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Sweet Smell of Success Quotes

Sweet Smell of Success is a TV show that was first aired in 1970 . Sweet Smell of Success completed its run in 1970.

It features James Hill (film producer) as producer, Elmer Bernstein in charge of musical score, and James Wong Howe as head of cinematography.

Sweet Smell of Success is recorded in English and originally aired in United States. Each episode of Sweet Smell of Success is 96 minutes long. Sweet Smell of Success is distributed by United Artists.

The cast includes: Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker, Martin Milner as Steve, Emile Meyer as Lt. Harry Kello, Jeff Donnell as Sally, Edith Atwater as Mary, Susan Harrison as Susan Hunsecker, and Barbara Nichols as Rita.

Sweet Smell of Success Quotes

Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco

  • (Tony Curtis) "You know, Susie, I've heard this woman-talk before. Why don't ya start growin' up, huh? Start thinking with your head instead of your hips. Uh, by the way -- I got nothing against women thinking with their hips. That's their nature. Just like it's a man's nature to go out and hustle and get the things he wants. Susie, look at yourself. You're 19 years old. Just a kid, and you're falling apart at the seams. You tiptoe around on those bird legs of yours, nervous and incompetent with a fatality for doing wrong, picking wrong -- and giving up even before you start a fight. Wait a minute. It's the truth, and the truth hurts. Come around some night when I'm not writin' your brother's column -- and I'll revise that delicate outlook of life. To give credit where credit is due, Susie -- that body of yours deserves a better fate than tumbling off some terrace. Susie -- a bed is the best friend a girl ever had. Pleasant dreams."
  • (Tony Curtis) "He thinks J.J.'s some kind of a monster --"
  • (Susan Harrison) "Don't you?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Susie, J.J. happens to be one of my very best friends."
  • (Susan Harrison) "I know. But someday I'd like to look into your clever little mind and see what you really think of him."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Where do you come off, making a remark like that?"
  • (Susan Harrison) "Who could love a man who makes you jump through burning hoops like a trained poodle?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Do you believe in capital punishment, Senator?"
  • (Sen. Harvey Walker) "Why?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "A man has just been sentenced to death."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Start thinking with your head instead of your hips."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Uh; by the way, I got nothing against women thinking with their hips. That's their nature. Just like it's a man's nature to go out and hustle and get the things he wants."
  • (Otis Elwell) "I can't think of a good reason why I should print anything you give me. I can't even think of a bad reason."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Suppose I introduce you to a -- a lovely reason -- who's both good and bad -- and available?"
  • (Otis Elwell) "I'm not an unreasonable man."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Maybe I left my sense of humor in my other suit."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Watch me run a 50-yard dash with my legs cut off."
  • (Tony Curtis) "The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Sure, the columnists can't do without us, except our good and great friend J.J. forgets to mention that. You see, we furnish him with items."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "What, some cheap, gruesome gags?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "You print 'em, don't ya?"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Yes, with your clients' names attached. That's the only reason the poor slobs pay you; to see their names in my column all over the world. Now, I make it out, you're doing me a favor? -- The day I can't get along without a press agents' handouts, I'll close up shop and move to Alaska, lock, stock, and barrel."
  • (Tony Curtis) "You're walking around blind, Frank, without a cane."
  • (Tony Curtis) "A press agent eats a columnist's dirt and is expected to call it manna."
  • (Tony Curtis) "I am tasting my favorite new perfume; success."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Kill me, push me through a window somewhere. I walked into this hallowed ground without knocking."
  • (Tony Curtis) "If I'm gonna go out on a limb for you, you gotta know what's involved."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "My right hand hasn't seen my left hand in thirty years."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. That gives you a lot of leeway --"
  • (Tony Curtis) "If you're funny, Walter, I'm a pretzel. Drop dead."

Burt Lancaster as J.J. Hunsecker

  • (Burt Lancaster) "Harvey, I often wish I were deaf and wore a hearing aid. With a simple flick of a switch, I could shut out the greedy murmur of little men."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "What's this boy got that Susie likes?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Integrity; acute, like indigestion."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "What does that mean; integrity?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "A pocket fulla firecrackers; looking for a match."
  • (Tony Curtis) "It's a new wrinkle, to tell the truth -- I never thought I'd make a killing on some guy's "integrity.""
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Here's your head; what's your hurry?"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "I love this dirty town."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Everybody knows Manny Davis; except Mrs. Manny Davis."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "I like Harry, but I can't deny he sweats a little."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Mr. Falco, let it be said at once, is a man of 40 faces, not one; none too pretty, and all deceptive. You see that grin? That's the, eh, 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."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Match me, Sidney."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Not right this minute, J.J."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "President? My big toe would make a better President."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Look, Manny, you rode in here on the Senator's shirt tails, so shut your mouth."
  • (Sen. Harvey Walker) "Now, come, J.J., that's a little too harsh. Anyone seems fair game for you tonight."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "This man is not for you, Harvey, and you shouldn't be seen with him in public. Because that's another part of a press agent's life; he digs up scandal among prominent men and shovels it thin among columnists who give him space."
  • (Sen. Harvey Walker) "There is some allusion here that escapes me --"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "We're friends, Harvey; we go as far back as when you were a fresh kid Congressman, don't we?"
  • (Sen. Harvey Walker) "Why does everything you say sound like a threat?"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Maybe it's a mannerism; because I don't threaten friends, Harvey. But why furnish your enemies with ammunition? You're a family man. Someday, with God willing, you may wanna be President. Now here you are, Harvey, out in the open where any hep person knows that this one --"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "-- is toting THAT one --"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "around for you."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "How do you spell Picasso, the French painter?"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "It's an item; I hear he goes out with three-eyed girls."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Yes, Sidney. You sound happy, Sidney. Why should you be happy when I'm not? How do you spell Picasso, the painter? One S or two?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Two."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "You're dead, son. Get yourself buried."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Sidney, this syrup you're giving out with -- you pour over waffles, not J.J. Hunsecker."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Son, I don't relish shooting a mosquito with an elephant gun, so why don't you just shuffle along?"
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Now don't kid a kidder."
  • (Burt Lancaster) "Don't remove the gangplank, Sidney; you may wanna get back onboard."

Barbara Nichols as Rita

  • (Barbara Nichols) "Here's mud in your column."
  • (Barbara Nichols) "It was Palm Springs. Two years ago. Don't tell Sidney."
  • (Barbara Nichols) "Don't you get messages, Eyelashes? I called you twice."

Martin Milner as Steve

  • (Martin Milner) "Tell me sir, when he dies, do you think he'll go to the dog and cat heaven?"
  • (Martin Milner) "Mr. Hunsecker, you've got more twists than a barrel of pretzels."
  • (Martin Milner) "That's fish four days old. I won't buy it."
  • (Martin Milner) "The next time you want information, don't scratch for it like a dog, ask for it like a man."

Edith Atwater as Mary

  • (Edith Atwater) "You're an amusing boy, but you haven't got a drop of respect for anything in human life."
  • (Edith Atwater) "If it's true, J.J.'s gonna hit the ceiling."
  • (Tony Curtis) "Can it be news to you that J.J.'s ceiling needs a new plaster job every six weeks?"
  • (Edith Atwater) "Have you seen this? Otis Elwell's column today?"
  • (Edith Atwater) ""The dreamy marijuana smoke of a lad who had the 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. Moscow won't like it, you naughty boy.""

Susan Harrison as Susan Hunsecker

  • (Susan Harrison) "Who could love a man who makes you jump into hoops like a trained poodle?"

Jeff Donnell as Sally

  • (Jeff Donnell) "But Sidney, you make a living. Where do you want to get?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Way up high, Sam, where it's always balmy. Where no one snaps his fingers and says, "Hey, Shrimp, rack the balls." Or, "Hey, mouse, mouse, go out and buy me a pack of butts." I don't want tips from the kitty. I'm in the big game with the big players. My experience I can give you in a nutshell, and I didn't dream it in a dream, either; dog eat dog. In brief, from now on, the best of everything is good enough for me."
  • (Jeff Donnell) "Where do you want to get?"
  • (Tony Curtis) "Way up high, Sal, where the air is balmy."

Emile Meyer as Lt. Harry Kello

  • (Emile Meyer) "Come back, Sidney -- I wanna chastise you --"

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