James Naremore

Sweet Smell of Success by James Namore is part of the BFI Film Classics Series. This compact and comprehensive volume full of high quality photo stills from the film is brim full of facts and background about the movie. It starts with background information on the novella by Ernest Lehman that led to the creation of the screenplay and movie. An overview of the main players involved in the production of this film is given allowing you to sense the motivations and some of the human drama between the various personalities.

Namore informs us that the film was a product of the Hecht-Hill-Lancaster production company, formed by Burt Lancaster and his agent with the addition of a third partner. HHL was responsible for a number of notable American films during the 50’s. The film is undoubtedly dark, through and through—from the classic film noir atmosphere to the conflicts between those involved in the making of the movie. It depicts the cynical world of the “entertainment” industry and foreshadows the “reality shows” of our own time. There was extensive rewriting of the script (based on Lehman’s novella, which it generally stayed true to) by the talented Clifford Odets, the stunningly artistic black and white photography and camera work of James Wong Howe, and the professionalism of director Alexander Mackendrick. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis were naturals in their leading roles.

The book actually gives us nearly a scene-by-scene breakdown of the filming of the movie and the action sequences taking place. It was not a box office success and received mixed results from critics. It was one of the last major films done by HHL. However, it has become appreciated and an arthouse favorite in recent years.

After reading Sweet Smell of Success I honestly feel like I have seen the movie, though I have not. It’s a very thorough compendium!… (més)

Everybody talks about the curse of The Misfits, but nobody talks about the curse of Sweet Smell of Success, probably because for most people career death is not as spooky as actual death.

Ernest Lehman sold his original story to Lancaster with the understanding that he would write the screenplay and direct. Lancaster never really had any intention of letting Lehman direct (well, that's Hollywood!), and eventually forced him off the project and hired Mackendrick to direct and Odets to rewrite the script. Lehman went on to write the screenplays for North by Northwest, on of Hitchcock's best movies, and Family Plot, one of his worst. He finally got his first (and only) chance to direct in 1972. I haven't seen Portnoy's Complaint myself, but Roger Ebert called it "a true fiasco."

When Lehman's story was first published in Cosmopolitan in 1950, his Hunsecker was apolitical--the McCarthyite angle that gives the film its enduring relevance was added by Clifford Odets. The editor, uneasy about the word "smell," had the title changed to "Tell Me About It Tomorrow," which tells you something today about the intelligence of Cosmo editors.

Odets of course was the quintessential social-consciousness playwright of the Thirties, on whom the Coen Brothers based Barton Fink. (Barton Fink's Bare Ruined Choirs: "We'll be hearing from that kid, and I don't mean a postcard." Odets's Sweet Smell of Success: "My experience I can tell you in a nutshell, and I didn't dream it in a dream; dog eat dog!") Many people considered him to be washed up by the time he was hired for this film, and he was certainly washed up afterwards. His last produced screenplay was Wild in the Country, in which Elvis Presley plays a talented young novelist (!?).

Before Sweet Smell of Success, Alexander Mackendrick directed some of the best-known comedies to come out of Ealing Studios, including The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers. Afterwards, he directed a few mediocre films before taking refuge in academia as director of the filmmaking program at CalArts.

I was never sure whether Susan Harrison's deer-in-the-headlights look was intentional, or the result of being scared to death of working with Lancaster and Curtis. Judging by the brevity of her subsequent career, most of it in television, I suspect the latter, but if so, Mackendrick did a brilliant job of making the best of her nervousness and limited range (he underlines Susie's subservience to the domineering men in the film by having her never once make eye contact with another character). It's a shame, since Harrison's understated beauty was a welcome change from all the over-made-up divas of the time.

Naremore's little book provides concise analysis of the film, background information on the cast and crew, and information about Walter Winchell, the model for J. J. Hunsecker, including his feud with Ed Sullivan and his use of his column to hound his daughter's suitor, a situation that parallels the story of J. J. Hunsecker, his sister Susan, and Steve Dallas.… (més)