(Flack/hack "moral monsters" from "Sweet Smell of Success, via The New Yorker)

When you find yourself in a moral quandary in your PR job, click here and ask yourself: What would Sydney Falco do? ("What would NPH do?" is for weekends).

If you're not down with SF, head to MOMA on May 24 or 25th and see the 1957 classic "Sweet Smell of Success" and watch the flack (Falco) played by Tony Curtis duel with hack J.J. Hunsecker (played by Burt Lancaster).

In light of superflack Warren Cowan's passing last week, I wonder if there is a connection to Curtis's Falco even though Cowan is recognized by Hollywood to have been an extremely decent person. He represented Curtis in the 50s. Many considered the role career suicide for the clean cut actor.