Howl
A couple of days ago I picked up a copy of Graydon Carter 's Vanity Fair's Tales of Hollywood: Rebels, Reds, and Graduates and the Wild Stories Behind the Making of 13 Iconic Films (Penguin), an anthology deal that came out two months ago. It includes Sam Kashner's account of the making of Sweet Smell of Success, which first appeared in an April 2000 issue. And when I got to page 87, I nearly collapsed.
The above excerpt makes it unnecessary to summarize or describe except to say that the anecdote came from the late Ernest Lehman, who shared screenplay credit with Clifford Odets.
This is not an endorsement of Burt Lancaster's indicated behavior or attitudes about women. The guy was obviously a bit of a pig in this regard. But there's something hilarious about a man of great force and accomplishment -- an actor-producer with a rep that everyone respects and admires -- sounding like an asinine 15 year-old, an unregenerate lout. I can imagine him beaming as he said this, the same way he turned it on time and again for the cameras. I suppose that the humor comes from being reminded that actors really are children deep down.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 12, 2009 at 8:59 AM
comment #1
JapAdapters
says ...
Great movie, though.
Posted by JapAdapters
at February 12, 2009 10:10 AM
comment #2
Sabina E
says ...
yeah, Hollywood was always full of immature, lying, cheating scumbags... still is...
I still find that pretty hilarious, though.
Posted by Sabina E
at February 12, 2009 10:12 AM
comment #3
Rich S.
says ...
What would have made the story even better is if "she" was really Tony Curtis.
Posted by Rich S.
at February 12, 2009 10:29 AM
comment #4
lipranzer
says ...
I remember reading that in Neal Gabler's biography of Walter Winchell.
Posted by lipranzer
at February 12, 2009 10:44 AM
comment #5
Mark
says ...
OT, but someone help me recast this movie. 10 years ago, maybe Kevin Spacey and Vince Vaughn in the leads. Maybe Jude Law as Curtis, though that's a little too obvious. I'm not looking for lookalikes. Now, maybe Russell Crowe and McAvoy. Too bad Baldwin got fat.
(Not that they should remake it, mind you...)
Posted by Mark
at February 12, 2009 12:45 PM
comment #6
tommysunshine
says ...
The brilliance of the film has overshadowed the excelllence of lehman's original novella. Lancaster also supplied media menace as a national enquirer-esque editor in a 1980s tv movie scandal sheet. well worth checking out...
Posted by tommysunshine
at February 12, 2009 12:51 PM
comment #7
BurmaShave
says ...
Anybody see the musical? I thought it was meh but I'm glad it exists. Lithgow was pretty dynamite. Oh and this story makes my brain melt. Though it's not really surprising, it could be a scene from ELMER GANTRY. I'm sure if I looked like young Burt Lancaster I'd be a scumbag too. Oh, it was mahvelous back then! Girls were sucking my cock every day! The floy floy..
Posted by BurmaShave
at February 12, 2009 2:05 PM
comment #8
Rich S.
says ...
Is it Diner where that guy keeps walking around quoting Sweet Smell out of context? I've always loved that guy.
Posted by Rich S.
at February 12, 2009 2:26 PM
comment #9
TheCahuengaKid
says ...
"I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic"
Posted by TheCahuengaKid
at February 12, 2009 4:37 PM
comment #10
btwnproductions
says ...
This anecdote also appeared in the fine Burt Lancaster bio that came out a few years back.
Posted by btwnproductions
at February 12, 2009 6:48 PM
comment #11
nemo
says ...
I remember hearing Tony Curtis tell a similar story about himself some years back, maybe on Letterman.
Curtis said after he starred in his first holiday movie, he was back in New York riding in a cab when he saw some New York actor friend of his walking down the street. Curtis had the cab driver pull over to the curb, so Curtis could roll down the window, stick his head out, and proudly announce: "I fucked Yvonne de Carlo!"
Of course on network television they bleeped out the verb, but it was clear what he said.
Posted by nemo
at February 13, 2009 1:01 AM
comment #12
nemo
says ...
Holiday movie? Obviously I meant to type Hollywood movie.
Posted by nemo
at February 13, 2009 1:06 AM
comment #13
Rich S.
says ...
nemo, I think the other actor in that anecdote was one Walter Matthau. In fact, and I may be misremembering it, I think it was actually Matthau that told the story on Carson.
He had been sharing an apartment with Curtis when Curtis hit it big. Matthau couldn't afford the apartment by himself so he was about to be throw into the street. He was standing on a street corner in the snow when a limo pulled up. He was ecstatic to see Curtis, but then Curtis delivered the blockbuster you quote and drove on.
Posted by Rich S.
at February 13, 2009 5:08 AM
comment #14
nemo
says ...
Rich S, I think you're right. The bare-bones version of the story I remembered was appallingly funny, but all the details you remember raise it to the level of appallingly hilarious.
The limo, not just a cab; Matthau being Curtis's recent former roommate; Matthau getting kicked out to the street as a direct result of Curtis's recent success; Matthau standing in the snow; Matthau's momentary joy at seeing Curtis; Curtis driving on as soon as he shared his nugget of good news. All told from Matthau's POV.
Matthau was such a droll story teller. That may have been the same interview in which he told his "condom on the veranda" joke.
7-year-old boy: I found a condom on the veranda this morning.
7-year-old girl: What's a veranda?
Posted by nemo
at February 13, 2009 9:41 AM