Pretty Packaging: SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS Smells Sweet By Any Other Name

While not particularly successful at the box office, Patrick Mackendrick's 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success has over the years gained the status of classic, thanks to its searing script and the fantastically slimy performances by its two leads Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster (check out Dave Canfield's review of the Criterion edition to find out more). And in France, where the film is known as Le Grand Chantage, it has now been given a stellar release by Wild Side Video.

Wild Side Video has several different approaches on how to tackle its special editions. Sometimes they create beautiful boxes which add a book or two to their general release, like they did with The Red Turtle and Snowpiercer.
But sometimes they release books. Big, BIG slip-cased books, which happen to have the films included in them. And if you can read French a bit, you're in for a treat. Wild Side Video's releases of Gun Crazy and especially their (even larger-sized) Night of the Hunter are rightfully legendary, and now Sweet Smell of Success has gotten that very same treatment.

Here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version!

And here it is: a big, tough cardboard box.

The box turns out to be a big slipcase with a big book inside.

The book taken out.

The back cover contains carboard disc-holders for the DVD and Blu-ray of the film.

The book has over 220 pages in it, and there are enough pictures in it to satisfy even those who cannot read any French. Those who can, however, win the jackpot: this is an awesome volume, covering everything about Sweet Smell of Success, from the film's conception to its reception.

There is so much in here to love: posters from all over the world, copies of letters, interviews...

The (back) end. An excellent edition, and I would love having similar releases for all films in my personal top-100!