Sweet Smell of Success story
Sweet Smell of Success is a 1957 American film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison, and Martin Milner, and written by Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, and Mackendrick from the novelette by Lehman. The shadowy noir cinematography filmed on location in New York City was shot by James Wong Howe. The picture was produced by James Hill of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists. The supporting cast features Sam Levene, Barbara Nichols, Joe Frisco, Edith Atwater, David White and Emile Meyer. The musical score was arranged and conducted by Elmer Bernstein and the film also features jazz performances by the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Mary Grant designed the costumes.
16 total · 9 major · 7 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| brother and sister | major | J.J. and Susan |
| coping with personal failure | major | Falco had failed to keep a promise to break up a relationship, and now his career was in jeopardy |
| desperation | major | Falco was getting desperate his career was going down the drain |
| infatuation | major | Susan Husnecker and Steven Dallas |
| integrity | major | Steven was said to be overflowing with integrity; by contrast Falco had none |
| jealousy | major | J.J. was weirdly jealous over Susan with her boyfriend |
| journalism | major | We saw how feature columnists might have worked with press agents in the 1950s. |
| ruthlessness | major | Falco was notably unscrupulous, as were various of his acquaintances |
| the desire for professional success | major | Falco was desperate to succeed as a press agent |
| becoming a nicer person | minor | in the end, Falco seemed to reach his limits of sleeziness |