Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

In director Alexander Mackendrick's taut, caustic, little-seen, menacing and dark film noir classic (his debut American film) - the unrelenting film provided an examination of New York's dark and diseased underside below its glamorous night life. The acerbic, dynamic and intense film revealed brutality, capriciousness, power plays, false accusations, greed, evil, psychological violence, corrupt American ambition, cynicism and betrayal.

Phenomenal performances were derived from the two domineering, loathsome, morally-bankrupt and repugnant male leads - Burt Lancaster (as J.J. Hunsecker - a stern, cold-blooded, corrupt, monomaniacal, and treacherous newspaper columnist) and Tony Curtis (in a breakthrough role with his greatest career performance as Sidney Falco - a success-seeking, predatory, conniving, hustling, slick, unethical and smarmy PR press agent - a toady and a lapdog henchman).

The uncompromising film provided an exposé of the poisonous world of NYC tabloid publicity with its attendant diseases amongst the social elites: blackmail, deceit, double-dealing, slander and pimping. The urban-jazzy, sometimes discordant score by Elmer Bernstein (and Chico Hamilton's jazz Quintet) enhanced the swanky, pungent underworld maelstrom of nightclubs and restaurants (the 21, the Elysian, Toots Shor's), the theatre district, brutish cops, cheap offices, crowded sidewalks, and back alleys. Although the bleak film was considered a box-office and critical failure (it lacked even a single Academy Award nomination), it has gained considerable critical prominence ever since.

Filmed on location in NYC, it was based on the short story by Ernest Lehman titled Tell Me About It Tomorrow published in Cosmopolitan in 1950, and co-scripted by Clifford Odets and Lehman. The superb, crisp, low-key lighting of the black and white cinematography from veteran James Wong Howe emphasized the harsh shadows and dark, unglamorous recesses of the corrupt and seamy environment of wheeling and dealing.

• covering a period of approximately 36 hours (with two long nocturnal sequences), the film opened - under the credits - with some changing views at dusk on Manhattan's busy streets and skyscrapers, as newspaper delivery trucks wound through the streets and arrived at the loading dock of a large newspaper building; a large poster was viewed adorning the side of one truck backing up: "GO WITH THE GLOBE, READ J.J. HUNSECKER - The Eyes of Broadway"; the poster was presented with a rectangular logo that displayed the watchful, thick, browline-framed, and spectacled eyes of the famous ruthless, domineering, sadistic, power-mongering NY columnist J. J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) writing for the New York Globe newspaper; the truck was loaded up with the early edition of the next day's New York Globe before it proceeded on its delivery route
• the weasely, opportunistic, aspiring, two-bit, vicious, pandering press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), a well-dressed, slimy, glamorous, manipulative pretty-boy Broadway agent, was introduced buying a copy of the paper at a corner newsstand where a stack of papers had just been delivered by a truck

• the morally-bankrupt Sidney had been struggling to place promotional items into Hunsecker's popular syndicated column in the newspaper, titled: "The Eyes of Broadway," in order to create media exposure for his paying show-biz clients; in a diner street-corner stand, after quickly scanning the latest Globe column, Sidney realized he had been ignored and blackballed once again - 5 days in a row; he tossed the paper in a trash bin and proceeded to his second-floor walk-up "PUBLICITY" office (a combination two-room apartment and front office), where he interrupted his faithful, secretary Sally (Jeff Donnell) on the phone speaking to another of his unhappy clients Mr. Weldon; Sidney also phoned a second disgruntled contact, jazz-club owner Joe Robard (Joseph Leon), who also complained that Sidney had failed him as a publicity man
• Falco was in a desperate predicament, as he described his woes to his love-struck secretary Sally at the same he verbally abused her; he feared that his livelihood was on the verge of poverty if he couldn't curry favor and approval (ass-kissing) with the influential, self-important and stoic Hunsecker (on his "golden ladder") who could make or ruin an aspiring individual's career; the unscrupulous and overprotective Hunsecker was denying Falco any column space as retribution and pay-back after he failed dismally on his latest personal assignment - to disrupt, break up and destroy the romantic relationship between Hunsecker's 19 year-old younger "kid sister" Susan Hunsecker (Susan Harrison) and her blonde-haired boyfriend, up-and-coming jazz musician ("guitar player") Steve Dallas (Martin Milner); Falco's efforts had backfired and the unyielding Hunsecker had denied any column space to Sidney's pandering attempts at publicity, and had exiled or banished Sidney from his sight

• the same evening, as Falco headed out on the night, his secretary Sally reminded him to take his coat, but due to his thin financial straits, Sidney declined with a quip that revealed he was totally broke and cheap: "What and leave a tip in every hat check room in town?"
• he ventured out to the swanky The Elysian Room, where five jazz musicians were on stage (including Steve Dallas); he also briefly spoke to the club's buxom dumb-blonde, ditzy cigarette girl Rita (Barbara Nichols) about whether Susan Hunsecker had recently been to the club or not, but then turned callous and ignored her; at the bar, he also conversed with the quintet's manager (and his own uncle), Frank D'Angelo (Sam Levene), and was told, acc. to Frank, that Steve Dallas was "washed up with Susie Hunsecker; however, moments later, Rita whispered in Sidney's ear that Susie was out in the back waiting for Steve
• during the quintet's intermission, Steve retreated to the club's rear fire escape steps to speak to his awaiting, youthful-faced girlfriend Susan Hunsecker (Susan Harrison), who was wearing an expensive mink coat; his first words to her requested her response to his earlier marriage proposal: "What's the answer?" - she responded by telling him: "Steve, I'll try to make you a good wife," and then kissed him, but then nervously admitted that she was still planning to tell her domineering, possessive and disapproving older brother J.J. about her decision at breakfast the following morning; meanwhile, Sidney was misdirected in finding Steve's location by his reticent band members, and was delayed in finding Steve and Susan embracing outside; Steve had a brief spat with Sidney and accused him of spying on him for days; Steve had to return to the stage, so Sidney offered a ride home for Susan: "If you're going home, Susie, I'll drop you off..."
• shortly later as he was about to leave, Sidney listened to a long amusing tale about how Rita had been propositioned by a club patron and newspaper columnist named Leo Bartha (Lawrence Dobkin) and was threatened with losing her job when she refused and was thrown out of his apartment; now, she was personally appealing to Sidney for help and offering herself for sex (for old times' sake); he promised to see her at his apartment/office at two-thirty the next afternoon
• Sidney escorted and then joined Susan for a taxi-cab ride to her address at 1619 Broadway where she lived in a penthouse with her brother; Susan attempted to have Sidney reveal his real feelings for her "monstrous" brother: "Who could love a man who makes you jump through burning hoops, like a trained poodle?"; she also revealed that there was possible "wedding bells" for her and Steve, and she was pleased that she was truly loved; as they parted, she asked Sidney to pass along a message to her brother: "Tell him for me that Steve is the first real man I've ever been in love with"

• worried about his own doomed prospects if the marital plans between Susan and Steve were solidified, Sidney hurriedly continued in the taxi to the "21" Restaurant where Hunsecker regularly held court; he happened to run into disgruntled Jimmy Weldon (Joe Gray) with his girlfriend Joan, who accused him of larceny and threatened to fire him as his agent
• at the restaurant's front door, Sidney asked simply: "Is he here?" and the Captain informed him that the famed columnist Hunsecker was in his accustomed dining room booth/table, "surrounded" by "a senator, an agent and a thing with blonde wavy hair"; from a rear club phone booth, the desperate Sidney phoned Hunsecker at his table to ask him to come out into the lobby to speak to him alone, but he was refuted - and then threatened: "You had something to do for me - you didn't do it....You're dead, son - get yourself buried!"
• after some trepidation and hesitation, Sidney slinked into the dining room and stood slightly behind Hunsecker - it was the end of the buildup to his character; the beetle-browed, thick-spectacled, pallor-faced, power-mongering, crew-cutted famed NY columnist Hunsecker was at his customary dining room booth/table holding court; to avoid being thrown out, and to gain Hunsecker's attention and remain in the columnist's hallowed presence, Sidney told Hunsecker that his sister's romance was more serious than previously thought: "I've got a message from your sister"
• Falco listened to a brief discussion Hunsecker engaged in with his table guests after having seen through their sham; he accused politician-Senator Harvey Walker (William Forrest) for dallying with his accompanying blonde show-biz hopeful Miss Linda James (Autumn Russell), the Senator's call-girl, and her alleged agent-manager Manny Davis (Jay Adler) who was actually pimping her to the Senator; Hunsecker stated bluntly that Manny was masquerading as the agent for "this lovely young thing," a singer with "Jersey City brains"
• when the blonde table guest called Sidney Falco a pretty boy ("He's so pretty..."), Hunsecker found the occasion to deliver a brilliant, but vitriolic and foul description of his lackey press agent Sidney Falco, and the way he changed his nature depending upon whose favors he needed; Hunsecker ended his put-down with the famous line: "Match me, Sidney": "Mr. Falco, let it be said at once, is a man of forty faces, not one. None too pretty and all deceptive. You see that grin? That's the, uh, that's the charming street-urchin face. It's part of his helpless act. He throws himself upon your mercy. He's got a half-dozen faces for the ladies. But the one I like, the really cute one, is the quick, dependable chap - nothing he won't do for you in a pinch. So he says! Mr. Falco, whom I did not invite to sit at this table tonight, is a hungry press agent and fully up to all the tricks of his very slimy trade. (He turned with an unlit cigarette toward Sidney, gestured, and waited) Match me, Sidney" - however, Falco declined to compete against or (or "match") J.J.'s insults
• then, Hunsecker continued his put-down of his "friend" - the cheating Senator, and warned him to stay away from Manny: "I don't threaten friends, Harvey, but why furnish your enemies with ammunition? You're a family man, Harvey, and some day, God-willing, you may want to be President. And here you are, out in the open, where any hep person knows that this one (the camera swung over to Manny) is toting that one (the camera moved wildly over to the blonde mistress) around for you (the camera concentrated on the Senator)! Are we kids, or what?"; after an awkward pause, the guilt-minded Senator thanked J.J. for his advice: ("Thank you, J.J., for what I consider sound advice"), and received a short reply: "Go, Thou, and sin no more"
• as Falco and Hunsecker left, Hunsecker knowingly noticed Falco was without a coat: "Where's your coat, Sidney? Saving tips?"; in a short scene outside the restaurant on West 52nd St., Sidney observed as Hunsecker had a short conversation with iron-fisted, vulgar, coarse and corrupt police detective Harry Kello (Emile Meyer); after learning that Falco had called him Hunsecker's "fat friend," Kello returned the favor and insulted Falco as " the boy with the ice cream face!"; moments later, when Hunsecker and Sidney observed a drunk being thrown out of Club Pigalle (a strip club) into the street, Hunsecker turned and sadistically smiled with an exultant grin: "I love this dirty town"
• as Hunsecker's black Lincoln limo pulled up during their stroll down the sidewalk, Sidney asked why Hunsecker didn't break up the unwanted relationship by himself: ("Why not break it up yourself? You could do it in two minutes flat"), but Hunsecker wanted to stay out of it and not antagonize his sister; after complaining that he was "frozen" out of J.J.'s column, Sidney finally revealed his long-awaited message about how involved their relationship had become: ("That boy proposed to her"), in exchange for having rewards of publicity for his clients; J.J. gave Sidney the go-ahead to pursue drastic measures: ("Sidney, what you promised - do it!...That means you've got a plan. Can you deliver?"); Falco agreed: "Tonight. Before you go to bed. The cat';s in the bag and the bag's in the river"; as J.J.'s limo drove off, it sprayed Falco with smelly exhaust fumes
• Sidney proceeded to walk to Toots Shor's Restaurant to speak to columnist Leo Bartha (Lawrence Dobkin), Hunsecker's rival columnist at The Record; his plan was to blackmail Bartha over his recent sleazy proposition of Rita, and then compel him to write a "dirty little smear item" in his column about Steve Dallas; the slander would break up the couple's planned betrothal; however, Bartha refused to be blackmailed, but realized he needed to first apologize to his wife Loretta or "Lorry" (Lurene Tuttle) in his presence (about his recent escapade with 'cigarette girl' Rita); once he had confessed to Loretta and cleared himself of improper behavior and bad judgment, Bartha railed at Sidney over his corrupt and sleazy association with Hunsecker and his column, and resolutely refused to print any smear item: ("He's got the scruples of a guinea pig and the morals of a gangster"); Sidney quipped back in response: "What do I do now? Whistle 'Stars and Stripes Forever'?"; Bartha left the restaurant with Loretta, who was now praising her husband: "Leo, this is the first clean thing I've seen you do in years"

• after being soundly rejected by Bartha, Sidney was called over to speak to an onlooker who witnessed their conversational altercation in another booth - dapper Otis Elwell (David White), also a columnist from The Record; Sidney realized he could exploit Elwell's prurient interest in sex, and persuaded him to print the dirty and slanderous article in his newspaper (to spite his competition Hunsecker) - in exchange for pimping out Rita - remembering that he had promised to meet up with her for sex in his office-bedroom
• Falco led the cooperative Elwell to his office/apartment bedroom where Rita - at 2 am - was already there and lying on Sidney's bed; after Rita realized that she was being prostituted out to Elwell, she defended her self-respect: ("What do you want all of a sudden, Lady Godiva?...Don't you think I have any feelings? What am I? A bowl of fruit? A tangerine that peels in a minute?"); Sidney turned the tables on her: "I turn myself inside out to do you a favor and now I'm a heavy"; Rita resisted further: "I don't do this sort of thing"; she called Sidney "a snake" and "a real louse" when he continued to pressure her and sacrificially offer her up to Elwell, he added: "Honey, he's gonna help ya!"; she dejectedly gave in and toasted to Elwell: "Here's mud in your column"
• after betraying Rita, Sidney rushed off to phone Hunsecker and deliver the late-night news of the fictitious smear: "...the Dallas skull is badly dented...starting today, you could play marbles with his eyeballs" - in exchange for a mention in J.J.'s column for his client Robard who owned a jazz joint

• during a memorable night scene in his penthouse, after Hunsecker hung up with Sidney, he walked to an adjoining window to peer in on the sleeping figure of his sister, then, he strode to the balcony of his high-rise penthouse to gaze out, survey, and tower over the skyline of the prone city below that he loved, possessed, and dominated like an imperious gargoyle
• the next morning, the unethical and immoral Sidney - who was desperate to please Hunsecker - purchased a copy of The Record to confirm that Elwell's sinister smear article on Steve Dallas had made the paper; he then entered the New York Globe newspaper building, where Hunsecker's secretary Mary (Edith Atwater) told him that through his secretary Sally, she had heard that Frank D'Angelo had reacted angrily to his musician's smear column that included libelous accusations that his bohemian musician was both a dope-smoking drug addict (with planted evidence of marijuana cigarettes) and a card-carrying Communist: ("The dreamy marijuana smoke of a lad who heads a high-brow jazz quintet is giving an inelegant odor to that elegant East Side club where he works. That's no way for a card-holding Party member to act...")
• behind Mary's back, as he also sweet-talked her, Sidney was able to get a sneak-peek at the proofs of J.J.'s advance column for the afternoon paper; she knew his true conniving nature, and called him a "real rascal" and an "amusing boy" with no respect for anyone else, with only his sole interest in making "a fast buck"
• Sidney used the advance information gleaned (about a funny comic named Herbie Temple) in order to hook a new client for himself; he rushed to the Palace Theatre where Temple (Joe Frisco) was about to perform on stage, and promised Al Evans (Lewis Charles), Temple's manager, that he could get Herbie space in J.J.'s column; he proposed to him the exact wording from J.J.'s column with a fake phone call to Hunsecker - it seemed he successfully convinced Evans to have him represent Temple going forward for "a pretty penny"
• back in his office, Sidney was confronted by Frank D'Angelo and Steve who suspected that Falco had played a major part in the publication of The Record's slanderous column, although the slippery and callous Falco denied any involvement; the article had already led Van Cleve to fire the group at the Elysian Room; Steve phoned Susan to tell her about the "smear" in Ellwell's article and how he had already been fired
• once they had left, Sidney phoned Hunsecker who was having breakfast in his penthouse, with the news of the "Elwell smear" and the fallout including the firing of the quintet by Van Cleve; Hunsecker feared that Sidney's dirty-work (that was easily traced to him) would be traced back to himself, so with a new tact, the duplicitous Hunsecker promised Susan, to get in her good graces, that he felt compelled to pull some strings to get Steve's job back where his combo played - in order to regain the couple's confidence; he ordered Falco to see him later that day at 3 pm at the TV studio
• Hunsecker called to Susan inside their apartment (she had just returned from buying a newspaper, and had the article in her hand), and in his office (with her picture on his desk), he asked her about the article: ("Anything in these charges?"); he embraced her and soothed her by promising to take care of her worries and to do anything to keep her with him: ("Come into camp, you poor kid, you look so nervous...You're all I've got in this whole wide world. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. What do you want me to do? Name it."); to bring them together, to prevent conflict, and to become her ally, Hunsecker agreed to her request to "get Steve back his job"; he promised Susan to take a second look at her boyfriend that afternoon at 3 pm during his TV show: "Why don't you bring him around today before the show? This time I'll clean my glasses for a better look"; his seemingly-honest and loving overtures implied that he might also target his derisive and lethal contempt about her waywardness toward her boyfriend

• he immediately phoned Van Cleve and forcefully asked: "Now what about this Dallas boy?" as the scene ended
• all of the main characters were brought together at the theatre for Hunsecker's TV show at 3 pm, where Hunsecker was rehearsing his script for the broadcast; as Sidney privately discussed the recent "smear" incident at a water cooler, Hunsecker dismissed Falco's ideas about how to discredit Steve in his own way - by eliminating him; he also ignored Falco's prediction of what would happen: ("You got the boy's job back, OK, but he's not gonna accept your favor"), but admired the press agent's sordid persistence and lethal substance; in a famous line of dialogue, Hunsecker insulted Falco for his evil nature: "I'd hate to take a bite out of you. You're a cookie full of arsenic"
• once Steve arrived with Frank D'Angelo at the theatre, as Falco had predicted, the self-righteous and ungrateful Steve was ready to blame Hunsecker for the smear; at first after meeting Hunsecker, Steve spoke about his own integrity and his pure intentions with J.J.'s sister: ("Mr. Hunsecker, there's nothing to that smear. You have my sincere word")

• but then, Steve saw through Hunsecker's ploy to compare him to the morally-corrupt Falco and make him the fall guy, and knew that Sidney was corruptly connected to Hunsecker; Steve considered himself the "injured party," although Hunsecker regarded Susan as "the injured party" in the crisis; Steve had to admit that Hunsecker was too "shrewd" to fairly compete against: ("You've got more twists than a barrel of pretzels"), and then professed his love for Susan: "Susie and I are in love. We want to get married"; he then coaxed Susie to speak up for herself in front of her brother: ("I'm trying to get Susie to stand up to you. But your manner is so threatening she's afraid to speak")
• however, the weak-kneed Susan fled from any sort of confrontation, as Steve bravely continued to attempt to save his girlfriend from her domineering, overprotective brother's manipulative clutches over their romantic relationship; he resisted any personal revenge against Hunsecker, who had remarked: "If looks could kill, I'd be dead," and answered him: "No, I don't care about you. My whole interest, if it's not too late, is in Susie. And how to undo what you've done to her...I don't like the way you toy with people. Your contempt and malice?...You think about yourself and about your column. To you, you're some kind of a national glory. But to me and a lot of people like me, your slimy scandal and your phony patriotics. To me, Mr. Hunsecker, you're a national disgrace"; Hunsecker deflected Steve's insult: "Son, I don't relish shooting mosquitoes with elephant guns. Suppose you just shuffle along and call it a day..."; Steve's tactics against Hunsecker were a fatal mistake and doomed his relationship with Susan forever; Falco was buoyant: "You did it, J.J., you did it good"
• backstage, Hunsecker demanded that Susan must never see Dallas again - and she compliantly agreed: "I'll never see him again" - she let him kiss her on the side of her face; then, Hunsecker ordered his secretary Mary to reverse Van Cleve's rehiring of the Dallas quintet; outside on the street, Susan slammed her taxi-cab door on Sidney's hands as he tried to join her
• in the next scene at a table in the "21" Restaurant, Hunsecker cautioned Falco into believing that his "tinkering" and masterminding of the couple's split was a complete success; Falco suggested that Steve would now give Susie up and Hunsecker should drop anything more: ("Is he worthy of a second glance from a man like you?"), but Hunsecker was doubtful; he had already purchased two steamship tickets on the Queen Mary to take her away for three months
• Hunsecker also announced his new objective: "I want that boy taken apart...I know how to handle Susie. You just, you just handle the boy - preferably tonight"; although Falco worried that any more meddling would drive the couple back together, he was pressured into hiring his detestable friend - fat NYPD cop Lt. Harry Kello - to brutally take care of Steve with a note: "GET HARRY KELLO TONIGHT"; Hunsecker went on to make his vendetta personal, blaming Dallas for hurting the readers of his columns: ("If you had any morals yourself, you'd understand the immorality of that boy's stand today. It wasn't me he criticized. It was my readers"); to persuade the reluctant Falco to brutalize Dallas, Hunsecker offered a bribe - a three month guest editorship of his column while he was cruising with Susie

• in the next scene set at the counter of a small, deserted diner, Susie fearfully disobeyed J.J. by meeting with Steve; feeling weak, Susie described how Steve's challenge to her retaliatory brother had frightened her: ("Yes, my brother is capable of doing very great harm and I can't let that happen"); Susan wanted no harm to come to Dallas and thought it best that they split, but he kept insisting: "I won't give you up" no matter what J.J. threatened; they kissed as they parted in the hallway, and Susan was left standing by herself slumped against the wall (seen in a long-distance shot)
• later in the evening, as Steve played at Joe Robard's Jazz Club with his quintet, and Kello pulled up in a police car across the street, Sidney (under Hunsecker's orders - as a Judas-like character - to have Steve beaten up and falsely arrested as a pot-smoker) unobtrusively planted marijuana (in a pack of Cambridge cigarettes) in Steve's overcoat that hung on a coat-rack near the club's entrance; he had slight second thoughts when he was informed by D'Angelo that Steve and Susan had broken up earlier in the evening
• Kello was outside, waiting to arrest Steve on his way out, and beforehand traded a few choice words with Falco; shortly later, Sidney signalled Kello to proceed with the arrest and brutal beating of Steve (off-screen) a block away following his exit from the club; afterwards, Sidney celebrated his good fortune and newfound success by getting drunk and buying a few drinks for acquaintances in Toots Shor's Restaurant; he had reached the pinnacle of his own twisted goals - thereby explaining the film's acrid title: "I'm toasting my favorite new perfume - Success!"; he received a phone call from the "21" restaurant, and assumed it was J.J. inviting him over to his penthouse
• when he arrived in the quiet penthouse (with an unlocked front door), only Susan was found on the terrace of her bedroom with the door ajar; she was half-dressed, wearing a nightgown (under her expensive fur coat); she blamed Sidney and J.J. as both responsible for the subsequent assault and false arrest of her ex-boyfriend (after trying to visit Steve recuperating in the hospital) ("I gave Steve up. Why did you and J.J. do it?"), but of course, Sidney denied any wrong-doing; she then threatened to commit suicide by hurling herself from her high-rise balcony, claiming that J.J. would then punish Sidney for allowing her to jump: ("You're gonna be the man who drove his beloved little sister to suicide"); at first, hoping that she was bluffing, Falco patronized and belittled Susan's threat and her juvenile character, calling her nervous and incompetent: ("Susie, that body of yours deserves a better fate than tumbling off some terrace") - as she locked herself in her bedroom

• from another section of the terrace, he saw Susie dashing toward the parapet's ledge to throw herself off, but he was able to grab her and pull her back to rescue her from suicide, and wrestled her onto her bed; at that very moment, a rigid-faced, menacing Hunsecker arrived home: ("It's all right, Susie, I'm here") and misinterpreted the situation, thinking that Sidney had attempted sexual assault and rape ("Is that why you put your hands on my sister?"); J.J. also feigned ignorance about the "news about Dallas" being picked up for marijuana possession
• Sidney pleaded for Susie to tell her brother the truth, but she didn't defend him when J.J. started to punch and beat up Sidney; finally, she intervened and told J.J. to stop; Sidney was able to blurt out that J.J. was the guilty one and had ordered Steve's persecution: ("You're defending your sister, you big phony! Didn't you tell me to get Kello? Didn't you?"); Susie reacted in silent disbelief after hearing that both venal men were responsible for Steve's hospitalization; she ignored her raging brother's claims that Sidney was lying
• J.J. left to make a phone call to report him to Lt. Kello, as Sidney retorted to Susan that she had grown up - and knowingly had used him to avenge Steve's injuries: "You're growing up. Cute!"; J.J. explained to Lt. Kello the reason that Sidney had planted cigarettes on Steve: "Jealousy - behind my back he was trying to make my sister"; before he fled from the penthouse, Sidney yelled out to J.J. that he had lost Susie and would never get her back, and that he would expose and reveal the entire smear campaign: "That fat cop can break my bones, but he'll never stop me from telling what I know"

• in the film's conclusion, Susan packed a small suitcase and prepared to leave - to go to Steve; she departed to escape from her smothering brother and from the spineless, fast-talking Falco; before she left, she vilified her brother: "I'd rather be dead than living with you. For all the things you've done, J.J., I know I should hate you. But I don't. I pity you"; as Falco was being mercilessly beaten up by Kello, Susan strode into the early morning sunlight at film's end