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)
Chico Hamilton
- Self
- (as The Chico Hamilton Quintet)
Buddy Clark
- Self
- (as The Chico Hamilton Quintet)
Jay Adler
- Manny Davis
- (uncredited)
Mary Bayless
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
Nicky Blair
- Patron at Toots Shor's
- (uncredited)
Nick Borgani
- Waiter
- (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
J.J. Hunsecker: I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.
- Crazy creditsintroducing Susan Harrison
- ConnectionsFeatured in Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away (1986)
Featured review
Oh yes.
"I love this dirty town". "Match me, Sidney". "Maybe I left my sense of humour in my other suit". Great dialogue. Great script, great cinematography, great acting, great music. Christ, what do you want, blood? From the first moment we see Burt Lancaster as the impossibly sinister J.J., we know we're in for a cracking time. There he is, sitting at the restaurant table, wearing those strangely scary glasses, his face expressionless (perhaps he's smiling, just a little bit), talking to Sidney without even looking at him, firing the dialogue like bullets. When the action seeps into the New York streets, oozing menace, there's J.J. - master of all he surveys, twisting cops round his little finger, snarling and seething like some desperate animal. And there is something animal about this film: its characters writhe and twist in the lights and the shadows - demented, tortured creatures, all of them trying to maintain some semblance of normality, all of them aware, deep down, how corrupt and helpless they are. The symbols of goodness - J.J.'s sister and her boyfriend - are weak, pathetic, hopeless, unable to keep up with the neverending twists and turns of this awful labyrinth of manipulation and cruelty. Curtis and Lancaster were never better, and it's awesome to see them play such grotesque yet believable roles. How do people get like this? Where do they go from here? Perhaps it's best not to think about it, and just wallow in the brilliant nastiness of it all, before maybe going home and getting in the shower for a long, long time.
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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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