Scarlet Street
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| Scarlet Street | |
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| Directed by | Fritz Lang |
| Produced by | Fritz Lang |
| Written by | Georges de La Fouchardière novel La Chienne André Mouézy-Éon play La Chienne Dudley Nichols |
| Starring | Edward G. Robinson Joan Bennett Dan Duryea |
| Music by | Hans J. Salter Ernie Burnett (song "Melancholy Baby") |
| Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
| Editing by | Arthur Hilton |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 28, 1945 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Scarlet Street is an American film noir from 1945. It is a remake of the 1931 film Isn't Life a Bitch? (La Chienne) directed by Jean Renoir. Scarlet Street is an early classic non-detective noir directed by Fritz Lang. Chris Cross, a mild-mannered banker and part-time painter (Edward G. Robinson) goes unpunished and unsuspected of the murder of an amoral femme fatale (played by Joan Bennett). This all happens after she and slippery Johnny (Dan Duryea) lead Cross to commit embezzlement and eventually more and more crimes. Robinson, Duryea and Bennett also appeared together in another Fritz Lang directed noir, The Woman in the Window. After the success of that movie the three were re-teamed for Scarlet Street.
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[edit] Critical reaction
The film today is considered a classic by most critics. Empire Magazine online gives the film a positive review:
"Rarely has a noir victim fallen under a fatale's spell so willingly or broken free with such merciless violence. Played with consummate skill by Edward G. Robinson, Cross is initially made to seem an amiable sap. But gradually, Lang's contempt for his impotence emerges and there's no pity whatever in his decline and fall after he allows Johnny to take the rap for Kitty's ice-pick demise."
[edit] Trivia
- Stills for a few cut scenes from the movie still exist. The most intriguing of these includes a scene where, after deceiving authorities into arresting and falsely convicting Johnny for Kitty's murder (a murder Cross himself committed), Cross climbs a power pole outside Sing Sing to watch and cheer on Johnny's execution.
- Cross's paintings were actually created by John Decker expressly for the film.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Edward G. Robinson | Christopher Cross |
| Joan Bennett | Kitty March |
| Dan Duryea | Johnny Prince |
| Margaret Lindsay | Millie Ray |
| Jess Barker | David Janeway |
| Rosalind Ivan | Adele Cross |
[edit] Quote
"I wanted to laugh in your face ever since the moment I met you. You're old, ugly and I'm sick of you. Sick, sick, sick!" Kitty March
[edit] Re-release
The public domain film has been shown on television and released on video for years. Unfortunately, only poor copies with very weak audio and scratchy video have been available. Fall 2005, a DVD was released featuring a newly mastered copy of the film from the Library of Congress film archives.
[edit] External links
- Scarlet Street at the Internet Movie Database
- Film Noir of the Week review
- Scarlet Street on the Internet Archive
