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Edward G. Robinson,
Joan Bennett,
Dan Duryea,
more...
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Fritz Lang
see all cast/crew...
: Kino
: Classics, Drama, Classic Drama, Film Noir, Vintage Noir, Classic Crime, Crime, Classic Crime, Classic Drama
: 101 min.
: English
see additional details...
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Masterfully directed by Fritz Lang, Scarlet Street is a bleak film in which an ordinary man, succumbs first to vice and then to murder. Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) is a lonely man, married to a nagging wife. Painting is the only thing which brings him joy. Cross meets Kitty (Joan Bennett) who believing him to be a famous painter, begins an affair with him. Encouraged by her lover, con man Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea) Kitty persuades Cross to embezzle money from his employer in order to pay for her lavish apartment. In that apartment, happy for the first time in his life, Cross paints Kitty's picture. Johnny then pretends that Kitty painted to portrait, which has won great critical acclaim. Finally realizing he has been manipulated, Cross kills Kitty, loses his job, and because his name has been stolen by Kitty, is unable to paint. He suffers a mental breakdown as the film ends, haunted by guilt. Kitty and Johnny are two of the most amoral and casual villains in the history of film noir, both like predatory animals, completely without conscience. Milton Krasner's photography is excellent in its use of stark black-and-white to convey psychological states. Fritz Lang is unparalleled in his ability to convey the desperation of hapless, naive victims in a cruelly realistic world. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
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| Great Cast, With Fritz in Fine Form
by talltale
March 11, 2006 - 8:53 AM PST
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2 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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SCARLET STREET turns out to be one of the best noirs, with ace performances from Robinson, Bennett and Duryea, plus exceptionally original plotting and twists throughout. Director Lang does a wonderful job of eliding all his elements--from plot and photography to performances and music--and the uses of art in the story add immeasurably to the interest and fun. (The use of the "stuck record"--both realistically, and later, very subtly on the soundtrack as a symptom of the character's degeneration--is extraordinary.)
The ending may seem unduly "moral," but stop to think about that conversation among the reporters on the train. There was a time, long ago, when many U.S. citizens actually were troubled to some degree by their own misdeeds. A social fabric, thin as it may have been, helped hold the country together. The attitude "Screw everyone else and grab what you can" used to be the provenance of the villain in the piece. Now, it's just standard behavior from most of the cast--in life, as on film. Note: The Kino Video version of "Scarlet Street" is the one to rent because the DVD transfer is terrific! |
| "Scarlet" Fever
by PandT
March 23, 2005 - 2:36 PM PST
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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Lang's Scarlet Street possibly the coldest and most mean spirited noir ever (the best ingredient I think) has a prototype cuckold in the making perfectly played by E. G. Robinson as an old retiree looking for more than a gold watch and hoping that "more" will be provided by his new young streetwalking "girlfriend" a swell "femme fatale" portrayed by Joan Bennet.
Her boyfriend/pimp is played by the sleaziest of sleeze portrayers, Dan Duryea. This film is a remake essentially of Renoir's La Chienne/The Bitch but is far creepier. It is Lang's best American film IMO. It covers similar ground to Woman In The Window his previous noir with the exact same actors and is quite similar, but this time with even less socially acceptable characters.
This is another better thought out version of the respectable older gentleman being driven to near madness and crime by the torment and promise of a beautiful and loving relationship from a lying scum of a whore (Bennett). He is trying to escape a shrew of a wife and ends up with much worse. (classic noir plot escalation !) This is the kind of film that makes you squirm with the awful feeling of what can happen to hope and decency when one is too hungry for both. Just cold man...
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| Excellent
by eifert
June 13, 2004 - 8:25 AM PDT
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| This is a great B&W noir film. Robinson is cast against type as a loser looking for a little excitement in his life. Dan Duryea is so evil, I went and sought out his other movies. He's a great baddy. Directed by Lang, this is a movie lovers can't miss. The transfer isn't great, however, being that this is a public domain film. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.49)
78 Votes
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