Tony Curtis RIP

What to say. During my arrival in Los Angeles, circa 2000, I went to see THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS at the Egyptian Theatre for the first time, the grand old movie palace where Sid Grauman held the first Hollywood Premiere in 1922 (ROBIN HOOD). There’s magic in the dust motes there and even more so when Tony Curtis came out before the film to introduce what is unarguably his greatest performance as sleazy press agent, Sidney Falco. Alexander Mendrick’s caustic 1957 film is still a brittle, brilliant glimpse at the entertainment clubs and sewers of New York, written with ultimate quotable vitriol by Clifford Odetts and photographed in maximum Manhattan Noir by James Wong Howe. Tony Curtis was an underrated actor with a gift for comedy, and standing onstage that evening, he seemed warm and expansive; when the crowd stood for him, you could see the joy and pleasure on his face as he blew kisses to the audience, telling us he loved us all. I thought it was a wonderful Hollywood coronation from an official Movie God.