The Criterion Collection

The reviews are in, and here’s the scoop: Sweet Smell of Success is a caustic can’t-miss. Graham Fuller, writing for the Arts Desk, calls this “late-classic-period noir” a “timeless masterpiece” and “so appalling a depiction of showbiz realpolitik in Manhattan’s theater district that until its last few seconds it’s sickening, albeit laceratingly entertaining.”  For the Kansas City Star’s Bruce Dancis, this “lasting, powerful study of venality and complicity”—directed by Alexander Mackendrick, written by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, and photographed by James Wong Howe—is “an example of Hollywood moviemaking at its collaborative best.” And Tom Becker of DVD Verdict writes, “Darker than dark, so bitter and nasty that a bar of soap and book of affirmations should be included for a post-viewing cleansing, Sweet Smell of Success is an astonishingly cynical work of art . . . Criterion offers an exceptional Blu-ray treatment of this still-potent masterwork.”

For the New York Post’s Lou Lumenick, it’s not all about moral rot: “Sweet Smell offers an extensive look at midcentury Manhattan, as photographed on location in nonanamorphic black and white by the great James Wong Howe . . . Be prepared to hit the pause button a lot during this one.” And Alonso Duralde in Movieline: “After five decades, this film remains matchless.”

Plus: listen to Bob Mondello review this “delectably acrid” film for NPR’s All Things Considered, interspersed with choice clips of the film’s catchy dialogue, and read Michael Sragow’s post on his Baltimore Sun blog.

UPDATE 14MAR2011: Leonard Maltin takes a closer look at the booklet accompanying the release in his review.