Film Forum

(1957, Alexander Mackendrick) “Match me, Sidney,” barks Burt Lancaster’s Winchellesque gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker to Tony Curtis’ sycophantic press agent Sidney Falco, even as cop Emile Meyer silkily demands, “Come here, Sidney, I want to chasTISE you,” in the portrait of Gotham’s rancid underside. DCP and 35mm. Approx. 96 min.

Reviews

“A tough and bitter portrait of New York journalism and power corruption whose sinister, decadent atmosphere owes much to James Wong Howe’s photography.”
– Georges Sadoul

“The script is a combination of an Ernest Lehman novella and Clifford Odets supposedly sitting in a trailer as they were shooting typing up dialogue. The talk is brilliant, and there’s no question but that the original picture was that of a comedy double act who were steadily cutting each other to pieces… But what makes the movie famous are those sublime shots of J.J. at his table, with glasses for armor, and Toy settling in beside him, glowing at the smart of every fresh insult. I’m not sure that American film had ever previously suggested that people could be so nasty – and have so much fun with it.”
– David Thomson

“A rat trap of a film… The screen was rarely so dark and cruel.”
– Chris Auty, Time Out