Like Citizen Kane, Sweet Smell of Success is a thinly-veiled attack on a public figure (New York's most powerful gossip columnist Walter Winchell). Like Sunset Boulevard, it's an atmospheric film noir concerned with urban depravity and human putrefaction. It reminded me of a stage play, something between Shakespeare and David Mamet, because there's such a strong focus on the incredible power of language to destroy and deceive. The dialogue in this movie is incredible ("You're dead boy. Now get yourself buried," "No need to worry. The cat's in a bag and the bag's in the river," "My right hand hasn't seen my left hand in thirty years").
The film noir visuals are spectular. James Wong Howe outdid himself.
The performances by Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis are great too. They belong to a group of American actors I love. I’d suppose you’d call them the “sons-of-bitches” school (William Holden and Kirk Douglass would also be members).
"Match me, Sydney": Burt Lancaster as the unscrupulous gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker
"Every dog will have his day": Tony Curtis as the "lean and hungry looking" publicity agent Sydney Falco
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