A firecracker that initially fizzled with audiences but has increasingly crackled with succeeding generations of film lovers, Sweet Smell of Success today boasts a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Defying genre expectations, it has been described in the media as a film noir, a crime thriller, a comedy, a satire, a character study, and a drama. By any measure, this poison pen letter to the glitzy world of big city show business is bracing and entertaining.

It features pungent dialogue, a ripping jazz score, balls-out performances from enthusiastically unlikeable characters played by Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, and top-notch location work in 1950s New York City strikingly shot in black and white.

Can our panel of young film-lovers relate to this bygone world of martini-drinking, cigarette-smoking, woman-exploiting men on the make? Or will the not-so-sweet smell drive them away?

Hosts: Mark Netter & David Tausik

Panelists: Guy Lewis & Kylee LaRue

An ElectraCast Production

Added to National Film Registry in 1993

IMDb with restored trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051036/reference/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Smell_of_Success

Original Variety Review: https://variety.com/1956/film/reviews/sweet-smell-of-success-2-1200418251/

Roger Ebert Review: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-sweet-smell-of-success-1957#google_vignette

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