Appearance
Sweet Smell of Success
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, Sweet Smell of Success (1957) is a biting, cynical masterpiece of film noir that captures the "dirty town" of New York City in glistening black and white. Burt Lancaster stars as J.J. Hunsecker, a powerful and megalomaniacal Broadway columnist who wields his influence like a weapon. Tony Curtis gives a career-best performance as Sidney Falco, a desperate, sycophantic press agent willing to do anything to get back into Hunsecker’s good graces.
The plot centers on Hunsecker’s obsessive desire to break up the romance between his younger sister, Susan (Susan Harrison), and an up-and-coming jazz guitarist, Steve Dallas (Martin Milner). The film is legendary for its razor-sharp, stylized dialogue—co-written by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman—and its atmospheric jazz score by Elmer Bernstein.
Locations
The film is renowned for its extensive location shooting in midtown Manhattan, capturing the neon-lit energy and shadowy desperation of Broadway and the Theatre District in the late 1950s.
The Brill Building (J.J. Hunsecker’s Apartment)
The iconic Brill Building at 1619 Broadway serves as the location for J.J. Hunsecker’s penthouse apartment. While the building was the historic heart of the American music industry (Tin Pan Alley), in the film, it represents the literal and figurative height of Hunsecker’s power, looking down upon the "poodles" of Broadway. Map Location
21 Club, West 52nd Street (Closed)
One of the most famous scenes in the film takes place at the 21 Club, where Falco joins Hunsecker at his regular table. It is here that Hunsecker delivers some of the film's most lethal lines while holding court among the city’s elite. The restaurant remains a landmark of New York’s high-society dining history. Map Location
Toots Shor’s Restaurant (Demolished)
The now-vanished celebrity hangout Toots Shor’s, which was located at 51 West 51st Street, appears as the setting where Falco tries to plant a smear in a rival column. During the 1950s, the real-life restaurant was a central hub for athletes, mobsters, and show business figures. Map Location
Times Square and Broadway
The film’s opening credits and various transition scenes feature vibrant, low-light photography of Times Square and Broadway. Cinematographer James Wong Howe famously shot these sequences on location, utilizing the real neon lights and crowded sidewalks of 1957 New York to ground the film’s heightened drama in a gritty reality. Map Location
The Elysian Nightclub
The scenes involving the jazz quintet and the jazz-club atmosphere were inspired by and partially filmed in the clubs around the 52nd Street jazz scene. The film utilized the Chico Hamilton Quintet to provide an authentic, modern sound that matched the "urban-jazzy" maelstrom of the characters' world.
Newsstand at 42nd Street
Falco is often seen checking the early morning editions of the papers at various newsstands around 42nd Street. These locations highlight the character’s constant, nervous energy and his total dependence on the fickle whims of the tabloid press.
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Director
Alexander Mackendrick
Cast
Burt Lancaster
Tony Curtis
Susan Harrison
Martin Milner
Sam Levene
Barbara Nichols
IMDB
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