A Walk on the Noir Side

[movieman1957]

Well, for war flicks just off the top of my head then -

 

Pork Chop Hill

Time Limit

Bridge On The River Kwai

Paths of Glory

The Steel Helmet

Men In War

Fail Safe

 

Others we could consider (and its hard as we've done so many)

 

Talk of The Town (preachy but fun for Colman and Grant having at each other)

Seven Days In May

Bad Day At Black Rock

To Kill A Mockingbird (if we haven't which I find hard to believe.)

 

And of course a few westerns

The Tin Star

Tribute To A Bad Man

No Name on The Bullet

[FrankGrimes]

*Men in War* is a good one for me since it's Anthony Mann.

 

*Talk of The Town (preachy but fun for Colman and Grant having at each other)*

 

I just recently watched it. I guess I didn't talk about it on the board.

 

*Bad Day At Black Rock*

 

I actually haven't watched that in about five years. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

 

*And of course a few westerns*

*The Tin Star*

*Tribute To A Bad Man*

*No Name on The Bullet*

 

I only have *The Tin Star*, and I'd like to see it because that's another Mann flick.

 

[MissGoddess]

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote} *You've been quiet lately. Everything alright?*

>

> Not really.

>

> Otherwise I've been reading everyone's comments. It's just a matter of not having seen what you everyone is talking about. I do like trying to find things for you and others when I get the chance.

Oh I'm sorry to hear that...I've missed your comments.

[JackFavell]

Wow! Thanks for comparing me to Arly! She makes emotional ups and downs look good! :x :x :x

[JackFavell]

I didn't even notice until Sir Francis pointed it out. Congratulations from me too. This place just wouldn't be what it is without your contributions.

 

Me neither. I forget to notice point counts. But I do notice when people are not around, and I've missed you. Thanks for the lovely compliment! :x :x

[JackFavell]

Sweet congrats on 12,000 matchless posts, Jackie!

 

That is great! You are too funny! I appreciate the way that's worded, and especially the thought behind it. Thanks. :x

 

[JackFavell]

Whew! Is it hot this morning or is it me?

 

Thanks so much, MissG, for the gorgeous photo of my Joe, and for being such a great inspiration here.

[CineMaven]

...what does success smell like?

 

THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS IS SPOILED

 

Thank goodness for the movies, ey? We can see how the other half live withOUT literally jumping into the cesspool with them.

 

I would program "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS" on the same movie marquee with "THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE" and "A FACE IN THE CROWD." They have the same feeling, tone. (Let me throw in "NETWORK" as a bonus). I find these four movies absolutely timeless because their commentary, criticism and cynicism seems ripped from today's headline. But "SWEET SMELL of SUCCESS" takes the cake. And to paraphrase J.J., it's a cake filled with arsenic. It's a fantastic movie.

 

Venom never went down so smooth.

 

When we're introduced to Sidney Falco, we see his name on the office door. Taped on. Straightaway....so tacky and so temporary. I think that says a lot about Mr. Falco, don't you? To see Sidney in action is truly a thing of destructive beauty. He's like a runaway train careening towards a cliff. Sidney is like a shark searching for prey, ever moving. I think of the great job Edmond O'Brien did in "THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA" as the sweaty and jittery agent. But our Sidney is played like a cool cat by TONY CURTIS and I agree with Miss Goddess when she says this might've been the zenith of his career. Curtis is wonderful to watch. Jack Favell notes that Sidney Falco is her Harry Fabian. HA! HARRY!!!!! Fair enough. I can see that.

 

 

To give a passing thought comparing Harry to Sidney, I would put these two on a double bill called: "CADS, WEASELS and FAST TALKERS." Harry Fabian and Sidney Falco are both "ideas" guys; users and manipulators. But if I had to choose one I'd go with Tony Curtis. (Please don't ask me why).

 

Ohhhhhkay, you twisted my arm...I'll tell you. Because I'm just a girl.

 

Because Sidney (TONY CURTIS) is awfullllly good-looking. I like the meta aspect of the film commenting on Sidney's (TONY CURTIS') good looks. And I love looking at him. He also imbues Sidney with charm and boyishness. He's mean but not mean-spirited like Widmark plays weasles. RICHARD WIDMARK, perhaps not specific to the character he played as Harry Fabian, has more edge...always a touch of the psychotic. He's the guy who'd pull wings off flies.

 

Don't get me wrong, not that they're both not weasels and chiselers...they are, Blanche... they are! But if I'm going to deal with 'em, let me have the guy who'll wine me and dine me before he takes my money over the guy who'll roll me up in a rug and dump my body into the Hudson River after he smacks me around for my PIN number.

 

So back to Sidney, (the RAT). He is a beautiful shark...a survivor who thinks quick on his feet in any situation. You can see his neurons popping and sparking as he rubs his thumb over his forehead or wrings his hands, or bites a fingernail. Remember when he took that dressing down by that columnist who tried to put the moves on our little Cigarette Girl? The columnist reads Sidney the riot act. Then when Sidney faces Otis (Larry Tate of "BEWITCHED" fame also known as DAVID WHITE), Sidney uses the same lines on him expressing his indignation that were just used on him. Brother!!! Funny.

 

Sidney jumps into cabs like disposable limousines and breezes into 21 or Toots Shor like he's going to the corner bodega for milk. The boy can pinch a penny too. He's too cheap to check his coat. He knows everyone and everyone knows him. He knows the lingo (he doesn't say "Daddy-O" though) and it suits him. He lives in a ring-a-ding way and walks amidst the nightlife like a prince...of fools. He sucks up. He's a sycophant.

 

He...will...use...anyone.

 

Sidney wants to get a sneak peak at J.J.'s column. But J.J.'s secretary won't let him. After she turns down his playfully bribing dinner invitation, he tells her:

 

"Now why should I bribe the woman that holds most of my heart."

 

J.J.'s secretary describes him best. And she berates him in such a matter-of-fact way; her delivery (EDITH ATWATER) is pitch perfect and I love her:

 

"You're a real rascal Sidney. Amusing boy, but you haven't got a drop of respect in you for anything alive. You're so immersed in the theology of making a fast buck. Not that I don't sometimes feel you yearn for something better. Oh I don't mind you looking at the column in advance so long as J.J. doesn't know. But don't do it like a little boy stealing money from a gum machine."

 

Look at Sidney's reaction. He's not upset. He's not insulted. (Hell, in fact, you CAN'T even insult Sidney). He just wants what he wants. Are ya gonna be mad at a two-year old for whining?!

 

And don't tell me THAT scene doesn't remind you of James Bond and Miss Moneypenny.

 

Frank Grimes mentions that all the women in "SSS" have heart. I hear you man, I agree. They do. At heart I don't think this movie is a women's story though the crux of it surrounds the core: young couple in love in the midst of filth. It's the story of snakes, scumbags and despots and the attractive young lovers caught in the middle. It is a full-blown story, not just a scenario. But I very much like the Women of "...SUCCESS."

 

SIDNEY'S SECRETARY... sad sack, maternal, caring, very efficient. What's she doing there? Oh...for maybe another chance with Sidney. Yeah, you know he's had her.

 

THE CIGARETTE GIRL...your 50's blonde bombshell. A smart girl just a little dumb around the edges. She's been used, but she knows the score. She wants Sidney. And that is her misfortune. (Barbara Nichols was fantastic in this role).

 

THE SENATOR'S MISTRESS...the blonde with class. "Why, whatever do you mean, Mr. Hunsecker?" Come on honey...you know what we mean. Can you spell:

 

S-u-g-a-r D-a-d-d-y?

 

THE COLUMNIST'S WIFE...smart, cynical, astute. She plays the horses and takes a nip or three as compensation for what's NOT happening at home. She's a pragmatist. (This is played by the great character actress: LURENE TUTTLE who I've really got to look into her career more. She's done so much more than her cute turn in "PSYCHO." In "SSS" she turns on a dime. Playing cynical at first, look how she turns on a dime after her character's husband confesses playing footsie with the cigarette girl. I believe his sincerity... and I love the gravitas she lends when she says: "That's the cleanest thing I've seen you do in years." Thrilling It's a gift to be able to do drama and comedy convincingly. She does).

 

J.J.'s SISTER...she is Snow White in this monstrous fairy tale. And the big bad wolf is her own brother. What big eyes he has... for her. (Eeewwww!) More on her wonderful tightrope performance later.

 

THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF...IS A BOTTOM FEEDER

 

Sidney does all manner of favors, rolls in the muck and mire...does what he has to, all to get ahead. But when he tries to do one good thing and tells the truth about it...he pays a high price.

 

MY QUESTION TO YOU... Do you think Susie was going to jump off the balcony? Or was that whole scene really just a ruse to get Sidney in trouble with J.J.?

 

I want to talk about J.J. Hunsecker played by BURT LANCASTER. His aphorisms. His veiled threats. His manufactured molehill so he could create a mountain in his confrontation with Steve Dallas. His veiled and not so veiled reminders to everyone that he has some dirt on 'em. (Remember what he says to big fat Kello). His symbiotic relationship with Sidney...like a marriage gone bad, but he stays in because he likes to torture and dominate. Remember when J.J. said "I love this dirty town." I hearkened back to Robert Duvall saying "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" in "APOCALYPSE NOW." But I can't get into J.J. now 'cuz I'm still stuck on Sidney. I want to watch him think; watch him maneuver, connive, flatter and dump.

 

I want to talk about Susie Hunsecker played by SUSAN HARRISON and her performance. I want to. She walked such a great tightrope of being the damsel in distress...without being all fey and cloying. She was scared of her big brother. Scared of his incestuous feelings towards her. (Can you say "SCARFACE" 1932)? That was a tough role and could have gone horribly wrong if played by the wrong actress. You don't want someone as tremulous and gentle as Yvette Mimieux. I don't see Sandy Dennis. Maybe Shirley Knight could have done it though I don't see a blonde. Perhaps Lois Smith. Or Ellen Burstyn. I want to talk about Susie, but I've still got Sidney on the brain.

 

I know. I'll think about Alexander MacKendrick's direction and how he fluidly moved that camera like a modern day director. Remember how he moved that camera with J.J. and the Senator? MacKendrick threw his cast right into the streets of New York. Where'd he get the faces? Wait...let me speak of the great James Wong Howe and his palette of black and white. Oooh, I want to drown in those black and whites. I know what'll take my mind off of Sidney Falco, Elmer Bernstein. That's the ticket...his music; soft and gentle with the young lovers... coarse, loud and brassy with others.

 

Naaaaah, it's no use. I'm stuck on Sidney Falco; just one of those good women liking the bad boy.

 

Edited by: CineMaven on Aug 6, 2011 11:55 AM because it's MURDER not DEATH that smells like honeysuckle

[JackFavell]

*WIll Success Spoil Sydney Falco? Naaaah. He's already SPOILED:*

 

First of all, I want to say how great your post is! I love reading your thoughts on SSS. And you brought up something I just love about the movie, which is the music. WIthout that score, I don't know that it would have half the impact that it does. Think of that scene with Susie and Sydney, in her room, as she tries to go over the balcony.... Bernstein knows when to use music for emphasis, and when no emphasis is needed. I was surprised going back to look at the movie at the long stretches of quiet.... no music at all.... Boernstein rightly knew that some of those scenes are so strong, they need no music to punch them up.

 

Back to Susie - I am quite sure she was going to kill herself at the start of that scene. She feels nothing, is nothing. She's Juliet caught in the spokes of a family conflict. But watch as she watches JJ and Sydney play out their little game in front of her.... watch the wheels revolve as she sees her one break..... as she thinks out the steps she will NOT take to tell JJ the truth about her suicide attempt, so she can watch Sydney go down for the count. Yes, it's calculated. But she had no idea when she tried to go over that rail that her moment was so close. And she had to die inside to be able to take that next step.... the step of taking the two of them down without guilt. No, she has lived with the sharks too long not to know how to play the game. She hasn't wanted anything to do with the one-upsmanship before, she actively refutes it. Everyone thinks she is too stupidly pretty and innocent to take part. But now, she sees that one blow, one calculated blow, with her hand in the velvet glove, will take down both Sydney and JJ in one punch. And she is the only one with power enough to do it. She takes her chance. They've made her crawl in the mud, but no one will again.

 

 

The thing about that scene that still really gets me, is how within seconds of accusing Sydney of **** his sister, JJ then turns to Susie and tells her that she tried to commit suicide - it's vile that he knows the truth, and still played the outraged brother (lover). And now she knows for sure that he was messing with Sydney. SHe's known all along, I think, but never had the proof right in her hand. I can see this scene playing in JJ's head long after Susie has walked. "Here was the mistake I made...." It will replay in his head till it drives him mad. Payback is a ...well, it's a cookie full of arsenic. And if Sydney is a cookie full of arsenic, what does that make JJ?

 

 

Edited by: JackFavell on Aug 6, 2011 12:01 PM

[CineMaven]

I had to re-do my thread subject line because I typed in the wrong phrase there. My cinematic apologies.

 

Now...

 

And if Sydney is a cookie full of arsenic, what does that make JJ?

 

Miss 12K ma'am...THAT is the $64,000 question, isn't it. Remember Veda saying to Mildred, "you made me this way,"? So what came first the --chicken-- Hunsecker or the --egg-- Falco? I think Sidney had that drive all along...and then J.J. saw it and thought he could use it to his advantage; keep that carrot on that stick danglin just enough out of Sidney's greedy reach to keep making him go for it. Neither one of them could break from the cycle. Hmmm...actually it would be Sidney who would have to break himself from the cycle. J.J. was just fine doing what he was doing.

 

The analogy I give my friends in matters of the heart is this: If you're holding on to the back of the bus and you're getting you knees scraped and your chin all jacked up...and you're yelling at the driver to stop...and he sees you through his rear view mirror...and then guns the gas, how much screaming and scraping can you stand before you just let go the bus. I don't often follow my own advice, but that's another story.

 

Sidney didn't have the moral fortitude to let go of the Hunsecker bus. But he should have because a little brunette was about to throw him underneath it. But where would J.J. be without Sidney? He'd be awwwwwright. There's always a hungry Lonesome Rhodes right around the corner.

 

WIthout that score, I don't know that it would have half the impact that it does.

 

I need any excuse to go back and watch the movie again. Yes, Bernstein's music is pivotal and adds...not detracts. I'd have to re-view it, but I remember one scene where the music just intrusively comes in with a blare. It's now a cliche for jazzy, hep, sordid, seedy goings-on. That's a musical arrangement you didn't hear from Miklos Rosza I betcha!

 

Back to Susie - I am quite sure she was going to kill herself at the start of that scene. She feels nothing, is nothing. She's Juliet caught in the spokes of a family conflict. But watch as she watches JJ and Sydney play out their little game in front of her.... watch the wheels revolve as she sees her one break..... as she thinks out the steps she will NOT take to tell JJ the truth about her suicide attempt...

 

Yeah Jackaaaaaaaay yeah. I agree. I just wanted your and others' thought on that score. They revealed their hand in front of poor little Susie...and then poor little Susie took those cards and smashed them both to smithereens.

Check mate!!

 

Everyone thinks she is too stupidly pretty and innocent to take part. But now, she sees that one blow, one calculated blow, with her hand in the velvet glove, will take down both Sydney and JJ in one punch. And she is the only one with power enough to do it. She takes her chance. They've made her crawl in the mud, but no one will again.

 

I enjoyed your post and how you expressed your thoughts on l'il Susie. Velvet glove. Ha!! When Sidney told J.J. he came right over when he got his phone message to come by the apartment, J.J. says: "What message?" And the camera cuts do Susie who avoids Sidney's glance. Uh-oh...that's a tip off for me that our little girl calculated more than we initially suspect. I loved this: "What news about Dallas?" How many layers of this gawdawful onion do we have to peel? It's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Me likin' the taste of arsenic.

 

When J.J. gives Sidney the beatdown, it surprised me a little. You know those big powerful men never do their own dirty work and even have someone else fight their battles for them (i.e. the movie producer who sends Edmond O'Brien to go get the barefoot contessa to sit at his table). When J.J. bitchslapped Sidney I was a little surprised to see that.

 

"Susie, just as I know he's lying about your attempted suicide you know he's lying about me."

 

Keep digging J.J.. Keep digging. Au contraire mon frere. The friggin' jig is up.

 

"That fat cop can break my bones, but he'll never stop me from telling what I know."

 

Run Sidney run.

 

The thing about that scene that still really gets me, is how within seconds of accusing Sydney of **** his sister, JJ then turns to Susie and tells her that she tried to commit suicide - it's vile that he knows the truth, and still played the outraged brother (lover). And now she knows for sure that he was messing with Sydney.

 

That gets me too Jaxxxxon. And it is the most despicable thing about him. Knowing the truth and still lying. Politicians work that routine infuriatingly well. Remembering Miss Goddess' list of FAVORITE VILLAINS/VILLAINESSES, I think I'd add J.J. Hunsecker to that immoral brew. And J.J.'s move that you just described reminds me of that evil despicable Charles Coburn's turn in "KINGS ROW" when as the doctor, he threatens his daughter with a mental institute if she breathes her truths. Yuck! Double yuck!! J.J. knows that she really was going to try to commit suicide (that bursts my theory about her plotting this whole thing out from the start) and he'd rather put her in an institution than to let her getaway from his clutches. He's not putting her in the institute to make her get better.

 

J.J.: "You're going into the hands of a good psychoanalyst. You tried to kill yourself tonight."

 

SUSIE: "Yes. I'd rather be dead than living with you."

 

Do you remember when Susie was leaving and she pulls the door open? She had a raging bull there an impotent raging bull. He couldn't even hold the door against her. She pulls it slowly open.

 

When J.J. looks from the balcony...he's still silent...quiet...impotent. Remember Lonesome Rhodes' screams into the night? I like that the director let Susie have the last shot of the movie...the shot of hopefulness...of walking into the morning...walking towards her future.

[FrankGrimes]

What's the score, Lively Gal -- What a sensational write-up for *Sweet Smell of Success* ! You are exceptional at combining your "voice" with such superb language. It's an amazing skill that you possess. It's remarkable, really.

 

*Frank Grimes mentions that all the women in "SSS" have heart. I hear you man, I agree. They do. At heart I don't think this movie is a women's story though the crux of it surrounds the core: young couple in love in the midst of filth. It's the story of snakes, scumbags and despots and the attractive young lovers caught in the middle.*

 

The reason I say it's a woman's story is because of the focus at the end. The final shot is of Susie and her leaving. What surrounds Susie is a lot testosterone and male dominance, but the actual story is Susie's. It's just very much hidden in the background. Basically, this is a male version of *The Little Foxes*. The difference is the end focus. The focus is flipped, as you will see:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The Little Foxes* finishes on Regina (Bette Davis). This lets us know the focus is on her. She steps back into the shadows. *Sweet Smell of Success* finishes with a focus on Susie. We are being told this is really about Susie, not J.J.

[CineMaven]

Howdy do, Grimesy boo - What a sensational write-up for Sweet Smell of Success ! You are exceptional at combining your "voice" with such superb language. It's an amazing skill that you possess. It's remarkable, really.

 

I truly humbly thank you for the compliment. Oh I can quip with the best of 'em, but I really do like writing and discussing these great old movies.

 

The reason I say it's a woman's story is because of the focus at the end. The final shot is of Susie and her leaving. What surrounds Susie is a lot testosterone and male dominance, but the actual story is Susie's. It's just very much hidden in the background. Basically, this is a male version of The Little Foxes. The difference is the end focus. The focus is flipped, as you will see...

 

I would still disagree with your opinion. Susie's story is in the background and a subtext. Her story is valid...this young woman trying to gain her independence...trying to reach towards love and openness. But I really think "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS" is the Herculean and symbiotic struggle between these two men. I see your screen caps...and it does sound logical. But my senses didn't take me in that direction as I watched the story. Keeping her was the raison d'etre of J.J.'s being.

 

The Little Foxes finishes on Regina (Bette Davis). This lets us know the focus is on her. She steps back into the shadows. Sweet Smell of Success finishes with a focus on Susie. We are being told this is really about Susie, not J.J.

 

I've got to go this time with a cigar being just a cigar. Do you think anyone but Bette Davis is going to have the last shot in a Bette Davis movie. I'm going to really pay attention to this piece in movies...WHO GETS THE LAST SHOT.

 

I can see how you say that...but again, my innards didn't lead me there.

 

Again, your compliment was truly lovely.

 

I thank you. :-)

[CineMaven]

By the by Frank, did you check out Steve Hayes' review of "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS" that I cited a coupla posts below? He's the wild and crazy guy that does classic film reviews on YouTube. Didja watch it?

[JackFavell]

I love the comparison to The Little Foxes! That's great. Wish I'd thought of it.

 

 

[FrankGrimes]

Hi, CinemAva -- *By the by Frank, did you check out Steve Hayes' review of "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS" that I cited a coupla posts below? He's the wild and crazy guy that does classic film reviews on YouTube. Didja watch it?*

 

No, I didn't. I'm just not a fan of his.

 

*I would still disagree with your opinion. Susie's story is in the background and a subtext. Her story is valid...this young woman trying to gain her independence...trying to reach towards love and openness. But I really think "SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS" is the Herculean and symbiotic struggle between these two men. I see your screen caps...and it does sound logical. But my senses didn't take me in that direction as I watched the story. Keeping her was the raison d'etre of J.J.'s being.*

 

 

I can definitely understand that. We are being led to believe that the film is all about J.J. (the king) and we are learning about the "king" through Sidney, the "jester." Since it's his court, this makes it his story. But directors can be sneaky. Mackendrick messes with us and reveals the real focus at the very end. The king and jester are along for the ride, too. Susie is the one with the power and Mackendrick makes it a point to show us she's the one with the power.

 

 

Take *The Searchers*. The story is about finding Debbie (Natalie Wood) but the director's final shot tells us the focus of the story was actually Ethan (John Wayne) and finding himself. If John Ford closed on a shot of Ethan celebrating with the family, then the story would have been about finding Debbie.

 

 

 

 

I had seen *Sweet Smell of Success* a couple times prior to my recent viewing and I loved it for the viper-tongued powerplay between J.J. and Sidney. I love how "big" they are. On this latest viewing, I actually noticed the women and how they were painted. I was completely blind to them in the past because they were very, very "quiet" (background) compared to the "loud" men (foreground). I finally "heard" them this time. It made me realize that these "big" men turned very "small" by film's end. It's fascinating.

[FrankGrimes]

*I love the comparison to The Little Foxes! That's great. Wish I'd thought of it.*

 

Thank you, Arly.

 

It actually dawned on me today that the two films are similar. I figured I'd have to explain myself with my saying *Sweet Smell of Success* actually ends up being a "woman's picture." My basis for that is the focus at the end. That's when I realized the two films end exactly the same, but with the focus flipped. Then I realized the love story in each film is very similar and that the power struggle is very similar. *The Little Foxes* is more of a full story versus a snapshot, such as *Sweet Smell of Success*, though.

[MissGoddess]

CinemAva, let me add my humble compliments to one of your most enjoyable posts. Wow! You really described that sweet odor to a "T".

 

This paragraph had me rolling:

 

 

Don't get me wrong, not that they're both not weasels and chiselers...they are, Blanche... they are! But if I'm going to deal with 'em, let me have the guy who'll wine me and dine me before he takes my money over the guy who'll roll me up in a rug and dump my body into the Hudson River after he smacks me around for my PIN number.

 

The main difference between "Harry" and "Sydney" as you so colorfully described it, is sex appeal. Widmark really has none (as himself in an interview I found him sexy, though) and though Curtis is not my style, I won't deny he has plenty of catnip for the ladies. In fact, I don't think he'd have had a career without it.

 

Fascinating ramble!

[MissGoddess]

Wow, I never would have thought of all movies, *The Little Foxes.* How on earth did you figure that out? Talk about worlds apart....yet they both really are about "get us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the grapes...."

[JackFavell]

>yet they both really are about "get us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the grapes...."

 

I'll say. It's a pretty perfect comparison.

 

 

[FrankGrimes]

*Wow, I never would have thought of all movies, The Little Foxes. How on earth did you figure that out? Talk about worlds apart....yet they both really are about "get us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the grapes...."*

 

It just hit me today because the final shots in each film are identical with the exception of the focus. Then I realized the love stories are pretty much identical (Romeo and Juliet, as Jackie said) and the setting of a "court" (power struggle) was identical. It's just one is a king and the other is a queen.

[JackFavell]

Chris, if you haven't seen *The Sweet Smell of Success*, it's here on youtube:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQjM01pxQi0

[MissGoddess]

*It just hit me today because the final shots in each film are identical with the exception of the focus. Then I realized the love stories are pretty much identical (Romeo and Juliet, as Jackie said) and the setting of a "court" (power struggle) was identical. It's just one is a king and the other is a queen.*

 

I have to say, of all the unique comparisons you've pulled out of your rabbit hat, that's one of the sharpest. I'm impressed. I'm impressed with ALL the company she (me) keeps here. What a classy, saavy group. The big wig critics of today should write half so interestingly about movies.

[FrankGrimes]

*I have to say, of all the unique comparisons you've pulled out of your rabbit hat, that's one of the sharpest. I'm impressed.*

 

Awwww, thank you. That was sweet of you to say. Are you all right?

 

*I'm impressed with ALL the company she (me) keeps here. What a classy, saavy group. The big wig critics of today should write half so interestingly about movies.*

 

I'm in complete agreement. I have gained so much from the "rambles." And I'm not just talking about the films. Sparks. Lots and lots of sparks.

[movieman1957]

It's been a while since I saw it last. The thing that always struck me was Curtis' character "Falco." I thought how bad does someone want something to have to grovel they way he does to Hunsecker. Hunsecker has the power and he knows it and doesn't care who else does. He's not afraid to use it.

 

Thanks for the link Wendy. I'll try to get it this weekend and maybe I'll have something to add. (So much has been said I can't imagine what but maybe...)