Planting and Payoff: A Case Study - The Sweet Smell of Success

To illustrate, let’s take a look at the film-noir drama The Sweet Smell of Success, one of Ernest Lehman’s screenplay masterpieces. The film literally has dozens of plants and payoffs. Below are three examples to get you started, but the best education is to watch the film – or any film – with pen and paper in hand, looking specifically for the use and execution of planting and payoff.

Sydney Falco (Tony Curtis) and J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) in The Sweet Smell of Success (1957).

Example One:

A. In the first sequence of Act One, Sydney Falco (Tony Curtis) is about to leave his office when his secretary says, "Take your topcoat."  Sydney replies, "And leave a tip in every hat check room in town." 

B. Later in sequence two, Sydney and J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) exit the restaurant.  J.J. gets his coat from the checkroom and gives them a tip.  Sydney tries to walk out without J.J. noticing that he doesn't have a coat.  J.J. recognizes this and makes a snide comment about Sydney for trying to save tips again. This is a great use of planting and payoff, not only because the audience adds it up, but we also recognize that this is something Sydney has done multiple times in the past.

Note: This is an example of an economical plant that has been completed before the end of Act One. It has no baring upon the story – clearly does not move it forward – however, it does reveal an element of Sydney’s character. Whether minor or major, plants and payoff must move the story forward and/or reveal character.

Example Two:

A. In Act Two, in sequence five right after the midpoint, Sydney sneaks his way into viewing the proofs of J.J.’s column in advance for that afternoon’s paper. There’s a plug for a “funny man” comic, Herbie Temple, performing at the Palace Theatre. This is the plant.

B. Seeing an opportunity to make a “fast buck”, Sidney immediately heads over to the Palace Theatre and introduces himself to Herbie Temple, where he makes a fake phone call to J.J. pretending to tell J.J. what to write about Herby Temple, "If there's a more hilariously funny man around than Herbie Temple at the Palace, you’re pardon us for not catching his name. We were too busy laughing – no, make that ‘we were too busy screaming’."  Sydney plagiarizes the already written column to make Herby think that he got the write up because of Sydney in the hopes that Herbie will hire Sydney to be his future press agent.

C.  Later in Act Three at the beginning of the last sequence, however, Sydney is celebrating at the bar "toasting his favorite new perfume.  Success!" when Herby Temple walks in and acknowledges himself from the article, "If there's a more hilariously funny man around."  Herby tells Sydney that he has talked it over with his manager, and they decided to go with Sydney.  Sydney – now flying high with his new future column deal with J.J. – thinks of himself as too big to even consider the account and condescendingly blows the old comic off.

Note: Here is an excellent example of a three-part plant/payoff. A is the plant to the payoff in B, yet B then becomes the plant for the payoff in C.

Harry Kello (Emile Meyer) in The Sweet Smell of Success (1957).

Example Three:

At the end of Act One, when J.J. leaves the restaurant with Sydney and they run into dirty cop Harry Kello, J.J. asks Kello about a reported suicide, and Kello's partner sitting in the car refers to the suicide as a "love suicide." 

This “love suicide” plant is paid off in the end of the film, where the reference to a “love suicide” is being played out as J.J.’s sister, Susie, literally tries to kill herself after J.J. not only forces her to “never to see Steve again” – the man she loves and wants to marry – but she learns that J.J. and Sydney have also framed Steve with drug possession as well as hired Kello to hospitalize Steve.

Note: This example – planting with dialogue and paying off with action - literally book ends the film. We start with news of a love suicide and end with an attempted suicide as a result of broken love. Romeo and Juliet again.

Final Thoughts

Incorporating Planting and Payoff is a key ingredient in a good script: future & advertising, mystery & suspense, delay & revelation, and preparation & aftermath are all tricks of the trade that use planting and payoff to help create a strong audience connection. And the audience is everything. It’s why you write the script in the first place, and as the screenwriter, it’s your job to make sure you do whatever possible to help the audience become invested in the story by making them feel smart, anticipating, reaching conclusions, and adding it up.

When Planting and Payoff is used correctly, the audience doesn’t even realize that they are working it out, but they are. No longer are they passive passengers; instead, they become actively engaged. When you allow your audience to add it up, they will love you for it.