Sweet Smell of Success
Sweet Smell of Success is a very dark 1957 Film Noir. It received poor audience reactions when it was first screened, but it is critically acclaimed as a great film today. J.J. Hunsecker is number 35 of the AFI's list of the top 50 movie villains of all time, played acerbically and ruthlessly by Burt Lancaster.
Harvey, I often wish I were deaf and wore a hearing aid. With a simple flick of a switch, I could shut out the greedy murmur of little men.
—J.J. Hunsecker
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J.J. Hunsecker is a ruthlessly powerful columnist who doesn't like his sister's new boyfriend Steve, a jazz guitarist. He hires Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) to do the dirty work of breaking the two apart in the age when everyone suspected a Red under every bed.
Tropes used in Sweet Smell of Success include:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
- Dirty Communists: One of the smears against Dallas is that he's a Party member.
- The Dog Bites Back
- Don't Do Anything I Wouldn't Do:
Sidney: Don't do anything I wouldn't do! That gives you a lot of leeway... |
- The Dragon: Effectively, Falco to Hunsecker.
- Driven to Suicide: Almost.
- Extreme Doormat: Susie.
- Faux Affably Evil: Hunsecker always speaks calmly and politely, especially to Susie and Steve. Neither of them are fooled.
- Grew a Spine
- Ho Yay: J.J. implies strongly that heterosexual Sidney had sex with him to get ahead.
- Incest Subtext: J.J.'s possessiveness of Susie smacks of feelings deeper than mere brotherly love.
- Knight Templar Big Brother
- Manipulative Bastard: Both Falco and Hunsecker.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits
- Nerd Glasses: Hunsecker's extremely thick spectacles.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: J.J. Hunsecker is a thinly-disguished version the once-powerful gossip columnist and radio broadcaster Walter Winchell.
- Only Known by Initials: J.J. Even his sister calls him that.
- Pretty in Mink: Susie's highly-symbolic fur coat.
- Red Scare
- Scary Shiny Glasses: J.J. Hunsecker wears them.
- Shout-Out: The musical refrain repeated throughout is borrowed almost note-for-note in Boogie Nights.
- In Diner, one character does nothing but repeat famous lines from the film.
- Law and Order Criminal Intent once referenced the movie with a victim's death, down to the line "I love this dirty town".
- The press agent in Matlock is also named Sidney Falco.
- The rock band Kitty Kat Stew has a song called "Cookie full of Arsenic"
- Sudden Principled Stand: When a columnist refuses to print a smear against Steve, despite Falco threatening to inform his wife about an affair. Falco, however, subverts his when J.J. merely offers to pay him more.
- Sugary Malice: Hunsecker.
- Terms of Endangerment: Hunsecker constantly calls Susie "dear". He's called on this by Steve.
- Witch Hunt