Freedom has a price, and for L.A.’s all-ages music venue, the Smell, the freedom to present new and inexpensive shows has meant surviving as a lonely downtown outpost. Ensconced in a nondescript ...

For a small cadre of movie fans, these words carry a delicious frisson of anticipation, introducing a pivotal scene in “Sweet Smell of Success,” one of the most oddly compelling films of its time.