Sweet Smell of Success
- NOT RATED
- Year:
- 1957
- 96 min
- 772 Views
FADE IN:
EXT. INT. GLOBE NEWSPAPER BUILDING - DUSK - N.Y.
A row of newspaper delivery trucks is lined up against the
long loading bay, waiting for the edition. In the foreground
a large clock establishes the time as 8:10 PM. A rumbling
noise warns the men to take their positions; a few seconds
later the bales of newspapers come sliding the spiral chutes
onto the moving belts from which they are manhandled onto
the trucks. Much noise and shouting.
The front truck moves out to the city street. As it does
CAMERA EMPHASIZES the big poster on its side. The design
features a large pair of spectacles with heavy rims - a
trademark of Hunsecker's. (It will later be seen as the
masthead of the gossip column.)
Read
J.J. HUNSECKER
"They eyes of Broadway"
The truck starts on its journey along Broadway. Some shots
are of the vehicle moving through very heavy traffic (taken
from a camera car). Others are from the inside of the
truck; as it slows down, the delivery man tosses the heavy
bundle of papers onto the sidewalk. CAMERA following the
truck, holds it in foreground against the blazing electric
signs of Broadway and Times Square.
EXT. BROADWAY - NIGHT
The southeast corner of the intersection of Broadway and
46th Street, CAMERA, fairly high, shoots north towards the
impressive vista of electric signs, silhouetted against the
darkening sky. Very heavy traffic and crowded sidewalks.
CAMERA descends towards the Orange Juice stand on the
corner, passing the booth which sells souvenir hats. It
moves through the congestion of chattering passersby,
steadily approaching a smartly dressed young man, who stands
at the counter of the Orange Juice stand. Oblivious of the
hub-bub around him, SIDNEY FALCO is concerned only with his
private problems.
He turns sharply as a newspaper truck pulls up at the curb
behind him; this is what he has been waiting for...
CLOSER ANGLE - NIGHT
The news truck delivery man tosses a bundle out onto the
sidewalk besides a newsstand.
DETAIL:
The bundle of newspapers. It hits the sidewalk with a smack.
CAMERA PULLS BACK as Sidney Falco crosses the sidewalk. The
owner of the newsstand, IGGY, comes to pick up the bundle;
he is a grizzled gnome with a philosophical sense of humor;
Sidney snaps his fingers with impatience. Iggy wears
spectacles and is clearly more or less blind, he has to
grope for the cord that binds the papers.
IGGY:
Aw Lady, if I looked like you, I'd--
SIDNEY:
C'mon...C'mon...
IGGY:
(recognizing Sidney's voice)
Keep ya sweatshirt on, Sidney.
Majestically taking his time, Iggy lifts the bundle to his
stand and cuts the cord.
IGGY:
Hey, Fresh, the Globe just came
in -- Hey, Sidney, want an item for
Hunsecker's column? Two rolls get
fresh with a baker! Hey, hot, hot,
hot -- etc.
Annoyed, Sidney throws him a dime, seizes a paper and
returns briskly to the orange juice stand.
Sidney's place at the crowded counter has been taken by
newcomers. Rudely, he recovers his half-consumed glass of
orange juice and sandwich. He takes them further down the
counter to a quieter corner at which he can examine the
paper. CAMERA MOVING WITH HIM, picks up further snatches of
overheard dialogue. (See dialogue attached at the end of the
scene) We move close enough to see Sidney's hands open the
paper expertly at HUNSECKER'S column - identifiable by the
picture of the spectacled eyes. Over scene there is a
babble of offstage dialogue.
His face is sullen as his eyes run rapidly down the column.
He is reacting to a not unexpected disappointment.
EXT. SIDNEY'S APARTMENT - BROADWAY - NIGHT
CAMERA SHOOTS WEST on 46th Street, as Sidney comes down the
side street from the newsstand in background. Irritably, he
jerks open the door of a shabby entrance. As the glass door
closes, Sidney is seen striding up the stairs.
FIRST FLOOR - OUTSIDE SIDNEY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Beside the top of the stairs is the door to Sidney's office.
On it there is a cheaply printed cardboard sign which reads:
SIDNEY FALCO:
Publicity
From inside comes the sound of desultory typing. Sidney
comes up the stairs two at a time and turns into the door.
INT. SIDNEY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
SALLY is on the phone as Sidney strides in.
SALLY:
Just a minute, Mr. Weldon. I
think...
Sidney vigorously indicates that he doesn't want to take the
call.
SALLY:
(to phone)
I'm sorry. I thought that was Mr.
Falco returning. Yes, I'll tell
him when he comes in. I know he's
She hangs up.
SALLY:
That's the third time he's called
today.
SIDNEY:
SALLY:
(literally)
No, an arm, he said.
(then)
I told him you were sure the item
would be in Mr. Hunsecker's column
in tomorrow's...
SIDNEY:
(interrupting, sharply)
It isn't. I've just seen the early
edition.
SALLY:
But...
SIDNEY:
But what?
SALLY:
That makes five days in a row that
Mr. Hunsecker's cut you out of his
column.
SIDNEY:
May I rent you out as an adding
machine.
He has begun to change his clothes.
SIDNEY:
Get me Joe Robard.
Sally goes back into the outer room.
SIDNEY:
Who else phoned?
SALLY:
The renting agent and the tailor.
SIDNEY:
Pay the rent. Let the tailor wait.
SALLY:
It won't leave much of a balance in
the bank...
(to phone)
Mr. Robard? Could you locate him?
Sidney, in a state of semi-undress, comes to take the phone
from her.
SIDNEY:
(gloomily)
Watch me run a fifty yard dash with
my legs cut off!
Very abruptly, he comes alive on the phone. A real laughing
boy.
SIDNEY:
(effusively)
Sidney, Joe. How do you like it?
I'm running out of alibis! No, I
asked Hunsecker to withhold the
item, until he could give it a
fine, fat paragraph. The column
was running over and I didn't want
you kissed off with just a line...
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"Sweet Smell of Success" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/sweet_smell_of_success_524>.
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