Review of Sweet Smell of Success (1957) by Leighton T — 12 Nov 2010

Noir that is so good, it's amazing it wasn't recognized in its time. Curtis and Lancaster are so good as controlling, despicable human beings. Lancaster's is the meaty role. He digs in here and it's delicious. Curtis is the slyer character, but he shows us his barely-beating black heart, willing to do anything and run over anyone to get what he wants. The characters are so well-formed characters on the page, but the actors take and make them living, breathing anomalies. They're just human enough to be believable though, that there are people out there like this. We are scared and disgusted at the same time. The writing here is beyond brilliant. So many good one-liners, but it is also razor sharp and so taut it fries your nerves a little.

Added to that is the atmospheric jazzy-tinged score that embellishes a lot of the time to fit the mood. But, it's perfect in that sense because everything is a heightened, exaggerated and the music is a part of that. The lighting is great here, too, lots of harsh lighting and dark shadows only intensify the story we have going on. Finally, Mackendrick has such a good eye with the camera here and is creative right from the get-go; the shots we see are never boring. It is as much his story as the actors' and the screenplay's.