MovieChat Forums > Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Discussion > Giving Up or Giving In?

Giving Up or Giving In?

posted 10 years ago by jmillerdp
3 replies | jump to latest

Personally, I think this has the makings of one of the greatest films of all time.

But, then, there's that ending. For me, I was disappointed. And, I wonder why co-screenwriter/novella writer Ernest Lehman decided to do what he did. He had created two of the most reprehensible, irredeemable characters in film history. But, when it gets to the film's end, he decides to punish them for their evil.

Now, I know that people want to see evil have to pay for what they do. And, they don't want to see evil get rewarded. But, I personally found the way it was done cumbersome, and it didn't work for me.

My thought: Did Lehman give up? Even though he'd allowed these two characters to be so fully evil, he decided that they needed to answer for what they had done? Or, could he maybe have given in, and gave Hollywood an ending where the evil are punished?

To put this in context, I recently saw "Nightcrawler." In it, Jake Gyllenhaal is a sociopath who will do whatever, and I mean, whatever it takes to get to the top in TV news. [SPOILER] In this film, writer/director Dan Gilroy takes his character and not only doesn't try to punish or redeem him. He actually doubles-down, having him do something even more evil. [END SPOILER]

So, I think that there at least would have been a better way to do that ending. What Lehman did just didn't work for me. And, it felt like it didn't fit with the rest of the film.

I. Drink. Your. Milkshake! [slurp!] I DRINK IT UP! - Daniel Plainview - There Will Be Blood

[–] twm-2 10 years ago

Interesting idea. I've felt that way about a few other films, but the ending here didn't bother me. Still, perhaps an ending where evil triumphs would have been better still, though I can't imagine a good ending that left both Falco and JJ victorious. I think you'd have to have Falco usurping JJ's throne.

In any case, the film as is qualifies as a truly great American movie, IMHO.

Cheers!

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and making it the American way. 

[–] AkermanC 10 years ago

I completely agree with you.

I liked this film very much, but the characters are portrayed as so evil that you almost feel betrayed when they are punished. Obviously your mind sometimes hopes everything is gonna be ok for someone... And the very ending, with Susan with a new coat letting the light of a new day hit her face is beautiful and in my case I was again by the movie's side...

SPOILER COMING:
Having said that I had the impression this was a hollywood ending and the writer shows us his ending too... This is when brother and sister both know Falco is telling the truth (maybe for the first time) about the suicide attempt and the setting up of the girls' boyfriend... but the brother says: You know he's lying about me as I know he's lying about you... Just for a moment I thought they were going to accept this, dump Falco away and live with that assumption... but that would mean that Susan had to be corrupted too. I can see in a way that this had been an ending of the movie at a certain time.

Sorry for my english if it's bad...

[–] chrismeyers2k1 9 years ago

Uh no.. 1957.. Do I need to say more? Hay's Code was still in effect. And by the way, don't peg me as one of the 'modern people aghast by the Hays Code'. On the contrary, it is my firm and undying belief that the Hays Code created and maintained the Hollywood golden age. It is precisely because despite what people say they want as far as freedom, etc, really the most satisfying themes to humanity are moral. We know inherently whats right and wrong without it being in a code, and how those make us feel. Thats why the golden age movies are so good. There is poetic justice in them and intelligence instead of foul language, nuance in place of overt sexuality. But back to the main point, the Hays Code was crystal clear about that committers of crime, though their stories maybe told, had to be seen to receiving justice by the end.