CLIP DESCRIPTION: David (Robert Downey Jr.) travels to Florida to recruit Jeffrey (Kevin Kline), a washed up TV actor with a gig performing dinner theater for senior citizens.
FILM DESCRIPTION: In the comedic farce Soapdish, the behind-the-scenes lives of several soap opera actors are just as melodramatic as those of their television counterparts. Sally Field stars as Celeste Talbert, the star of a declining TV show. To make matters worse, Talbert’s career is thrown into turmoil when her rival, Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), tries to persuade producer David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) to write Talbert off the show. Smitten by Moorehead, Barnes comes up with a scheme to get Talbert off the show by hiring her niece Lori (Elisabeth Shue) and then Jeffrey (Kevin Kline), an old flame and cast member who was written out of the show 20 years prior. Soon, mayhem rules on the set as the cast and crew tangle, culminating in a special episode, broadcast live.
CLIP DESCRIPTION: J.J. (Burt Lancaster) gives Sen. Walker (William Forrest) a warning.
FILM DESCRIPTION: Ernest Lehman drew upon his experiences as a Broadway press agent to write the devastating a clef short story “Tell Me About Tomorrow.” This in turn was adapted by Lehman and Clifford Odets into the sharp-edged, penetrating feature film Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster stars as J. J. Hunsecker, a Walter Winchell-style columnist who wields his power like a club, steamrolling friends and enemies alike. Tony Curtis co-stars as Sidney Falco, a sycophantic press agent who’d sell his grandmother to get an item into Hunsecker’s popular newspaper column. Hunsecker enlists Falco’s aid in ruining the reputation of jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), who has had the temerity to court Hunsecker’s sister Susan (Susan Harrison). Falco contrives to plant marijuana on Dallas, then summons corrupt, sadistic NYPD officer Harry Kello (Emile Meyer), who owes Hunsecker several favors, to arrest the innocent singer. The real Walter Winchell, no longer as powerful as he’d been in the 1940s but still a man to be reckoned with, went after Ernest Lehman with both barrels upon the release of Sweet Smell of Success. Winchell was not so much offended by the unflattering portrait of himself as by the dredging up of an unpleasant domestic incident from his past. While Success was not a success at the box office, it is now regarded as a model of street-smart cinematic cynicism. The electric performances of the stars are matched by the taut direction of Alex MacKendrick, the driving jazz score of Elmer Bernstein, and the evocative nocturnal camerawork of James Wong Howe.
CLIP DESCRIPTION: David (Robert Downey Jr.) shrewdly persuades Celeste (Sally Field) to go along with the new pages of the script.
FILM DESCRIPTION: In the comedic farce Soapdish, the behind-the-scenes lives of several soap opera actors are just as melodramatic as those of their television counterparts. Sally Field stars as Celeste Talbert, the star of a declining TV show. To make matters worse, Talbert’s career is thrown into turmoil when her rival, Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), tries to persuade producer David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) to write Talbert off the show. Smitten by Moorehead, Barnes comes up with a scheme to get Talbert off the show by hiring her niece Lori (Elisabeth Shue) and then Jeffrey (Kevin Kline), an old flame and cast member who was written out of the show 20 years prior. Soon, mayhem rules on the set as the cast and crew tangle, culminating in a special episode, broadcast live.
CLIP DESCRIPTION: Sidney (Tony Curtis) interrupts J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) at a dinner he is having with a senator.
FILM DESCRIPTION: Ernest Lehman drew upon his experiences as a Broadway press agent to write the devastating a clef short story “Tell Me About Tomorrow.” This in turn was adapted by Lehman and Clifford Odets into the sharp-edged, penetrating feature film Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster stars as J. J. Hunsecker, a Walter Winchell-style columnist who wields his power like a club, steamrolling friends and enemies alike. Tony Curtis co-stars as Sidney Falco, a sycophantic press agent who’d sell his grandmother to get an item into Hunsecker’s popular newspaper column. Hunsecker enlists Falco’s aid in ruining the reputation of jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), who has had the temerity to court Hunsecker’s sister Susan (Susan Harrison). Falco contrives to plant marijuana on Dallas, then summons corrupt, sadistic NYPD officer Harry Kello (Emile Meyer), who owes Hunsecker several favors, to arrest the innocent singer. The real Walter Winchell, no longer as powerful as he’d been in the 1940s but still a man to be reckoned with, went after Ernest Lehman with both barrels upon the release of Sweet Smell of Success. Winchell was not so much offended by the unflattering portrait of himself as by the dredging up of an unpleasant domestic incident from his past. While Success was not a success at the box office, it is now regarded as a model of street-smart cinematic cynicism. The electric performances of the stars are matched by the taut direction of Alex MacKendrick, the driving jazz score of Elmer Bernstein, and the evocative nocturnal camerawork of James Wong Howe.
CLIP DESCRIPTION: Lori (Elisabeth Shue) sneaks her way into Betsy’s (Carrie Fisher) casting office in hopes of landing a role on a soap opera.
FILM DESCRIPTION: In the comedic farce Soapdish, the behind-the-scenes lives of several soap opera actors are just as melodramatic as those of their television counterparts. Sally Field stars as Celeste Talbert, the star of a declining TV show. To make matters worse, Talbert’s career is thrown into turmoil when her rival, Montana Moorehead (Cathy Moriarty), tries to persuade producer David Barnes (Robert Downey Jr.) to write Talbert off the show. Smitten by Moorehead, Barnes comes up with a scheme to get Talbert off the show by hiring her niece Lori (Elisabeth Shue) and then Jeffrey (Kevin Kline), an old flame and cast member who was written out of the show 20 years prior. Soon, mayhem rules on the set as the cast and crew tangle, culminating in a special episode, broadcast live.
CLIP DESCRIPTION: Rita (Barbara Nichols) confides in Sidney (Tony Curtis) when a columnist tries to take advantage of her.
FILM DESCRIPTION: Ernest Lehman drew upon his experiences as a Broadway press agent to write the devastating a clef short story “Tell Me About Tomorrow.” This in turn was adapted by Lehman and Clifford Odets into the sharp-edged, penetrating feature film Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster stars as J. J. Hunsecker, a Walter Winchell-style columnist who wields his power like a club, steamrolling friends and enemies alike. Tony Curtis co-stars as Sidney Falco, a sycophantic press agent who’d sell his grandmother to get an item into Hunsecker’s popular newspaper column. Hunsecker enlists Falco’s aid in ruining the reputation of jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Martin Milner), who has had the temerity to court Hunsecker’s sister Susan (Susan Harrison). Falco contrives to plant marijuana on Dallas, then summons corrupt, sadistic NYPD officer Harry Kello (Emile Meyer), who owes Hunsecker several favors, to arrest the innocent singer. The real Walter Winchell, no longer as powerful as he’d been in the 1940s but still a man to be reckoned with, went after Ernest Lehman with both barrels upon the release of Sweet Smell of Success. Winchell was not so much offended by the unflattering portrait of himself as by the dredging up of an unpleasant domestic incident from his past. While Success was not a success at the box office, it is now regarded as a model of street-smart cinematic cynicism. The electric performances of the stars are matched by the taut direction of Alex MacKendrick, the driving jazz score of Elmer Bernstein, and the evocative nocturnal camerawork of James Wong Howe.
Born December 10, 1928 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA Died October 5, 1976 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (liver ailment) Birth Name Barbara Marie Nickerauer Nicknames The Queen of the B movies The Blonde Bombshell Miss Long Island
She was the archetypal brassy, bosomy, Brooklynesque bimbo with a highly distinctive scratchy voice. Barbara Nichols started life as Barbara Marie Nickerauer in Queens, New York on December 10, 1928, and grew up on Long Island. Graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School, the dame with the shapely frame changed her reddish-brown hair to platinum blonde and drew whistles as a post-war model and burlesque dancer. As a beauty contestant, she won the “Miss Long Island” title as well as the dubious crowns of “Miss Dill Pickle”, “Miss Mink of 1953” and “Miss Welder of 1953”, and also became a GI pin-up favorite. She began to draw early attention on stage (particularly in the musical “Pal Joey”) and in television drama.
Hardly leading lady material, Barbara found herself stealing focus in small, wisecracking roles, managing at times to draw both humor and pathos out of her cheesy, dim-witted characters — sometimes simultaneously. She seemed consigned for the long haul to playing strippers, gold-diggers, barflies, gun molls and other floozy types named Lola, Candy or even Poopsie. Barbara made the best of her stereotype, taking full advantage of the not-so-bad films that came her way. While most of them, of course, emphasized her physical endowments, she could be very, very funny when let loose. By far the best of her lot came out in one year: Pal Joey (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and The Pajama Game (1957). By the decade’s end, though, her film career had hit the skids and she turned more and more to television, appearing on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Adam-12 (1968), The Twilight Zone (1959) (the classic “Twenty-Two” episode), The Untouchables (1959) and Batman (1966), to name a few.
Barbara landed only one regular series role in her career, the very short-lived situation comedy Love That Jill (1958) starring husband-and-wife team Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling. Barbara played a model named “Ginger”. She also co-starred on Broadway with George Gobel and Sam Levene in the musical “Let It Ride” in 1961 and scraped up a few low-budget movies from time to time, including the campy prison drama House of Women (1962) and the science fiction film The Human Duplicators (1965) starring George Nader and Richard Kiel, who played “Jaws” in the James Bond film series.
A serious Long Island car accident in July 1957 led to the loss of her spleen, and another serious car accident in Southern California in the 1960s led to a torn liver. Complications would set in over a decade later and she was forced to slow down her career. Barbara eventually developed a life-threatening liver disease and her health deteriorated. In summer 1976, she was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, where she went into a coma. She awoke for a few days just before Labor Day, but sank back shortly after. She died at age 47 of liver failure on October 5 and was survived by her parents, George and Julia Nickerauer. She was interred at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farmingdale, New York.
A. O. Scott looks at Alexander Mackendrick’s 1957 film starring Burt Lancaster as a powerful gossip columnist and Tony Curtis as an ambitious press agent.
In an interview[7] he said, “Hearing the lines, hearing the playing of the lines in your mind’s ears, and seeing the performance in your mind’s eye, is the essence of filmmaking. The other thing—getting it on the screen—is the medium; film begins between the ears and under the hair of one character, and ends between the ears and under the scalpel of the audience.”
On Acting
“I’ve concentrated most of my energies on this particular program, which I like very much indeed, which is to take the make-believe of acting and working with actor, and requiring people who will develop behind the camera to be in front of the camera, requiring the directors to learn about working with actors, by being actors, by knowing what it means to be inside the skin of an actor”, he said in his interview.[7]
On Writing
“Imagination after all is the making of images. In the case of dramatic imagination it means the capacity to see an image from this point-of-view and then switch to another point-of-view. Without that playfulness of leaping points of view, you don’t have somebody who has the impulse to become a dramatic writer”, he said in his interview.[7]
On Directing
“It is really essential for the director, who is going to work with actors, to have attempted acting and to have learned the problems of the actor from inside, from the actor’s point-of-view and not the director’s point-of-view. Because you’ll learn things there, what you must never again do to an actor… I think the directors who are insensitive to the performers are really bad directors”, he said in his interview.[7]
Getting an actor to do what you want
Once a student persistently asked him,[7] “How do you get an actor to do what you want?” After persuasion he replied, “You don’t. You get an actor to want what you need. What the director must do is, provide the actor with the encouragement to be what the director needs him to be. There is a reason why you are doing this. It is simple, almost too simple.
“What you do as a director is that you fall in love with the actor in the role. Note that I say, in the role. You’ve got to get yourself infatuated, to a degree that you find yourself besottedly adoring the actor while he is inside the role, as you feel it… If the actor moves outside [the role], what you do, consciously or unconsciously, is you dim the beams of your love, and the actor feels cold and they move back into your love. It is emotional blackmail, on a very good cause. [Hence] before you can control an actor, the thing that you have to control is your self and your own feelings.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackendrick
