“Requiem for a louse”
I briefly thought that was a movie about Justin(e) True-dolt’s political career.
Hate to rain on anyone’s parade, but the central character of sleazy newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker, portrayed by Burt Lancaster, was based on Walter Winchell. I am certain this negative portrayal had nothing to do with the fact Winchell became more and more a Conservattive in his later years.
I didn’t like Burt Lancaster in the title role. He doesn’t appear right for it. He’s more of a muscular, strong guy rather than an erudite and petulant art critic, more of a guy with a machine gun in his hand than a pen for writing poisoning reviews. George Sanders would have been a better choice. He has sophistication and an upper class college style dripping from his words. Sanders also played bad characters — almost typecast for that part. Back then, if you were sophisticated, educated and had a bit of Brit accent you were a bad dude to the American public. The common man was in, and even wealthy tycoons would brag of their simple forefathers and coming from common stock. So Burt was more the lady’d man hunk than a nervous, fastidious man squirreled up in some artistic garret or family penthouse. Tony Curtis was also a bad choice because he played poorly off of Burt’s role. Both were poor choices.
I remember thinking it was rather anti-climactic. Another introspective movie that sought to expose some social ill. But like so many other such movies, it seemed to address a question nobody asked.
There is about a ten-year gap between the accurate portrayals of Manhattan in The Naked City and Sweet Smell of Success, and it is interesting to see how the changes both in urban culture and in technology (TV, AC, etc.) alter the experience.
I always found Tony Curtis a bit creepy.
Just finished watching this movie, it was pretty enjoyable.