Tony Curtis Brazenly Seeks Success in a Chief 1950’s Classic

 

One of the most forceful dramas of its era, 1957’s Sweet Smell of Success offers an unrelenting view into the world of big city journalism and the ruthless methods used to gain information therein.  Director Alexander Mackendrick’s incisive helming of the trenchant Cliford Odets/Ernest Lehman screenplay (based on the novelette by Lehman) vividly details the underhanded tactics employed by Sidney Falco, a young NYC press agent willing to hustle his way to the top of the media heap by any means necessary, including his frequent interactions with the city’s biggest columnist, J.J. Hunsecker. A top cast enacts the generally harsh characters with admirable verve and honesty, in a period wherein most screen actors attempted to soften the edges of unsympathetic roles to at least keep those sharp heels in anti-hero territory. James Wong Howe’s beautiful, evocative on location black and white cinematography, which perfectly captures the NYC Broadway district circa 1957, including scenes shot at such renown environs as the 21 Club, Elmer Bernstein’s jazz-oriented score and onscreen numbers performed by the Chico Hamilton Quintet also help set an atmospheric mood highlighting the seedy late-night/early morning goings-on, allowing a much more believable and penetrating mise en scène than normally found in 1950’s films.

                The Boston-born Mackendrick, who was raised in Scotland, first made his name at Britain’s Ealing Studios, wherein he directed some of the unit’s most renown comedies, Whiskey Galore!, The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers, before leaving for Hollywood in 1955 once Ealing witnessed a change in ownership. Seeking a new start, Mackendrick managed to pull off a complete reversal from his lighter Ealing fare with his skillful, inventive handling of Sweet’s dark material. Mackendrick sets a swift pace for the film, while showcasing the performers and locales with precision and vitality, adding a noirish flavor to the proceedings while capturing the bustle involved in NYC’s nightlife possibly better than in any other 1950’s film. Although Mackendrick’s filmography is limited, his work with Ealing and the expertise he exhibited in crafting Sweet ensure his place among the most relevant directors of his era.

As Sidney, Tony Curtis anchors the film in enthralling fashion. First gaining notice as Yvonne DeCarlo’s equally alluring dancing partner in 1948’s prime noir, Criss Cross, Curtis rose to matinee idol status at Universal via entertaining escapist fare such as The Prince Who was a Thief before rising further costarring with wife Janet Leigh in 1953’s Houdini, then opposite Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida in the exciting, atmospheric big top drama Trapeze. Reaching a career peak, Curtis surprisingly opted to play one of the era’s most unsympathetic, opportunistic cads, imbuing the nervous, oily Sidney with an egocentric, underhanded zest sure to alienate fans, while simultaneously aiding in forming one of the most vividly unscrupulous characters seen in an American film. Curtis stays focused on and true to Falco’s every self-serving deceitful action, while also allowing twinges of guilt to show as Sidney is faced with doing some nefarious tasks even his shady ethics are wary of following through on, when considering the risks and rewards involved. Gaining new confidence as an actor of substance, after Success Curtis would enter a golden cinematic period for several years, with The Vikings, his sole Oscar nomination for The Defiant Ones, doing a killer Cary Grant take-off in Some Like it Hot, starring opposite Grant in Operation Petticoat and Spartacus among his critical and commercial hits. Now established as a top star, the 1960s would see Curtis alternating comic fare (The Great Race) with starker material (The Boston Strangler) before moving into character roles and a second career as a painter of note, with his work as the ambitious “cookie full of arsenic” Sidney Falco looming ever-larger in his filmography, as the role and Success grew in stature with each passing decade.

Burt Lancaster provides a sublime study in contrast to Curtis’ hypertense work with his unnerving portrayal of J. J. Hunsecker, the still, stoic, eminent columnist cold enough to make an iceberg shiver. Hunsecker wields power with subtle force, which Lancaster impactfully illustrates by employing a quiet, calm delivery style to show how carefully J.J. considers each interaction to ensure he remains in control of every situation. It’s intriguing to watch Lancaster, whose instinctual gifts for more florid emoting were used to colorful advantage in such entertaining fare as The Crimson Pirate, The Rainmaker and his Oscar role as Elmer Gantry, internalize his emotions as J.J., while still possessing the overwhelming screen presence that allows viewers to be conscious of the seething inner passions driving Hunsecker’s actions and relationships. Throughout his career Lancaster would alter this intelligent, measured approached to roles, utilized in his star making debut in The Killers and including Oscar-nominated roles in From Here to Eternity, The Birdman of Alcatraz and Atlantic City, with his more vividly enacted characterizations. However, as one of Hollywood’s biggest leading men, he rarely was afforded the chance to infuse a role with flat-out villainous intent using his mature, controlled playing style, allowing J.J. Hunsecker a unique place among Lancaster’s imposing list of rich, satisfying performances.

In her film debut, Susan Harrison has an intriguing plaintive quality and utilizes a tranquil speaking style to fine effect as Susan, the melancholic young sister to whom Hunsecker holds an obsession. Marty Milner is on view as the object of her affections, a player in the Hamilton Quintet. Jeff Donnell is engaging as Falco’s loyal, smitten Girl Friday and David White, several years before becoming a television staple as Larry Tate on Bewitched, has possible his best film role (at least this side of The Apartment) as Otis, a horny, slimy columnist willing to do Sidney a favor in return for a date with Rita, a cigarette/B-girl involved with Falco. As Rita, Barbara Nichols registers perhaps the strongest among the supporting cast in a sly, touching turn. A gem as a knowing, wisecracking blonde in many films of the period, starting with her other stellar output in 1957, Pal Joey and The Pajama Game, Nichols is given a chance to infuse this goodtime gal persona with a more serious tone, and makes the subplot with Rita stand out in potent fashion. Rita opposes getting caught up in Falco’s scheme involving Otis, but considers all the angles involved, and Nichols does a nimble job of making the character’s motives clear to the audience as Rita deals with her predicament. Following her impressive work in Success, Nichols would continue as a character player of note into the next decade, stealing scenes as Lola Fandango, a showgirl mermaid in 1960’s Where the Boys Are, then scoring a highlight among her many television appearances the following year via The Twilight Zone’s memorable “Twenty Two” episode.

Upon release, the film was sadly overlooked by filmgoers and critics, who were turned off by the stark, unrelenting cynicism and unsavory characters on view, especially after recently viewing Lancaster and Curtis in the more commercially viable Trapeze, a major hit the year prior to Success. However, over the subsequent decades the movie has consistently risen in status, and today is considered one of the key films of the 1950s, as well as a highlight for the talent therein, particularly director Mackendrick, who was only involved in three more films before aborting his film career to become a professor, and Curtis, who in the opinion of many does his finest screen work in Success. The honors the film has received since its critical reassessment include placement on both Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines list of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time and inclusion on the National Film Registry’s 1993 list. In a notice sure to make J.J. Hunsecker proud, Success was included on The New York Times list of the 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made, while the chilling man himself placed at #35 on the American Film Institute’s list of top movie villains. Those looking for a classic movie befitting a 2:00 a.m. in the morning viewing will be ideally served by curling up with the dark, tense and absorbing Sweet Smell of Success.