MovieChat Forums > Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Discussion > the Coat as metaphor...

the Coat as metaphor...

posted 16 years ago by lorene-lavora
11 replies | jump to latest

For as many times as I've watched this and been annoyed at the fur coat, it's the first time I've been paying attention to the final scene where Susie leaves in a cloth coat. I think one of the things that bothers me about the fur coat (aside from the obvious point that it's her symbolic of her brother's support) is that she seems to swim in it. It's as if she is meant to look like a child in her mother's coat. Only in the final scene, in the cloth coat, does she look like she's wearing something that fits. A little obvious but has anyone heard about the intentional use of the coat in the film?

[–] dudebert 16 years ago

a popular metaphor in the films of COATa-Brava

the dudebert abides

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Shellsburg9 16 years ago

No, but that is an excellent point! There is another bit about coats when JJ puts down Sidney, by saying "No coat? Saving on tips again?"

[–] wrfarley 16 years ago

J.J. must have a coat fetish. Good point by the OP. Susie is smothered by the fur coat as she is by her brother's "love."

[–] dark_frances 15 years ago

Not to mention that the coat seems to be smothering both Susies AND cigarettes - see Susie's final scene with Steve: she's got a lit cigarette in her hand, the coat on her back, turns away from the counter to leave, cig still in her hand, and in the next scene both her hands are under the coat (while she's walking). ...On a second thought maybe it wasn't unintentional, maybe JJ had given his beloved sis a fire-protective coat?...

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[–] singjohn 12 years ago

Sidney's secretary reminds him to put on a overcoat when he leaves the office and he replies something like, "And what? Have to tip every coat checker in Manhattan?"

[–] mroberson03 15 years ago

I didn't catch that, but now that you say it...It is then also worth mentioning that the only other "pure" character, Steve, is also wearing a rather large coat throughout the film. The notion of one's character and youth insulating the heart and pure spirit from the cruelty of J.J. and Sid's world is emphasized through this metaphor. It may be "obvious", but it is effective, and really lacking from modern storytelling.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] HarveyManfredinStJohn 13 years ago

Well, Dallas does say to Susie sum'n to the tune of "This coat is your brother. I've always hated it..."

Metaphor confirmed?

Going station to station is hunky dory but if the trip's low on creeps it can drive Alladin Sane.

[–] Charlot47 12 years ago

First, the girl. Would many unmarried women of her age have had such a conspicuous and expensive coat? You could certainly say it symbolises her brother’s unhealthy interest in her, his lack of sensitivity and the almost perverted taste of his elaborate apartment. With her it exemplifies her lack of autonomy, unable to make intelligent choices about her life.

Next, the guitarist. His coat has to be distinctive and shown to us often so that we recognise it when Falco plants the drugs in it.

Finally, Falco. His way of life seems to include frequent quick exits, so waiting at a cloakroom for a hat and coat would cramp his style as well as cost him in tips. There is a school of thought which says that where possible it is worth making friends with cloakroom attendants, but maybe that was not true in New York in 1957?

[–] Papi_di_Poopi 9 years ago

To make it even clearer; when Susie steps out of J.J.'s apartment, for the first time the sunlight hits her face.

I don't know for sure, but I believe the whole movie plays out during night scenes. Only when the movie ends, the sun shines, and seems to symbolise Susie's transformation out of the darkness of her brother's realm and into bright world that awaits her.

The light also reveals the true character of J.J., as he seemed to be the man in control and was feared and respected by everyone during the film. At the end all is lost, he ends up lonely. Left behind by the only person he cared about and whose opinion mattered to him.

Even at that moment Susie remains pure and good, and does not become embittered like her brother, because instead of hating him for all the things that her brother has done to her, she pities him for not being able to change.