"Sweet Smell of Success" was a very successful 1957 film noir starring Burt Lancaster as a fictionalized version Walter Winchell, and later garnered a Tony Award as a musical for its leading man, John Lithgow. This is an Emmy award-winning version of the real man, a mesmerizing account of his life highlighting his highs and lows, getting the award for its leading man, Stanley Tucci, one of the best character actors of modern times, breaking into that oh so familiar voice that still pops up in documentaries about the golden age of journalism and the entertainment industry, the man whose name alone brought fear and respect and desperation to be mentioned in his column, and readers and listeners of his radio show pine for every new tidbit about their favorite stars and world figures, and let the musical indicated in one of his songs, "Dirt", they didn't even care if it was true.
The film opens with him as a child, thrilled by his name being in the newspaper after his kicked in the face by a horse. As a young journalist, he's covering the goings on of celebrities in the paper, soon convinced to join the popular medium of radio, and becoming friends with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Christopher Plummer) after an assassination of him. When war threatens the United States, Winchell immediately goes after Hitler, determined to expose him as a mad man, and getting opposition from his publisher, dealing with him accordingly. The film also focuses on his private life with wife Megan Mullally and mistress Glenne Headley, and he certainly could be a subject of other gossip columns besides his own. As the world changes after the war, the voice of his column changes to, and his conflict becomes being able to remain relevant in a world filled with alterations he can't understand.
In seeing Plummer as FDR, I had to ask this question. Is there anything this fabulous actor couldn't do? Any role he couldn't play? I've seen many other actors as FDR be convincing, and Plummer is up there with Ralph Bellamy, Edward Hermann and Bill Murray (among others) in believability. Kevin Tighe was completely unrecognizable as William Randolph Hearst, hysterically bashing the liberals while pushing his own political agenda. Other celebrities and political figures of the time are beautifully portrayed, and the detail of the periods it covers excellent as well. My only complaint, and a minor one, is that this covers only select details, and so the screenwriter had to pick and choose which of those details they wanted the film to cover. It's not really a full plot, but select episodes in the life of an unforgettable man who to people who never heard of him will be absolutely mesmerizing once they see this film. Directed by profilic 70's filmmaker Paul Mazursky, this is a modern TV classic definitely worth discovery.
The film opens with him as a child, thrilled by his name being in the newspaper after his kicked in the face by a horse. As a young journalist, he's covering the goings on of celebrities in the paper, soon convinced to join the popular medium of radio, and becoming friends with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Christopher Plummer) after an assassination of him. When war threatens the United States, Winchell immediately goes after Hitler, determined to expose him as a mad man, and getting opposition from his publisher, dealing with him accordingly. The film also focuses on his private life with wife Megan Mullally and mistress Glenne Headley, and he certainly could be a subject of other gossip columns besides his own. As the world changes after the war, the voice of his column changes to, and his conflict becomes being able to remain relevant in a world filled with alterations he can't understand.
In seeing Plummer as FDR, I had to ask this question. Is there anything this fabulous actor couldn't do? Any role he couldn't play? I've seen many other actors as FDR be convincing, and Plummer is up there with Ralph Bellamy, Edward Hermann and Bill Murray (among others) in believability. Kevin Tighe was completely unrecognizable as William Randolph Hearst, hysterically bashing the liberals while pushing his own political agenda. Other celebrities and political figures of the time are beautifully portrayed, and the detail of the periods it covers excellent as well. My only complaint, and a minor one, is that this covers only select details, and so the screenwriter had to pick and choose which of those details they wanted the film to cover. It's not really a full plot, but select episodes in the life of an unforgettable man who to people who never heard of him will be absolutely mesmerizing once they see this film. Directed by profilic 70's filmmaker Paul Mazursky, this is a modern TV classic definitely worth discovery.