J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful newspaper columnist in New York, is determined to prevent his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a jazz musician. He therefore covertly employs Sidney Falco, a sleazy and unscrupulous press agent, to break up the affair by any means possible.
The 'Sweet Smell of Success' is a lesson in how power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Burt Lancaster plays J.J. Hunsecker, a powerful, Walter Winchell-like newspaper columnist, who, with the stroke of his typewriter keys, can, and often does, destroy people's reputations. J.J., as he likes to be known, has a younger sister, Susan. J.J. has a proprietary hold over her, believing that he knows best when it comes to how she lives her life. Susan wants to marry jazz musician Steve Dallas, but J.J. doesn't approve, and is determined to break up the relationship. Tony Curtis, in one of his best performances, plays Sidney Falco, a publicist , whose job is to supply 'items of information' to people like J.J. Hunsecker - especially to J.J. Hunsecker.
The film is basically told from Sidney's perspective, as it follows him around, by turn fawning over J.J. to turning like a trapped rat, on anyone who dares to contradict J.J., including J.J.'s sister. No character in this film has any redeeming quality. They are all so left centred as to seem like a parody of what people think people like them act like. Perhaps that was intentional - perhaps not. The very cold-bloodied way the actors handle their parts, is I think, what makes this film work for me.
The complete lack of emotion, and the characters love/hate relationship towards each other and those around them, makes for powerful cinema. This film was directed by Alexander McKendrick, who, just two years earlier, directed 'The Ladykillers', one of the funniest comedies to come out of Ealing Studios.