Sweet Smell of SuccessMacmillan, 14 apr. 2010 - 110 pagini The highest artistic achievement of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, an innovative production company that emerged in Hollywood at the end of the classic studio system, Sweet Smell of Success (1957) portended the collapse of Breen-Office censorship and was the first US entertainment film to depict McCarthy-style exploitation of the press. It also presented an unusually dark view of the culture of celebrity, presaging developments of an even darker kind in our own day. Sweet Smell's frightening portrayal of a newspaperman loosely based on Walter Winchell and its unstinting depiction of corruption and sleaze in the world of Broadway theatres and nightclubs have given it a legendary reputation; critics and film-makers continue to praise the whiplash dialogue of Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, the seductive location photography of James Wong Howe, the stylish direction of Alexander Mackendrick and the disturbing performances of Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis as ruthless gossip columnist J. J. Hunsecker and his ambitious but doomed acolyte, Sidney Falco. James Naremore's masterly study of Sweet Smell of Success offers new information about the many revisions of the screenplay, the production company's negotiations with censors and the tense circumstances under which the film was shot and received by the public. Naremore places the film in its historical context, arguing that it functioned as the revenge of the Hollywood left against a repressive political and media environment that was beginning to change and momentarily lose its power. He also provides a detailed commentary on the finished product, analysing the important contributions of its several talented creators. |
Cuprins
Front Matter | 6 |
Front Matter | 7 |
Body | 9 |
Back Matter | 109 |
Back Matter | 110 |
Back Matter | 111 |
Back Cover | 114 |
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Termeni și expresii frecvente
21 Club actor Alexander Mackendrick audience Bartha Beat change becomes bedroom blacklisted Brill Building Broadway brother Burt Lancaster Cahn called camera characters Chico Hamilton cigarette girl cinema Clifford Odets close-up shows columnist communists Dallas's dollies door dramatic Ernest Lehman exit film's Frank D'Angelo fur coat Gabler Harold Hecht Harry Kello Harvey Hunsecker Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Hecht-Lancaster Hollywood HUAC Hunsecker Hunsecker says Irving Hoffman J. J. Hunsecker James Hill James Wong jazz Kello Lancaster's Lehman's original Lilly Manny Farber Margaret Herrick Library moves movie newspaper novella Otis Elwell penthouse picture played press agent production quoted in Kashner radio Re-writing Rita Robard role Sally scene screenplay screenwriter script senator shot Sidney Sidney Falco Sidney looks Sidney's Sight & Sound Smell of Success smiles star Steve Dallas Stork Club story street studio Susan Hunsecker Susie Sweet Smell television tells Sidney theatre Tony Curtis walks Walter Winchell Weldon Winchell's York