MovieChat Forums > Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Discussion > So, Who Wrote the Dialogue: Lehman or O...

So, Who Wrote the Dialogue: Lehman or Odets?

posted 14 years ago by ecarle
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Clifford Odets, Great American Playwright, and Ernest Lehman, Great American Screenwriter, got co-writing credit for "Sweet Smell of Success," from Lehman's original story(novella?)

Anybody know who actually wrote those pages and pages of unforgettable James-Elloy-before-his-time dialogue?

I'm guessing Lehman, because he knew the mileu(it was based on loosely on his own work as a press agent--VERY loosely; hopefully he was no Sidney Falco), with some additional lines and polish by Odets (some of the film's more heavy-handed lines sound like they would play better on a theater stage than in a movie.)

Anybody know?

[–] LtColonelBartlett 14 years ago

Lehman wrote the first script adapted from his original story that had been published in Cosmopolitan magazine. But Lehman fell ill and Odets was drafted in to finish the script, keeping most of the plot but re-writing the dialogue.

***The only programme I'm likely to get on is the ------- news!***

[–] nitrateprint 14 years ago

Only one scene was left as Lehman wrote it: Falco meeting the comedian.

Odets is responsible for all the notable quotable lines.