Fresh
Mackendrick's nighthawk landscape is compellingly, poetically bleak.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Sweet Smell of Success
Beware these “Gentlemen” of the press!
1957 · 1h 37m · Approved
Drama
Directed by
Alexander Mackendrick
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Sweet Smell of Success
Overview
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
Director and cast
- Alexander Mackendrick Director
- Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker
- Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco
- Susan Harrison as Susan Hunsecker
- Martin Milner as Steve Dallas
- Jeff Donnell as Sally
- Sam Levene as Frank D' Angelo
- Joe Frisco as Herbie Temple
- David White as Otis Elwell
- Barbara Nichols as Rita
- Emile Meyer as Lt. Harry Kello
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
98%
Tomatometer
Fresh
James Hill's production, locationed in Manhattan, captures the feel of Broadway and environs after dark.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
A lean, mean amorality tale that still goes down like a cookie laced with arsenic.
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
Fresh
The main incentive to see this movie is its witty, pungent and idiomatic dialogue, such as you never hear on the screen anymore in this age of special-effects illiteracy.
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
Fresh
Its pleasures are almost obscenely abundant.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
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