It had an interesting genesis. Ernest Lehman, the master screenwriter, had written the source novella (based on his days working with gossip columnists, and J.J. Hunsecker is obviously based on Walter Winchell, whom Lehman had interacted with a great deal). He wrote a screenplay of it, and sold it to Lancaster's company on the condition he get to direct it (he had never directed at that time).
He later stated he believed Lancaster knew from the start he would never let Lehman direct, but that he intentionally lied to get the property. After the movie started shooting, Lancaster fired Lehman (citing personal differences) and Alexander Mackendrick was brought in to direct, and Clifford Odets re-wrote the screenplay. One can only imagine what the movie would have been like had Lehman's version been filmed, and hat he directed. It surely would have been a vastly different movie! I like the back story, because it seems like an awful sneaky move that J.J. Hunsecker would have heartily approved of! Bruce On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 8:34 PM, Dave Rosen <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for posting. A great film. Personally, I believe the reason it > didn't do well had more to do with the theme, which was that bad people can > wield great power through the media alone. Its cynicism (and honesty, in my > opinion) wasn't something a lot of people wanted to hear in the 50s. It was > a broadside at the blacklist and a drive-by aimed at newspaper columnists > like the weaselly Walter Winchell. > > But, of course, that's why I love it. Its "hero" is a heel and a toady and > a supremely well-played one by Curtis. The script pops and snaps, the > cinematography is beautifully film noir and it has a great jazz soundtrack > to boot. One of the greats. > > Btw, I agree with your take on the posters. The wc, style B half-sheet and > insert are the best. > > Dave > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Neil Jaworski <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Thursday, September 30, 2010 9:09 PM > *Subject:* [MOPO] ON TOPIC: TONY CURTIS / Sweet Smell Of Success > > Hallo MOPO-ers > > It's hard to be depressed about the death of Tony Curtis, in the sense that > he lived a full, long and largely happy life in the company of some > beautiful women and left us with several films to treasure. > > That said, he is one of my favourite actors of all time and - frankly - > blistered the screen in (one of my All Time Top 5 films) *The Sweet Smell > Of Success*. It was a risky move for a teenster icon to be cast against > type and - in retrospect - the film's failure at the time can probably be > traced to the public's unwillingness to accept Curtis as anything other than > "the boy with the ice cream face." > > Bringing things back on topic: I think that the campaign for TSSOS is > fascinating in that this unsuccessful film had a fantastic print campaign. > In this sense, the film's failure is markedly dissimilar to the > contemporaneous-ish *Night Of The Hunter* (great film / diabolical, > garish, inappropriate, awful campaign). > > I own a window card for TSSOS and I think this is the best paper for the > film, in that it features the key "21" scene between JJ and Sidney. This > may be the only time I have ever favoured a WC over other paper. It also > has some great 'hep' blurb. > > http://granadamovieposters.com/photos/sweetsmellwcreduced.jpg > > After the WC I think the Style B half-sheet is very strong: both our > 'heroes' look good, it references several of the key scenes and feels very > New York. There's great (and different) 'hep' blurb here also: > > http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=694&Lot_No=28800 > > It's much stronger than the 1/2 sheet Style A which seems a bit arty and > oblique and doesn't convey any of the energy of the film. > > http://www.emovieposter.com/imagearchive/poster/158745.html > > Likewise, I can't warm to the 1sh. The faces - especially Curtis - are > not particularly well rendered or specific to the film. Curtis looks like > Liberace: > > http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=58021&Lot_No=51354 > > In fact, I even prefer the military 1sh to the regular 1sh: > > http://www.movieposterdb.com/poster/8eabb542 > > After the WC and the Style B 1/2 sheet, I think the best poster is the > insert: > > http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=510073&Lot_No=53364 > > the three sheet is similar, but it dispenses with Sidney's cigarette (big > mistake) which makes (for me) the insert much more desirable. > > http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=510091&Lot_No=51372 > > also, the insert has it's own 'hep' blurb (again different to the other > styles!) whereas the 3sh is merely 'the motion picture that will never be > forgiven or forgotten' > > http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=510091&Lot_No=51372 > > the 6sh and 24sh merely pose the lead's faces against eachother from across > the paper without any of the whipcrack, pseud-odets blurb that the better > paper carries in spades. that said, i think the 6sh is far more successful. > > > http://www.emovieposter.com/imagearchive/poster/158167.html > > the rendering of the star's faces on the 24sh (especially in the case of > Lancaster) - much like the 1sh - make this poster feel like a design for a > different film (although at least Sidney's cigarette is back in his mouth). > > > http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/sweet-smell-of-success-lancaster-curtis-57-24 > > Those are just my thoughts on this classic film/campaign. I'm sure many > will disagree. And ignore what I said in my opening sentence, I'm totally > gutted that TC is dead. > > Neil > > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ How to > UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: > [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ How to > UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: > [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 28 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. 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