Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Sweet Smell of Success is a masterwork of cinematic cynicism—an electrifying descent into the dark heart of New York's nightlife, where ambition, betrayal, and moral decay swirl under neon lights and jazz riffs. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick and featuring career-defining performances from Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, the film paints a scathing portrait of 1950s media culture and the corrosive power of celebrity and influence.

Released in 1957, it was not an immediate commercial success but was lauded by critics and has since come to be recognized as one of the most biting and stylistically sophisticated films of the noir era, often appearing on lists of the greatest American films ever made.

Plot Summary

Set in Manhattan’s sleek yet shadowy entertainment world, the story follows Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), a desperate press agent whose livelihood depends on placing items about his clients in the influential gossip column of J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), a feared and revered columnist whose power extends across newspapers, nightclubs, and political circles.

J.J. is obsessed with controlling the life of his young sister, Susan (Susan Harrison), who is in love with a jazz guitarist, Steve Dallas (Martin Milner)—a relationship Hunsecker disapproves of. He enlists Falco to destroy the romance by any means necessary, offering professional favor in return. Falco, already morally bankrupt and eager to regain J.J.'s favor, schemes and manipulates his way through a cityscape of back-alley deals, corrupt cops, and seedy nightclubs.

But as the stakes rise and lives begin to unravel, the cost of success becomes devastatingly clear.

Direction and Style

Director Alexander Mackendrick, best known for his work in British comedies like The Ladykillers, makes a sharp pivot here, directing with a cold, surgical precision. His handling of Sweet Smell of Success is confident, theatrical, and relentless. There’s a near Shakespearean intensity to the rise-and-fall trajectory of Sidney Falco, set against a backdrop of moral rot.

Mackendrick’s direction is claustrophobic and propulsive, emphasizing tight frames, bustling sidewalks, and cigarette-hazed interiors. There is no escape from the urban entrapment he creates—every shot feels like a cell in a moral prison.

Stylistically, the film blends film noir aesthetics with mid-century urban realism, its pacing dictated by the staccato rhythms of jazz, rapid-fire dialogue, and shadowy tension.

Cinematography

Shot in black and white by the legendary James Wong Howe, the film is a visual triumph. New York has never looked more dazzling or more dangerous—its alleys darker, its lights more blinding, its angles sharper. The use of deep focus, high contrast lighting, and layered compositions makes every frame an emotional and psychological map.

Howe’s photography captures not just a city but a state of mind: paranoid, feverish, and corrupt. It’s noir at its most exquisite—visually arresting, narratively expressive, and emotionally suffocating.

Performances

Burt Lancaster (J.J. Hunsecker) delivers one of the most chilling performances in American film. His Hunsecker is urbane, composed, and utterly terrifying—a kingmaker whose calm exterior masks a sadistic need to dominate. His clipped delivery, ironclad posture, and venomous contempt make Hunsecker a villain for the ages. He speaks in threats cloaked as advice, and Lancaster never raises his voice—because he doesn’t need to.

Tony Curtis (Sidney Falco) astonishes as the weaselly, ambitious press agent. Eager, sweaty, manipulative, and deeply insecure, Curtis turns in the performance of his career. In a role that shattered his pretty-boy image, he makes Falco both reprehensible and pitiable—a man so consumed by ambition that he’s lost sight of humanity.

Susan Harrison (Susan Hunsecker) is the emotional anchor of the film. As J.J.’s sister, she is the one decent person in a world of grifters and predators. Her vulnerability is poignant, and her eventual desperation—fueled by her brother’s suffocating control—is devastating.

Martin Milner (Steve Dallas) is the principled but outmatched romantic interest, a man of integrity in a story designed to crush such qualities. He becomes a symbol of what Falco and Hunsecker cannot understand: decency.

Screenplay and Dialogue

The script, co-written by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, is blisteringly sharp. Nearly every line is quotable, a mix of acid wit, moral judgment, and Machiavellian scheming.

Hunsecker’s lines are coldly poetic:

“I love this dirty town.”

Falco’s desperation spills out in wordplay that’s both greasy and electrifying:

“The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river!”

Odets, a former playwright, lends the script a theatrical elegance—every interaction is a verbal duel, every phrase a dagger.

Beyond the snappy lines, the script offers a powerful commentary on:

Media corruption

The dehumanizing cost of fame

Codependence and emotional manipulation

The moral erosion beneath capitalism’s glamour

Themes

At its core, Sweet Smell of Success is a study of power, dependency, and degradation:

Power and Control – Hunsecker’s dominion over the New York press mirrors authoritarian figures in politics and business. His obsession with controlling Susan's life is both Oedipal and tyrannical.

Moral Compromise – Falco’s journey is one of continuous self-betrayal. His choices are dictated not by survival, but by ego, greed, and status anxiety.

Urban Alienation – The film’s New York is not romanticized—it is isolating and cruel. Characters wander through crowds, but they are profoundly alone.

Media and Manipulation – The script predicts a world where perception becomes reality, where careers and lives can be created—or destroyed—by a whisper in a column.

Music

Elmer Bernstein’s jazz-inflected score is sleek and moody, perfectly matching the film’s emotional temperature. Supplemented by Chico Hamilton’s quintet, who also appear onscreen in the jazz club scenes, the music pulses with tension, decay, and cool menace. The jazz isn't just ambiance—it's a sonic metaphor for the chaos and improvisation of life in this morally shifting terrain.

Reception and Legacy

Initially a box-office disappointment, Sweet Smell of Success has grown in stature over time and is now considered a masterpiece of American cinema.

Critics and filmmakers alike—including Martin Scorsese, Barry Levinson, and Paul Thomas Anderson—have cited it as a major influence. Its visual style, acidic tone, and themes resonate in films such as:

Network (1976)

The Player (1992)

Nightcrawler (2014)

Whiplash (2014)

It remains a go-to example of how noir evolved in the 1950s, moving from traditional crime to psychological and moral degradation in urban modernity.

Conclusion

Sweet Smell of Success is not just a noir—it’s a character-driven Greek tragedy, a satirical exposé of media corruption, and a blistering morality tale about the cost of fame and the hollowness of power. Visually stunning, impeccably acted, and scalpel-sharp in its writing, it is one of the great unsparing dissections of American ambition and rot.

Though made over half a century ago, its insights into manipulation, celebrity culture, and press ethics remain shockingly relevant.