The Stagnant Smell of Decay

The Stagnant Smell of Decay

Or

Due South

Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter behind such classics as “North by Northwest” and “The Sweet Smell of Success,” better hope somebody up there likes him, as he has died at the age of 89. Lehman also inflicted the problem like Maria on the world and all of that van Crapp about singing past the Nazis in “The Sound of Music.” A versatile writer, Lehman’s other films included the musicals “The King and I” and “West Side Story,” the romantic comedy “Sabrina,” the drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” the biography “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” the black comedy “Family Plot” and the adventure “Black Sunday,” and his skills were sought by directors Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder. Lehman was nominated for four Oscars and won a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2003.