Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 3 wins & 3 nominations total
Martin Milner
- Steve Dallas
- (as Marty Milner)
Jay Adler
- Manny Davis
- (uncredited)
Mary Bayless
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
Nicky Blair
- Patron at Toots Shor's
- (uncredited)
Nick Borgani
- Waiter
- (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks
- Patron at 21
- (uncredited)
Brad Brown
- Patron at 21
- (uncredited)
Steve Carruthers
- Patron at 21
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPublicity materials for the film noted cinematographer James Wong Howe spread a film of Vaseline on Lancaster's glasses to create a shine and make his stare more menacing.
- Goofs(at around 2 mins) When Sidney peruses J.J. Hunsecker's 'The Eyes of Broadway' column on page 21 of the New York Globe newspaper, it can be seen that several of the paragraphs are repeated. Of the nine paragraphs visible, it can be seen that paragraph 7 is an exact copy of paragraph 2; 8 is a copy of 5, and 9 is a copy of 4.
- Quotes
Sidney Falco: The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river.
- Crazy creditsintroducing Susan Harrison
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away (1986)
Featured review
Burt Lancaster is scary!
Remember how scary Robert Mitchum was in Night of the Hunter? Or Darth Vader in the first Star Wars movie? Well Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker is right up there with them. With his clipped words, ice-cold gaze, rigid neck and steel-rimmed glasses, he looks like he's ready to break people in half with just the power of his voice. He drifts through the film like an unstoppable barge, commanding every scene with just the turn of his head. Seldom is there such a powerful screen presence.
Lancaster's performance alone is worth seeing this film, but the writing cracks like a whip. This is some of the best writing I've ever seen in any film, recalling the brilliant writing of All About Eve or Citizen Kane: "Come back Sidney, I want to chastise you some more", "turn around and look: is she still standing there?", "you're a cookie full of arsenic", "I see your brother's words coming out of your mouth like a ventriloquist's dummy", "I would never use an elephant gun to shoot a mosquito". Over and over, the witty dialogue slices through the scenes like a razor. You have to see this film to believe it.
Tony Curtis was never better as a sleazy PR guy as he pimps his secretary, slobbers at J.J.'s heels like an obsequious mutt, and colludes with the crooked cops to frame people. Within this maelstrom of cynicism and anger are two young lovers, driven apart by J.J.'s overbearing presence.
The photography is excellent, you can almost smell the wet NYC streets. Black and white never looked better.
This is an excellent film, and highly recommended. I wish they still made movies like this.
Lancaster's performance alone is worth seeing this film, but the writing cracks like a whip. This is some of the best writing I've ever seen in any film, recalling the brilliant writing of All About Eve or Citizen Kane: "Come back Sidney, I want to chastise you some more", "turn around and look: is she still standing there?", "you're a cookie full of arsenic", "I see your brother's words coming out of your mouth like a ventriloquist's dummy", "I would never use an elephant gun to shoot a mosquito". Over and over, the witty dialogue slices through the scenes like a razor. You have to see this film to believe it.
Tony Curtis was never better as a sleazy PR guy as he pimps his secretary, slobbers at J.J.'s heels like an obsequious mutt, and colludes with the crooked cops to frame people. Within this maelstrom of cynicism and anger are two young lovers, driven apart by J.J.'s overbearing presence.
The photography is excellent, you can almost smell the wet NYC streets. Black and white never looked better.
This is an excellent film, and highly recommended. I wish they still made movies like this.
helpful•19914
- bregund
- Dec 28, 2003
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Dein Schicksal in meiner Hand
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $3,400,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $7,704
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1(original ratio)
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