I have never been a big Tony Curtis fan, but here he does an astonishing job playing Sidney Falco, a flack without a scruple to his name. His hustling walk, smarmy smile, and indignant lies coalesce into one of the most perfectly played roles in movie history. And in this great film Burt Lancaster and New York City play their roles to perfection as well.
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I wouldn't go as far as calling it one of the best performances in movie history, but it's definitely one of my favorites. Never had much respect for Curtis as an actor before seeing this film, but damn if he wasn't born to play this role. Haha hustling walk, that's gold man, he sure had it down.
The slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown
Absolutely agreed. Curtis is riveting as Falco. One of film histories best performances! In addition to that, the filmmaker's cinematography wraps around each performer brilliantly, creating a stunning effect and communicating the story that much more creatively and artistically. A truly wonderful film.
shareI remembered l was startled at this movie when I saw it decades ago. Just saw it again on rental and only then came here on IMDB.
I was all set to post how great Tony Curtis was...when I need say is... DITTO !
Burt was deep in character as he so often was.
I have got this idea from someplace...that insiders of Hollywood did not care for Lancaster. That suspicion was reinforced when I saw the meager notice his passing garnered at the Academy Awards.
He was definitely an A list guy... before there was such a thing.
Couple of negatives on the recent view. The theme music though appropriate for the story was supposed to sound cutting edge ?...Instead.. now..it felt a tad dated. It was also somewhat stage-y. Odets?
It would be prime for a remake...if they can figure out a moderne equivalent of newspaper columnists....and someone to play Falco.
(I know this was 8 years ago but...that's never stopped me replying to ancient posts before). I think that even if they did do a remake - which IMHO is a terrible idea but seeing the current trend of Hollywood I frankly wouldn't be at all surprised - it would have to be kept in the '50s' setting. Everything about the story is so drenched in that particular era, even down to JJ being a blatant copy of Walter Winchell, that I think you just can't update it to fit modern times - at least not without it becoming almost unrecognisable. With the rise in social media alone it's no longer really possible for one single man to have such an overwhelming monopoly on information that practically everyone in the story is dependant on him for the sake of their very lives, that pretty much one word from him alone is enough to make or break someone - and the story simply doesn't work if you don't believe that the scope of JJ's power (both direct and indirect) is ridiculously big and all his. If you wanted to update it and keep the sense of just how powerful JJ is, then you'd need JJ to be a Rupert Murdoch type figure, which would unfortunately come with the side-issue that he'd be less involved in the actual day-to-day business and more raking in the money by just generally overseeing everything...which then creates too many issues in how to translate Sidney to the modern day. I think it would be possible to do a SSOS type of story set in the modern day but I don't think you can do a straight up remake set in the modern day. Also I genuinely can't think of anyone who could play either JJ or Sidney, especially when you'll always have Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis giving (IMO) the top performances of their respective careers to compare them to.
shareI saw Tony Curtis in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), thought he stank and dismissed him as an actor. I changed my mind after his role as a sleazy press agent in The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and then saw him play a racist convict in The Defiant Ones (1958). He followed that, in drag and doing an occasionaly Cary Grant impersonation in Some Like it Hot (1959) and then was a slapstick comedian in The Great Race (1965). I don't understant why he has never been adequately recognized for such an amazing variety of roles.
shareYea, this performance is the highlight of Curtis's career. He did an outstanding job.
shareCurtis certainly was capable of excellent performances every once in a while - he's also outstanding in The Boston Strangler. Of course, both him as well as Lancaster were both routinely dismissed as mere studio hunks.
"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan
What a role! His best. And the movie bombed. I hope he lived long enough to see it triumph as a classic. And then there's his comic brilliance in Some Like It Hot in which he does the BEST imitation of Cary Grant ever. Bernie Schwartz never got too far from his roots though.
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