JJ Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) is as powerful as he is treacherous. His column, culled from snippets fed to him by fawning press agents such as Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), can make or break a career. Right now, it’s breaking Sidney, whose tips are being pointedly ignored by Hunsecker as punishment for a personal matter. Hunsecker had asked Falco to break up the relationship between his younger sister Susan (Susan Harrison) and a jazz musician called Steve Dallas.-The Times (UK)

“With some of the sharpest dialogue ever cut in Hollywood, only on the most superficial level is this a movie about gossip and publicity. We’re talking show business. We’re talking America. We’re talking cast-iron classic.”-Empire Magazine