The Criterion Collection

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Last night, I shoved aside my growing stack of still-unwatched Blu-rays and decided to revisit my Criterion Blu-ray of Sweet Smell of Success.

This movie is so effing good. I still believe that this is one of the best, if not the absolute best, Criterion transfers of a black-and-white film. It's a marvelous-looking movie that really puts you square in the middle of the "dirty town."

Here's my User Review from a few years back...

Burt Lancaster's J.J. Hunsecker walks through Manhattan's club district and states, "I love this dirty town." As I watched the Criterion Blu-ray of Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success last night, I also could not help falling in love with the bustling visage of the seedy 1950s Manhattan club district, with all its bright lights shining through a gauzy haze of vehicle exhaust and cigarette smoke. The beauty of Blu-ray lies in the fact that old movies no longer look like "old movies" when they are lovingly restored for the high definition presentation, and this 1957 masterpiece of dialogue-driven film noir excels in the format so that these flashy streets and shadowy dive bar interiors pop out of the screen.

Sweet Smell of Success moves at an electrifying pace that belies its age, and it quickly drags the bewildered viewer through its realm, just as one might be led through a densely crowded corner bar by an intoxicated acquaintance. A lesser film would have presented us with a slower exposition explaining how the shady high-powered newspaper columnist, J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), has tasked a bottom-feeding press agent, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), with breaking up a relationship between Hunsecker's sister, Susan, and her jazz musician boyfriend by pulling strings within the gossip column inner circles, but Sweet Smell of Success simply pulls us off the streets and thrusts us into the fray of busy interactions and multi-layered jargon without any preliminary setup. The movie wastes no time placing us into the rat race firsthand so that we, like the beleaguered Sidney Falco, are constantly grasping for footholds to elevate us above the crowd.

The interesting thing about the rat race is that even the ones who win are still rats. With its story of desperate characters driven to corruption, prostitution, and desolate loneliness in the "manufactured necessity" world of media gossip culture, Sweet Smell of Success places us in the front row to watch the fall of the American dream up close. Like The Great Gatsby before it, and like Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross after it, Sweet Smell of Success relishes in the darker side of wealth and consumerism where hyenas seek fresh carcasses at any cost after the lions make the kills. Despite its bleak plot framework, however, Sweet Smell of Success still somehow proves to be an irresistibly rewarding cinematic venture. Traces of hope are still salvaged even in the smoky corners of crowded clubs and high rise apartments while the frenzied tempos of the jazz soundtrack keep us excited in the light and shadows.

Also one of my favourite Criterions! I love how the dynamic between characters mirrors that of the actors playing in the movie. Tony Curtis was up until that point an actor who appealed mostly to teenage girls and here he is boxing against a heavy-weight like Burt Lancaster! I love a good underdog story.

[Scottie]

Speaking of, I should really get around to watching my TCM recording of DoWaR.

[Abdrewes]

I haven't seen it, but The Party should be in the running too, right?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I haven't seen it, but The Party should be in the running too, right?

Kino has the rights, and released it already a couple of years ago:

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Also one of my favourite Criterions! I love how the dynamic between characters mirrors that of the actors playing in the movie. Tony Curtis was up until that point an actor who appealed mostly to teenage girls and here he is boxing against a heavy-weight like Burt Lancaster! I love a good underdog story.

I've always wondered why Susan Harrison did not have much of a career after Sweet Smell of Success.

The only other role of hers that I recognize is that of the ballerina in The Twilight Zone episode, "Five Characters in Search of an Exit."
(When I first saw this particular episode during my childhood, I wondered what the characters did if they had to go to the bathroom, but the ending of the story answers that question.)

[belcherman]

The Sweet Smell of Success is probably my favorite Criterion release. Everything about it sizzles. Lancaster has never been more quietly menacing and nobody has been oilier than Curtis's Sidney Falco. The dialogue is like it was written with acid. In fact, I wouldn't change a frame of this movie. Best of all is the cinematography of James Wong Howe. This may be his best work.

I love this movie and it would make a great misanthropic triple-feature with Ace in the Hole and A Face in the Crowd, hint, hint.

Another one that would fit the theme would be Lonelyhearts with Montgomery Clift and Robert Ryan.

Who said the 50s were all Happy Days?

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Kino has the rights, and released it already a couple of years ago:

Oh thanks! I can't believe this release slipped past me. I've been meaning to see it for a long time.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by belcherman

Who said the 50s were all Happy Days?

Yeah, my collection of classic-era films noir does not exactly make a great sales pitch for living in the 1950s.

Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life is another film that does not compel me to envy those who lived through that decade.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Last night, I shoved aside my growing stack of still-unwatched Blu-rays and decided to revisit my Criterion Blu-ray of Sweet Smell of Success.

This movie is so effing good. I still believe that this is one of the best, if not the absolute best, Criterion transfers of a black-and-white film. It's a marvelous-looking movie that really puts you square in the middle of the "dirty town."

I popped this in when it was first released and couldn't follow well due to the quick dialogue. This was before I started watching all movies with subtitles. I have to get this one in the queue pronto.

RE: Yesterday's announcements...
- Covers were fantastic although I wish Ugetsu had changed up a little so I can better justify keeping the DVD and BD side-by-side.
- I'm surprised at some of the negative comments I've read on Straw Dogs. Loved how Peckinpah wound up the characters and let 'em go. Disturbing on many levels. Glad we're getting a 4k scan.
- Very excited about They Live By Night. Never seen, but In a Lonely Place was one of my faves of 2016.
- I'm looking forward to revisiting Ugetsu. I was so underwhelmed when I watched this last year, but it was a very late night viewing and I never watched the supplements to get the full appreciation. The B&W should pop with the new scan.
- Most anxious to see The Lodger. Not sure how this could be compared to M, but can't wait to see Hitch's take on this thriller.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I popped this in when it was first released and couldn't follow well due to the quick dialogue. This was before I started watching all movies with subtitles. I have to get this one in the queue pronto.

Sweet Smell of Success is a movie that demands multiple viewings. The plot is not particularly intricate, but the way that it throws the viewer into the fray right off the bat is a challenge during the first viewing. Most films start you out with training wheels, so to speak, by providing a lengthy exposition, but not this one. Since I didn't know jack about press agents before I first watched this movie, I was just struggling to keep up for the first half hour during my initial viewing.

The beginning of this movie is not as bewildering as, say, the first 40 minutes of Marketa Lazarova, but it doesn't spoon feed us either.

[the sordid sentinel]

Could not agree more with all the Sweet Smell of Success love here. Fantastic movie and 1 of my 5 favorite Criterions.

[t_rav]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

All three of those films have been mentioned in this thread.

I did a search for all of them.

Film/Posts mentioned in
Onibaba 237
Peeping Tom 213
The Ruling Class 88
Le Samourai 486
Mulvaney 483

Out of over 160,000 posts. Do the math on the percentages and you'll see what I said is accurate. Doesn't seem to be much demand.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by t_rav

Out of over 160,000 posts. Do the math on the percentages and you'll see what I said is accurate. Doesn't seem to be much demand.

That's faulty logic. Those 160,000 posts aren't all about requests, so you can hardly get any grasp of demand from any sort out calculation like that. You would have to compare it against the total number of requests to make such a case.

[PNeski]

Albert Brooks Lost in America coming

[Musicguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I haven't seen it, but The Party should be in the running too, right?

This seems to be a film you either love or hate. I found it totally unfunny as do many of my friends, but there are those who seem to think it's very funny. Hardly a title Criterion would consider imo

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Yeah, my collection of classic-era films noir does not exactly make a great sales pitch for living in the 1950s.

Nicholas Ray's Bigger Than Life is another film that does not compel me to envy those who lived through that decade.

I managed to survive it. Gather 'round kiddies and let me tell you the dark tales of what it was like to live in an age before the internet, cell phones, video games, satellite tv, and worst of all....no Blu-rays! Oh yea, you had to play outside a lot.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Last night, I shoved aside my growing stack of still-unwatched Blu-rays and decided to revisit my Criterion Blu-ray of Sweet Smell of Success.

This movie is so effing good. I still believe that this is one of the best, if not the absolute best, Criterion transfers of a black-and-white film. It's a marvelous-looking movie that really puts you square in the middle of the "dirty town."

Here's my User Review from a few years back...

Burt Lancaster's J.J. Hunsecker walks through Manhattan's club district and states, "I love this dirty town." As I watched the Criterion Blu-ray of Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success last night, I also could not help falling in love with the bustling visage of the seedy 1950s Manhattan club district, with all its bright lights shining through a gauzy haze of vehicle exhaust and cigarette smoke. The beauty of Blu-ray lies in the fact that old movies no longer look like "old movies" when they are lovingly restored for the high definition presentation, and this 1957 masterpiece of dialogue-driven film noir excels in the format so that these flashy streets and shadowy dive bar interiors pop out of the screen.

Sweet Smell of Success moves at an electrifying pace that belies its age, and it quickly drags the bewildered viewer through its realm, just as one might be led through a densely crowded corner bar by an intoxicated acquaintance. A lesser film would have presented us with a slower exposition explaining how the shady high-powered newspaper columnist, J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), has tasked a bottom-feeding press agent, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), with breaking up a relationship between Hunsecker's sister, Susan, and her jazz musician boyfriend by pulling strings within the gossip column inner circles, but Sweet Smell of Success simply pulls us off the streets and thrusts us into the fray of busy interactions and multi-layered jargon without any preliminary setup. The movie wastes no time placing us into the rat race firsthand so that we, like the beleaguered Sidney Falco, are constantly grasping for footholds to elevate us above the crowd.

The interesting thing about the rat race is that even the ones who win are still rats. With its story of desperate characters driven to corruption, prostitution, and desolate loneliness in the "manufactured necessity" world of media gossip culture, Sweet Smell of Success places us in the front row to watch the fall of the American dream up close. Like The Great Gatsby before it, and like Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross after it, Sweet Smell of Success relishes in the darker side of wealth and consumerism where hyenas seek fresh carcasses at any cost after the lions make the kills. Despite its bleak plot framework, however, Sweet Smell of Success still somehow proves to be an irresistibly rewarding cinematic venture. Traces of hope are still salvaged even in the smoky corners of crowded clubs and high rise apartments while the frenzied tempos of the jazz soundtrack keep us excited in the light and shadows.

One of the all time great films, love the dilalogue and the way it looks.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Knaldskalle

The BFI have released L'Age D'Or/Un Chien Andalou and Eureka/MoC will be releasing "Death in the Garden", one of his earliest French movies, at some point.

It's my understanding that a lot of his movies are caught in rights hell, especially his Mexican work (Los Olvidados, El, Susana, etc.)... I hope it'll get resolved, he's one of my favorite directors.

To bad about the rights issue, some of his best movies are from the Mexican time. Thanks for letting me know about BFI will look into it

[mzupeman]

I'm definitely excited about They Live By Night. The more noire I can get on Blu, the better.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Musicguy

This seems to be a film you either love or hate. I found it totally unfunny as do many of my friends, but there are those who seem to think it's very funny. Hardly a title Criterion would consider imo

I'll have to catch it the next time it's on TCM before I make a purchase. I've had good luck with his other films, however. Off the top of my head:Pink Panther, Victor Victoria, and 10 (especially).