Emerging from a posh nightclub into the rain-slicked streets of midtown Manhattan, where a couple of hoodlums can be seen rolling a drunk, ruthless showbiz journalist J.J. Hunsecker experiences a pre-dawn epiphany. "I love this dirty town," he exclaims.
The moment is typical of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, Alexander Mackendrick's perverse, masterly romance of urban menace and moral decay. Best known as the director of lovably quirky Ealing comedies (e.g., THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT), Mackendrick turns to film noir with a vengeance, evincing a very
British fascination with (and simultaneous distaste for) naked American ambition. With the assistance of legendary cinemat...
Released:
1957
Rated:
NR
Length:
96 mins