Sweet Small of Success is a tale of corrupt and self-serving newspapermen and one of the most acerbic films of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Unprincipled press agent Sidney Falco (Curtis) has fallen out of favour with monster gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker (Lancaster), a man obsessed with destroying his kid sister’s (Susan Harrison) romance with a jazz guitarist (Marty Miller).
Falco sets out to break up the relationship, seeding the public newspapers with rumour, innuendo and paranoia to tarnish the musician’s reputation. But will it prove enough to get him back on side?