Sweet Smell of Success
Dir: Alexander Mackendrick
USA, 1957, English, 97mins, DCP
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
Leaving Ealing Studios after helming some of its most celebrated comedies, Mackendrick ventured into Hollywood with this stylishly seedy film noir that ranks among the very best films depicting the lives of the press. Burt Lancaster excels as influential New York gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker, who cajoles Tony Curtis' increasingly desperate press agent into sabotaging the relationship between Hunsecker's sister and an up-and-coming musician. Featuring startling black and white photography from the great James Wong Howe and an intoxicating jazz score by Elmer Bernstein, Sweet Smell of Success sees both its stars play aggressively against type, riling audiences of the day, but later being heralded as one of the standout pictures in the careers of all concerned.
PREMIERE Elements (Venue)
Hong Kong Arts Centre Louis Koo Cinema (Venue)
HK Science Museum Lecture Hall
Hong Kong Film Archive
K11 Art House
The Metroplex
Festival Grand Cinema
the sky
MCL Telford Cinema
Tai Kwun
MOViE MOViE
CINE FAN ONLINE
EMP Cinemas iSQUARE (Venue)
M+ Cinema (Venue)
EMP Cinemas Times Square (Venue)
The Grand Cinema
Broadway Hollywood
Cine Moko
Chinese Subtitles
Category III
Post-screening discussion with the director
Director and/or actor(s) will meet the audience
Post-screening talk
Full House
Introduction