Make no mistake – you will not walk away from Sweet Smell of Success feeling uplifted and carefree. It is a dark, gritty tale of deception and the desperate strive for survival in New York City. It also happens to be one of my all-time favorite films.

*Spoilers within*

Burt Lancaster plays J.J. Hunsecker, a powerful gossip columnist whose emulation of Walter Winchell was so thinly veiled that Winchell himself tried to stop the film's release. Hunsecker is so powerful that underling press agents like Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) will push aside any scruples or morals they may have in order to do him favors just to get a favorable mention for their clients in Hunsecker's column. In Falco's case, he must try to break up the relationship between Hunsecker's young sister Susan and up-and-coming jazz musician Steve Dallas, as Dallas is not `worthy' in Hunsecker's eyes. It becomes quickly apparent that due to an almost incestuous fascination with his sister, no one will be worthy of her, something that Susan has to come to terms with and finally resign herself to. In his pursuits, Falco finds himself compromising any moral fiber he may have had left, and no one escapes undamaged.

Sweet Smell of Success is indeed a dark film and morally bereft, but it is so compelling and thought-provoking that it is hard to imagine any viewer, love or hate the film, not able to come away from it without at least a few questions in mind: How far would you go for fame? What would you do to survive? The majority of the main characters has the morals of an alley cat, and is as unconcerned with doing anything for survival. Ironically, one of the few people to exhibit any modicum of pride and conviction is the one who ends up getting slandered and unjustly punished.

The backdrop for this film is the vibrant, busy and exuberant New York City, usually at night. Every social scene is crowded; every outdoor shot shows bustling streets. Wild, loud jazz music is the soundtrack the compliments the frenetic surroundings. The film is shot in crisp, sharp black and white, and any hint of color would have changed the film drastically for the worse. Lancaster plays Hunsecker as a level, even toned man which belies his hateful personality and only makes him more sinister. Curtis' Falco is like the yipping and bouncing dog in the old cartoons, and delivers his lines with a machine gun-like staccato, but his eyes are dead and bleak, and the only emotion he can convey that approaches regret is nothing more than fleeting until `survival mode' visibly kicks in.

Sweet Smell of Success is a certified classic, but it is easy to see why it is not more popular. The good guys don't win because there ARE no good guys. And every time the viewer thinks that something may not be realistic or that something is overblown, with even a second of reflection, one realizes that this IS real life, and it's hard to look at sometimes because it is not always pretty.

--Shelly