/10

Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.

8.0/10

30K

Director
- Alexander Mackendrick
Writers
- Clifford Odets(screenplay)
- Ernest Lehman(screenplay)
- Alexander Mackendrick(uncredited)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 3 wins & 4 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 3:05

Sweet Smell of Success

Susan Harrison, Sam Levene, and Martin Milner in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Susan Harrison in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Tony Curtis and Susan Harrison in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Tony Curtis in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Tony Curtis and Barbara Nichols in Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Director
- Alexander Mackendrick
Writers
- Clifford Odets(screenplay)
- Ernest Lehman(screenplay) (novelette)
- Alexander Mackendrick(uncredited)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful newspaper columnist in New York, is determined to prevent his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a jazz musician. He therefore covertly employs Sidney Falco, a sleazy and unscrupulous press agent, to break up the affair by any means possible. —David Levene <D.S.Levene@durham.ac.uk>

musician press agent newspaper columnist incest attempted suicide 127 more

Taglines
- They know him - and they shiver - the big names of Broadway, Hollywood and Capitol Hill. They know J.J.- the world-famed columnist whose gossip is gospel to sixty million readers! They know the venom that flickers in those eyes behind the glasses - and they fawn - like Sid Falco, the kid who wanted "in" so much, he'd sell out his own girl to stand up there with J.J., sucking in the sweet smell of success! This is J.J.'s story - but not the way he would have liked it told!
Genres
- Drama
- Film-Noir
Certificate
- Approved
Parents guide

Trivia
The character of J.J. Hunsecker is based on famed New York columnist Walter Winchell.

Goofs
Right at the start of the movie (2:34) when Sidney peruses J.J. Hunsecker's 'The Eyes of Broadway' column on page 21 of the New York Globe newspaper, it can clearly be seen that several of the paragraphs are repeated. Of the nine paragraphs visible, it can be seen that paragraph 7 is an exact copy of paragraph 2; 8 is a copy of 5, and 9 is a copy of 4.

Quotes
Sidney Falco: The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river.

Crazy credits
introducing Susan Harrison

Connections
Featured in Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away (1986)

Top review

Oh, Those GREAT NY Scenes!

Another poster "stole" the one line summary I wanted to use: "Match me, Sidney." Damn. It's one of the best lines in the movie. Oh, well.

"Sweet Smell of Success" is a great, wildly entertaining movie. It reminds me of "Dangerous Liasons" in both it's subject ("bad" people making life worse for more decent folk) and how swiftly and imaginatively directed it is. It's juicy from beginning to end. Burt Lancaster is once again terrific as J.J. Hunsecker, Walter Winchell-esque writer of a "society" column which is more of a tool of destruction for those who cross his path.

But it's Tony Curtis who holds the movie together. Always scheming and plotting and never letting a decent human emotion take precedence over his drive to succeed at any cost. He's Marvelous and was never again to achieve what he did here.

But there's a third star to this production and it's New York City itself. The on location photography is stunning. What is amazing is that at the time the movie was made (1957) on location filming was just becoming "in vogue". For a film like this, it HAD to filmed on location or else it's power would be substantially diluted. I work in Manhattan near where a lot of this film was made (J.J. lives in the Brill Building which is on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, right around the corner from me). To see what the neighborhood looked like over 40 years ago is amazing. Surprisingly, it's the astonishing on site photography that prevents the film from really feeling dated. Also, the themes in the film are timeless as well.

"Sweet Smell of Success" is a classic from top to bottom.

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