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Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-Lancaster. Hill joined in the mid-1950s.
Apr 23, 2000 · Not many superstars would have played J.J. Hunsecker, the vicious Walter Winchell-type Broadway columnist in the 1957 classic “Sweet Smell of Success,” which his independent film company,...
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During the 1950s, his production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, was highly successful, with Lancaster acting in films such as: Trapeze in 1956, a box office smash in which he used his acrobatic skills; Sweet Smell of Success (1957), a dark drama today considered a classic; Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), a WWII submarine drama with Clark Gable ...
YearFilmProduction CompanyDistribution Company1948Norma Productions / Harold Hecht ...Universal - International Pictures1950Norma Productions / Frank Ross ...1951Norma Productions / Halburt Productions1952Norma Productions / Halburt Productions- Plot
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One night in Manhattan, slick, up-and-coming press agent Sidney Falco scans the New York Globefor the column of immensely popular journalist J.J. Hunsecker, an influential media kingpin whose journalistic contributions and associated radio show both dominate the entertainment world. For the fifth consecutive day, J.J. has neglected to publicize any...
Faced with potential unemployment from the sale of Ealing Studios to the BBC in 1954, director Alexander Mackendrick began entertaining offers from Hollywood. He rejected potential contracts from Cary Grant and David Selznick and signed with independent production company Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, enticed by their offer to adapt George Bernard Shaw’s p...
A preview screening of Sweet Smell of Success was poorly received, as Tony Curtis fans were expecting him to play one of his typical nice guy roles and instead were presented with the scheming Sidney Falco. Mackendrick remembered seeing audience members "curling up, crossing their arms and legs, recoiling from the screen in disgust".Burt Lancaster'...
Sweet Smell of Success was released on DVD (Region 1) and Blu-ray (Region A) as part of The Criterion Collection in February 2011. The release includes new audio commentary featuring film scholar James Naremore, Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away, a 1986 documentary produced by Scottish Television featuring interviews with director Alexander Mack...
Bibliography
1. Kemp, Philip (1991). Lethal Innocence: The Cinema of Alexander Mackendrick. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-64980-6.
Ernest Lehman and Clifford Odets (December 1998). Sweet Smell of Success. Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 978-0-571-19410-0."Alexander Mackendrick on Sweet Smell of Success" by Alexander Mackendrick, Film in Focus, June 16, 2008.Sweet Smell of Success essay by Andrea Alsberg at National Film RegistrySweet Smell of Success essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 530-532Sweet Smell of Success at IMDbSweet Smell of Success at AllMovieMay 28, 1985 · Harold Hecht, the film producer who joined with Burt Lancaster to form one of the first independent film producing companies in Hollywood, died of complications from cancer Saturday at his home...
Nov 1, 2022 · Norma Productions was renamed Hecht-Lancaster, and later Hecht-Hill-Lancaster once producer/writer James Hill joined them. Lancaster’s independent production company became the most successful in Hollywood of the era. You can read more about that in my post of their 1955 Best Picture Oscar winner, "Marty".
Jul 19, 2013 · Hecht Hill Lancaster allowed him to avoid typecasting — because he was casting himself — and the result was a diversity of roles. Some of them odd and daring, like the titular swimmer in the 1968 film based on John Cheever’s classic story.
