Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Burt Lancaster as a Walter Winchell gossip columnist, Tony Curtis as a publicist, in 1950s NYC. Gritty, grimey, incredibly cynical noir. Excellent movie.
Spoilers: The first 98% of this movie is one of the greatest noirs ever made. This is by miles the best Curtis performance I have ever seen, and one of the best of Lancaster's many brilliant roles. The scenes between them are vicious, precise, reserved, and tense, the writing is superb. Any 8-minute segment of the first half of this movie will make you feel as dirty as spending all day in a NYC cab. The bit characters are perfect, the pacing and even the blocking are stage quality, the scenes in bars and restaurants and at stage doors are miniature works of art.
Just skip the final three minutes where they betray it all for a rote just desserts ending.
This film is a g-ddmn sleeper masterpiece; I can't believe it isn't more famous. A+.