The Sweet Smell of Success

Sweet Smell of Success

David DuPuy

The “Ernest Lehman Effect” (Lehman was one of three screenwriters of Sweet Smell of Success) is a film critic’s term meaning the verbal evisceration of another’s weaknesses or general identity, often in front of others, so accurate, insightful and painful that the viewer becomes visibly agitated. Yet entertained. He is a kind of American Ingmar Bergman. Brutal truth about the character’s motivations is laid so bare that we are scared to be bad; unconsciously deciding to attend church, treat our significant others better or at least stop picking on the weak and infirm.

In The Sweet Smell of Success NYC gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lanchaster) doesn’t want his sister Susie growing apart from him and dating anyone…namely, musician Steve Dallas. That sentiment is arguably vulnerable and sweet, or kind of incestuous – you decide. Either way it gets covered in oil – crude oil. Hunsecker, a terrific motivator, blackmails/encourages Sidney Falco (Tony “Ice Cream Face” Curtis) to libel the bard as a pot smoking communist – qualities, ironically, endearing artists to downtown audiences fifty years later. The dark mechanics of that process and once there how they get from bad to worse, are a kind of evil algebra and drive the movie. Threatening to expose infidelity for personal gain, using trust to manipulate and/or betray, publicly destroying a man’s character, and even prostituting a friend (with a great denouement) work well. That these do not deal with anything too distant from us (like murder, torture and other modern movies staples) make the film more familiar, intimate and suffocating.

The downside: director Alexander Mackendrick has Press Agent Sidney Falco spout, “That’s fish four days old – I won’t buy it!” and, “If you’re funny James, I’m a pretzel – drop dead!” Huh? Also gossip columnist and potential fascist J.J. Hunsecker quips, “I’d hate to take a bite out of you, you’re a cookie full of arsenic.” Cold shiver. Originally an Ernest Lehman novella, maybe the other two screenwriters hyperbolically dated the film. Overall though, Lehman delivers.

The pacing of the film still drives a modern audience forward. The amount of plot, information about the gossip columnist/press agent profession, and the effort in extending ourselves to the consistent enormity of selfish decisions, jaw dropping manipulation and general nastiness, keeps us blushing, ashamed and engaged throughout the movie. It reflects The Maltese Falcon or Double Indemnity in the mature complexity of its plot, mirrored by contemporary movies such as The Usual Suspects and L.A. Confidential. You have to pay attention to follow these movies, and it definitely pays off.

Sweet Smell of Success is a fun watch, a window to the past of Page 6, a timeless study in bad-to-worse character, and an engaging film noir. It has lines both good and bad that you will quote with your friends. Although some phrases are dated, and maybe because of this, this film is an accessible example of both film noir and why NYC and human character are often held in contempt.