Sweet Smell of Success: The Short Fiction of Ernest Lehman
by Ernest Lehman
Overlook Press (1 May 2000)
What’s it about?: Two novellas and thirteen short stories by Ernest Lehman, screenwriter of films including North by Northwest, Sabrina, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? These works speak of pure ambition, and what goes on behind the glamour of Hollywood and Broadway. The title novella concerns itself with the dark side of success through the twisted relationship of Sid Wallace, an ambitious publicist, and Harvey Hunsucker, a powerful and vindictive gossip columnist, fashioned after Walter Winchell.
My opinion: Entertaining, in small doses. I have not seen the screenplay, but I have read some works by and about Walter Winchell, so I started this volume with some knowledge of the man and the world he practically dominated. I’m not sure if seeing the film would have helped in any way, but I have some basic grasp of noir fiction. Even so, I found the Sweet Smell of Success and The Comedian novellas to be the weakest links in this volume. The short stories are where things get interesting, but even then, there is a certain repetition to them that puts me off.
Not to say that these stories are without merit. This volume gives the reader a glimpse into the lives and minds of the people working in the entertainment industry during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. These stories just scream “Hollywood is evil,” and are loaded with grit, action and dialogue. However, I can’t help but feel like they only serve to outline the basic premise of a screenplay(s), and after a few stories you get the point. That, and I can’t help but think that there’s a lot of wasted potential with these works. A novel with a stronger focus on the characters — Sidney Falco, J. J. Hunsecker, and the world of press agents and showbiz hustlers — could have been a classic read if written well.
Dialogue is probably Lehman’s biggest strength, and he has an amazing ability to write characters that are completely believable as people. At best, this volume showcases Lehman’s potential as an author, but is very light on substance. Intriguing stories for sure, but best dipped into rather than read in succession.
Maybe, if I had seen the screenplay of Sweet Smell of Success and enjoyed it, I might get more out of this anthology. But since I haven’t, I can take it or leave it.
Lawrence Deveney 