Review of Sweet Smell Of Success

Introduction

Pauline Kael described this picture as "a sweet slice of perversity, a study of dollar and power worship." Made in 1957 and starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, "Sweet Smell" is Hollywood Melodrama in the true sense. Harsh, dark and sinister, you can really understand what the cineastes are talking about when they discuss film noir. Lancaster turns in a truly sinister performance as gossip columnist JJ Hunsecker, master manipulator. Tony Curtis stars opposite as Sidney Falco, press agent, who sees Hunsecker as the star to hitch his wagon to. When Hunsecker`s young sister (Susan Harrison) becomes involved with a jazz musician he despises, Falco elects to engineer the musician`s downfall but neither Hunsecker or Falco realise the consequences of their actions. This is a classic movie about nasty people, set in late-fifties Manhattan, a perfect colourless background for the double-dealings.

Video

Presented in non-anamorphic 1.66:1 monochrome, the picture is so sharp you could cut yourself on it. This is an MGM no-frills release (a title picked up in the acquisition of United Artists), and a few negative scratches are unfortunately obvious.

Audio

Sadly only a DD Mono soundtrack that`s distinctly tinny and does no justice to the jazz-club atmospherics of much of the action, but then with a film of this vintage, a tricky spatial mix would probably jar.

Features

No frills means no frills - there`s a theatrical trailer that`s in a considerably worse state than the main feature, and subtitles. The subtitles come up on a dark grey field that makes them easier to read against the monochrome action.

Conclusion

A difficult picture to get into, full of people you wouldn`t want to know, but ultimately rewarding if you`re into `fifties politicking.