’The Sweet Smell of Success’

The Sweet Smell of Success is now considered one of the classics of American cinema but was a critical and box office failure when it was first released in 1957. In this episode, Ken Mercer and FT Kosempa dive into the making of the film, the contributions of Clifford Odets and James Wong Howe, and the shadow that the McCarthy-era blacklist cast over the production. They also try to answer the question: is it Film Noir? The film stars Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick.