Sweet Smell of Success [Hardcover]

Ernest Lehman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0884114473 | ISBN-13: 978-0884114475 | Publication Date: June 1988

The Faber Classic Screenplay Series presents the very best writing from the history of cinema.

Sweet Smell of Success is the smartest, most cynical American film of the 1950s. Written by Ernest Lehman (North by Northwest, The Sound of Music) and the celebrated leftist playwright Clifford Odets, it is a vicious dissection of the world of public relations and journalism which conjures up a wprld of creeping hysteria and acid disenchantment. Tony Curtis playing the Scuttling press agent Sidney Falco, and Burt Lancaster as the colimnist J.J. Hunsecker, gave the performances of their careers.

With a specially commissioned introduction by Lehman, and an appreciation of the film's director, Alexander Mackendrick, by James Mangold.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ernest Lehman lives in Los Angeles, California. One of the most critically and commercially successful screenwriters ever to work in Hollywood, his movie scripts include Sabrina, The King and I, Somebody Up There Likes Me, West Side Story, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf, and Portnoy's Complaint.

Known primarily as one of the great American playwrights--his classic dramas in Waiting for Lefty and Rocket to the Moon--Clifford Odets also wrote or co-wrote 18 movies for film and television.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (June 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884114473
• ISBN-13: 978-0884114475
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,463,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing remains in style forever, June 12, 2000

By 

Roslyn Portnoy (Richardson, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Smell of Success: And Other Stories (Paperback)

If you are too young to have read SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS when it first came out, be sure to grab this re-issue. Then go re-rent the movie. A perfect way to spend a weekend.

Mr. Lehman may be best known for writing some of the greatest screenplays ever, from the original Sabrina, through West Side Story and North by Northwest, and of course, the film version of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS.

The stories in this book remain as fresh, powerful and intriguing as they did 40 years ago. It's certainly a "must read" for those interested in the history of stage and screen. I remember distinctly several years ago haunting many dusty used book stores to find these stories. How terrific it is to have them together again!