The Sweet Smell of Success

J.J Hunsecker is the sort of gossip columnist that you need in Manhattan to get a person noticed. He has the power to make your talent a hit or a miss. Sidney Falco is a press agent in need of a star and has his eyes firmly on Hunsecker. When Falco fails to get an exclusive for Hunsecker, concerning a romance between his acts, he is left out to dry. However Falco knows things can turn from bad to worse, so he has to do anything he can to resolve the problem and now.

When I first saw this film, it was some years ago. I remember coming away from it with a genuine feeling of horror at the world of the gutter press. This is the sort of film that takes no prisioners and is all the better for it. A superb collection of people were brought together. We have crafts people that anyone would gawp at. Headline actors, masterful writers, a cinematographer that was the best since Toland and a masterful director.

Lancaster was not just an actor but a producer in a period where society was being challenged and this is a vicious assault on the empty shell of the entertainment world. This isn’t the only reason to watch this film. The director Alexander Mackendrick had made many brilliant British films and so moved to Hollywood. While there he was playing with convention and this is his best work taking on the film form of the period amazingly. Curtis is also stunningly pictured and is a superb actor that needed to be given some slack in his performances before coming to life.

Arrow academy have excelled themselves. They are for me the best in the business at what they do and have really out done themselves. They took the original negative that was in good shape and made it dynamite. Clean, crisp and James Wong Howe subtle shades are given beautiful reach. He was ahead of his time and this film shows it stunningly thanks to the love of the restoration.
The extras are superb as well but Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away – is a real highlight of a documentary on an artist and a real stand out!