"Sweet Smell of Success" was a commercial and critical failure when first released. It wasn't nominated for any Academy Awards. It nearly ruined the career of director Alexander MacKendrick. But over time, the film has acquired a reputation. With its dark and squalid themes of men exchanging their integrity for money and power, it never compromises in its pessimistic attitude towards human nature.
Tony Curtis plays a detestable press agent, who earns his fees by getting plugs for clients in newspaper columns. Lancaster is a self-important gossip columnist who knows just how important it is to Curtis's career to place his plugs. Lancaster is obsessed with his sister (Susan Harrison), and is determined to continue living with her at any cost.
Lancaster is "freezing" Curtis out of his column until Curtis can break up a romance between Harrison and jazz musician Steve Dallas (Marty Milner). Lancaster and Curtis go to unbelievable depths, even willing to commit serious crimes, to achieve this.
While Curtis feels an occasional twinge of remorse, this cannot be said for Lancaster's character. People have been fawning over him for so long that he has come to believe in his own omnipotence.
Burt Lancaster somehow got top billing over Tony Curtis, although the latter gets much more screen time. This may be because Lancaster co-produced the film.
The major handicap to "Sweet Smell of Success" is that the two leads are so rotten to the core that their actions are less interesting than repugnant. Their characters are contrasted against dismally earnest Milner and meek Harrison, who aren't interesting at all. Also, dated slang and petty bickering sometimes hampers the script.
Still, one has to admire the producers for disdaining box office success in pursuit of their goals. The film's condemnation of gossip sheets and the people behind them could not be made more clear. And if the dialogue is occasionally overdone, the writing is still much better than you can find in an Audie Murphy western. (60/100)
A powerful film about a ruthless journalist and an unscrupulous press agent who ll do anything to achieve success, this fascinating, compelling story ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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