Milwood Movie Night

Come join us at Milwood Branch for a screening of Sweet Smell of Success (1957), with cinematography by James Wong Howe, on Thursday, May 15 at 6pm, in honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

James Wong Howe, a trailblazing Chinese American cinematographer, became one of the most prolific cameramen in Hollywood history. As a young man, Wong Howe became a champion amateur boxer before breaking into the movie industry as a young man during the silent film era in the 1920s after starting as a janitor at a movie studio. Movie cameras were still a fairly new technology at the time, and he got his big break by coming up with a creative solution to prevent a lead actress's blue eyes from looking completely white on black and white film, which led her to insist he shoot her next film. He helped Warner Brothers studio create their signature gritty look in the 1940s, becoming known as “Low-Key Howe” for his use of low-key lighting and expressive shadows. He went on to be the cinematographer on over 130 films, earning 10 Oscar nominations and two Oscar wins, for The Rose Tattoo (1955) and Hud (1963), but many consider his work in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, to best exemplify his legendary innovation and skill.

Burt Lancaster, who had starred in and worked with him on The Rose Tattoo (1955), insisted Wong Howe was the man for the job. In the film, pay close attention to the glimmering look of the walls, which Wong Howe coated in oil, and the use of wide-angle lenses and deep focus on close-ups of the characters to capture the backgrounds of the rooms, which Wong Howe kept smoke-filled, and the long-focus lens he used to make the NYC buildings look very close together. Overall, Wong Howe's signature style and creative attention to detail gives the film much of its claustrophobic and surreal tension in what could have otherwise been a boring movie comprised of men talking in various rooms. This movie has been cited as an influence by prominent directors including Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, and a large part of the impact of the film is the dramatic visual language used by Wong Howe to evoke narrative moral conflicts through contrasting light and shadows.

Don't miss the chance to watch this classic noir film for the first time, or to rewatch it with a new appreciation for James Wong Howe's artistry. 

Recommended for ages 18 and up.