Dirty Movie Club: Sweet Smell of Success

[b.miller]

The Movie
Sweet Smell of Success
1957, dir. Alexander Mackendrick
Starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis

IMDb | Netflix | Blockbuster | Amazon

or it's probably in the Drama section of your video store, or Classics if your drama section doesn't have anything older than 1990 in it...

The Synopsis
Burt Lancaster plays a Walter Winchell-type uber-powerful Columnist in 50s NYC with Tony Curtis as a sleazy power-hungry press agent cowtowed to him in hopes of favors. It's like a contest to see who can out-talk and out-maneuver the other, all drenched in amazing location photography, cool jazz, and probably the best language you've heard in the movies or maybe just plain ever.

Why I Chose It
I think some movies represent more than reality and become a fantasy of a world that you'd want to live in. The first time I saw this movie, i wanted to talk like these guys in my real life. I tried and failed, but still. Similar to Strangelet, I resisted an urge to pick something that's well-known and decided to go with a movie that I just wish everyone I know has seen. I feel like, although this one is usually placed somewhere in those top 100 lists or whatever, maybe a lot of you have never seen it before and now this is your excuse. To those that have, it's an excuse to see it again!