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The Sweet Smell Of Success [DVD] [1957]

DVD ~ Burt Lancaster

4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

RRP:	�15.99
Price:	�4.48 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

Actors: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, Martin Milner, Sam Levene
Directors: Alexander MacKendrick
Format: Black & White, PAL
Language English
Subtitles: French, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: MGM Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 15 April 2002
Run Time: 92 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0000634CJ
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,378 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

A classic from the late 1950s, The Sweet Smell of Success looks at the string-pulling behind-the-scenes action between desperate press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) and the ultimate power broker in that long-ago showbiz Manhattan, gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster).

Written by Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (who based the Hunsecker character on the similarly brutal and power-mad Walter Winchell), the film follows Falco's attempts to promote a client through Hunsecker's column--until he is forced to make a deal with the devil and help Hunsecker ruin a jazz musician who has the nerve to date Hunsecker's sister.

Shooting on location, mostly at night, director Alexander MacKendrick and cinematographer James Wong Howe capture this New York demi-monde in silky black and white, in which neon and shadows share a scarily symbiotic relationship--a near-match for the poisonous give-and-take between the edgy Curtis and the dismissive Lancaster. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com

Video Description

DVD Special Features:

Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Menu Screens
Chapter Selections
Subtitles: French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Soundtrack: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English, German

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent sharp and bitter urban masterpiece, 25 April 2002

By	antony@vertigo.co.uk (London, UK) - See all my reviews

Fifties New York. A few night hours in the life of a parasitic press agent, Sidney Falco (Curtis) and the monster he feeds off, big-time showbiz columnist JJ Hunsecker (Lancaster).

Falco willingly submits to JJ's humiliations because he needs the scraps of publicity JJ deigns to throw Falco's clients in his daily column.

But now JJ needs a favour; will Falco destroy the lives of two innocent people just to stay JJ's favoured pet?

The two leads are brilliant. Curtis is nervous, cynical and strangely beautiful. By turns disgusted at the squalid lapdog he has become and thrilled by the reflected power of JJ.

Lancaster as JJ is as monumental a screen presence as Kane or Kurtz; the ground shakes and the air hums when he gets angry.

The scene where a Senator is paying court to JJ with Falco hovering between revulsion and reverence is near perfect: machine-gun dialogue with each bullet carefully dipped in venom.

You could cut yourself on the sharp black and white night photography and the music adds to the jittery atmosphere.

Sure, some of the lesser characters pale against the screen presence of Lancaster and Curtis, and the plot takes over a bit too much toward the end, but this is a riveting essay on power and self-loathing.

A word about the director: nothing in the prevoius work of Alexander Mackendrick prepares you for this. He directed some equally wonderful but very different films (The Ladykillers, The Man in the White Suit, Whisky Galore! ) and is sadly neglected in some quarters. This a dark and brutal masterpiece.

"Match me, Sidney. "

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short and very sweet , 13 Jul 2008

By	Lou Knee (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This movie is noir, but with a little more edge than the classic LA set Chandleresque noirs that are the usual Noir benchmark. This film is set in New York, and because of it the pace and style is less laid back than typical Noirs, but its setting and its story captures the essence perfectly. The Odetts screenplay is cynical, worldly and downright memorable, it oozes cool. The dark b&w photography suits the mood of the picture perfectly and the finest performance of Tony Curtis' career just falls out of him as if he knows that sort of character so well. It doesn't aim too high in movie terms, it just deals with its tight little story, while saying alot about the world the main characters inhabit and then finishes without too much of a bang. It is neat, classical noir delivered beautifully. Unfornunately its relative modesty, and an uncommonly good year for movies meant it picked up no major award from Hollywood, but you can't watch this and say it's unnoticable. One of those slightly smaller Hollywood movies that seems to get more worthy as the years go by, and earns its classic status better than many of the bigger more celebrated films of the era. That screenplay and that New York vibe make sure of that.

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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so sweet, 30 April 2005

By	Mrs. A. Bond "annebond1" (Brighton) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A wonderful slice of not so sweet life, with Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster putting in sublime performances. Burt Lancaster plays a newspaper columnist who is rich, powerful, cold and controlling. Tony Curtis as a press agent, despises him but wants to be him at the same time. The casual manipulation of the peoples lives they come into contact with, with catastrophic results is fascinating to watch. Thoroughly recommended, the only drawback being the lip synch is badly out. If you can get past that, you're in for a treat

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping
This was I think the film which showed what an accomplished actor Tony Curtis had become. Along with Burt Lancaster and great jazz soundtrack featuring Chico Hamilton , who also... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Colin Bentley

4.0 out of 5 stars The Sweet Smell Of Success [DVD] [1957]
Purchased this item to a retired friend of mine, and he felt nostalgic watching it again, remembering old days remembering old days, good memories and good times. Thank you

Published 4 months ago by M. Emin Tarim

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