 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 featuring interviews with director Alexander Mackendrick , actor Burt Lancaster , producer James Hill , and others . James Wong Howe : Cinematographer , a 1973 documentary about the film 's director of photography , featuring lighting tutorials with Howe , a new video interview with film critic and historian Neal Gabler ( Winchell : Gossip , Power and the Culture of Celebrity ) about legendary columnist Walter Winchell , inspiration for the character J. J. Hunsecker , and a new video interview with filmmaker James Mangold about Mackendrick , his instructor and mentor . There is also a booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins , notes about the film and two short stories introducing its characters by screenwriter Ernest Lehman , and an excerpt about Clifford Odets from Mackendrick ’ s book On Film @-@ making , introduced by the book ’ s editor , Paul Cronin . 
