“Sweet Smell of Success in a surprising way had a significant albeit subtle impact on my thinking about Rustin, particularly as it pertains to the subtextual use of darkness and light. Whereas Sweet Smell of Success is about people in positions of power, wanting more power, flaunting their power, Rustin is about people standing in defiance of power structures so as to make America more just.. The characters in Sweet Smell, because of their positions and their influence, are able to control when they are walking in light and when they are walking in shadow. Generally, when they are walking in shadow, it’s to do some unscrupulous deed. The characters in Rustin are not afforded the luxury of choosing light and dark. By virtue of being people of color and their sexual identity, they are forced to search for love and intimacy and identity on darkened city streets, with Rustin mostly set on Manhattan’s darkened avenues, whereas Sweet Smell is set primarily around the glaring lights of Times Square. It was this sense of the potency and power of light, or in some cases the lack-there-of, that sent me down the road of how Rustin should be lit. When light does occur, it’s often as an invasive energy, a flashlight or headlight exposing that which is intended to be kept in the dark.” - Rustin director George C. Wolfe

RUSTIN (1h 46m)
Dir. George C. Wolfe
Starring Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman
The architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known. He challenged authority, never apologized for who he was, what he believed, or who he desired. And he did not back down. He made history, and in turn, he was forgotten. Directed by DGA Award and five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe and starring Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo, Rustin shines a long overdue spotlight on the extraordinary man who, alongside giants like the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine a different world, and inspired a movement in a march toward freedom. Produced by Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen, Higher Ground's Tonia Davis and George C. Wolfe, the film features an all-star cast including Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, Gus Halper, CCH Pounder, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Johnny Ramey, Michael Potts, with Jeffrey Wright and Audra McDonald.

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1 h 36m)
Dir. Alexander Mackendrick
Starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Susan Harrison
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan (Susan Harrison), who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas (Marty Milner). Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.