The original story was filmed by the great French director Jean Renoir as "La Chienne" which means "The Bitch." The director was the son of the outstanding impressionist Pierre August Renoir; the son actually sold his father's great art masterworks to subsidize his effort to make films featuring his ambitious wife. In the end, Renoir felt deeply manipulated and divorced her. In Renoir's hands, this is a black comedy. In Fritz Lang's hands, it becomes a tense sexual thriller and the tale of the dark descent of a man who is completely destroyed by his erotic longing for a beautiful woman who never returns his love.Edward G. Robinson plays a shy, henpecked married man who works as an unimportant bank cashier/clerk. In his spare time, he loves to paint and in fact possesses an original vision in his naive paintings. His wife humiliates him and announces the art is worthless.
The film really begins when the Robinson character believes that he has saved a gorgeous woman from being beaten up by a man in the street. (That man happens to be her pimp). Unable to take his eyes off this woman, he allows his sexual desire for her take complete control. All his normal ethics of honesty are misused in his attempt to raise money.
Let's be fair. A woman as gorgeous as Joan Bennett could demand favors from her admirer, particularly when he is so emotionally vulnerable. Obviously, she just leads him along, takes his paintings, and discovers that there is a hot market for them. But all along, she is really attracted to her pimp, who is handsome in a cheap sort of way, mean spirited, and cunning.
When the truth is discovered, needless to say, things get darker and darker.
Compared to other scratchy and dull versions which have appeared earlier on DVD copies, this Kino Classics Edition is a superb translation of the original film onto the disc. The cinematography of dark and rainy streets and confining apartments creates an exterior landscape that matches Edward G. Robinson's sexually repressed character.
As a cinematic treatment of a man's psychological descent into hell, this is one of the best film noirs that I have ever seen.
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When Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson), a meek, middle-aged cashier, ran one rainy night to the aid of Kitty March (Joan Bennett) who was being beaten by her boy friend, Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea), he had no idea how his life would be changed. It's probably also fair to say that Robinson, Bennett, Duryea and director Fritz Lang had no idea at the time that they were making one of the great noirs, a movie so good, in fact, that in my view it transcends the noir genre.Cross is married to a shrew. He does the dishes wearing a frilly apron. He's taken for granted by just about everyone he knows. After 25 years with the bank, he has just been given a gold watch. And he paints. He loves to paint; it's the only thing that gives him happiness. When he meets Kitty and walks her home, he sees a beautiful young woman who is friendly. He arranges to meet her again. One afternoon he tells her about his love of painting. "Nobody ever taught me how to draw," he says. "I just put a line around what I feel when I look at things. It's like falling in love, I guess." Kitty looks at him sympathetically. When he looks down at his plate, though, she can't keep a little twist of amusement from her lips. He doesn't know that in him she sees a middle-aged figure of pathetic fun. She and Johnny begin to take Chris for every penny he can make or steal. When Johnny sells his paintings and the paintings become famous, Kitty takes the credit and Johnny takes the money. Johnny may beat up Kitty but she loves him. Cross finally realizes not just how he has been used by the pair, but how Kitty has held him in contempt as a little man whose feelings are laughable. One night she screams at him, "How can a man be so dumb? I've been waiting to laugh in your face ever since I met you. You're old and ugly and I'm sick of you." The ending is violent. Kitty and Johnny both pay a price. And Chris...his ending is sad, poignant and will last as long as he lives.
Of all the movies Lang made in Hollywood, this is the one where, I think, all the components came together in a completely satisfying way. Partly, this is because of the story and the script. The tale isn't just about a meek man's descent, it also is about three individuals using each other in a strange mixture of love, contempt and amoral selfishness. It also often is wry and jaundiced. When Kitty uses Chris' words almost verbatim to describe to an art critic how she feels about painting, "like falling in love, I guess," we know she could not care less about art and is, in fact, amused by her own clever use of Chris' feelings. The effect is funny in a sick sort of way.
Most importantly, I think, is that Lang was blessed by having all first-class lead actors. Duryea made a career out of playing sleaze, but he was never better than here. Joan Bennett, in my view, is one of Hollywood's underrated actors, probably because she was so good-looking. Compare her performance here with her performance as Wendy Van Kettering, smart, lovely, sympathetic in Vogues of 1938 and with the warm, understanding mother of the bride, Ellie Banks, in Father of the Bride. Here, Bennett convinces us that Kitty is captured by Johnny and his rough love, that Kitty hasn't a moral bone in her body, that Kitty is happy to be a slob, shallow and sexy. Kitty says "Jeepers" when she wants to emphasize something. She eats grapes and spits the pits on the rug. She tosses a cigarette end onto the dirty dishes that fill the sink. She has great legs and a lazy drawl. As for Edward G. Robinson, he is the heart of the movie. His meekness draws our sympathy as well our impatience. When he finally becomes violent it is startling and satisfying. The end of the movie may be sad, but it also is ironic and strong. Chris loved Kitty, and he'll be forever hearing in his mind, "Jeepers, I love you, Johnny."
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I have this movie as part of a set I bought a while back.To be honest I thought this would be a nice period piece.That was my entire expectation.I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is a timeless story with emotions that are relevant even in today's modern society. Yes, the 30's feel and atmosphere is there(and wonderfully done), but it's more than that. A film that should be watched with an open mind. Truly a Scarlet Surprise.Want Scarlet Street: Kino Classics Edition (1945) Discount?
Fritz Lang's 1945 film noir classic "Scarlet Street" may be banal with its golddigger storyline but once the grisly twist hits the viewer, you have no doubt that Lang (known for classics such as "M", "Metropolis", "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse") has successfully drawn the viewer in for something unpredictable and shocking.It's no surprise that "Scarlet Street" was considered a bleak film noir that was banned in three cities, but nearly 70-years-later, one can marvel and perhaps be amused by how well-crafted this film was for its time.
"Scarlet Street" is a film adaptation by Dudley Nichols ("Stagecoach", "Bringing Up Baby", "The Bells of St. Mary's") of the French novel and play "La Chienne" by Georges de La Fouchardiere and Andre Mouezy-Eon.
Lang would also take his three stars from the 1944 film "The Woman in the Window", Edward G. Robinson ("Double Indemity", "Key Largo", "The Ten Commandments"), Joan Bennett ("Dark Shadows", "Father's Little Dividend", "Father of the Bride") and Dan Duryea ("The Pride of the Yankees", "Peyton Place"), and cast them in "Scarlet Street".
While Fritz Lang was well-known for his films in Germany, it wasn't until decades later that many film historians and critics learned how much of an impact Lang would have in the emergence and the evolution of the film genre, film noir.
VIDEO:
"Scarlet Street" is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio). Because Kino Lorber were able to obtain the video from the archives of the Library of Congress, what we have here is the best print available. And naturally, with it being in HD, this is simply the definitive version of the film to own.
With that being said, it's important for those new to Kino Lorber to know that the company takes a hands free approach. As restoration is quite laborious and very expensive, they present the film from the original master in HD. So, what we have here is a film that does have its fair share of white specks (not too much that it would ruin your viewing pleasure) but in terms of picture quality, clarity is the keyword when watching this film on Blu-ray.
Black levels are deep, contrast in white and gray levels are great and compared to previous version of the film, there is no blurring effect nor the interlacing.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Scarlet Street" is presented in uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 monaural. As mentioned with video, Kino Lorber takes a hands free approach when it comes to Blu-ray releases. So, "Scarlet Street" does have its share of a few clicks and even some mild hissing. But dialogue is clear and understandable.
There are no subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
"Scarlet Street" comes with the following special features:
Audio commentary Featuring a audio commentary by David Kalat (author of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse)
Photo Gallery Featuring images of deleted scenes and artwork for the film.
Kino Classics Trailers
JUDGMENT CALL:
"Scarlet Street" is a 1945 film which may have seem twisted, dark or grisly to movie fans during that time.
But it was also the beginning of a genre in cinema known as "film noir" that would later become appreciated by cinema fans.
What I enjoyed about this film is that at first glance, it seemed as if it was too banal. A story about an old man named Christopher Cross who doesn't get the love and appreciation from his wife and wonders if men flock to younger women for fun and a exciting life. Maybe it's what he needs because his life is absolutely dull.
And then you have the banal gold digger Kitty who is directed by her boyfriend Johnny to bilk as much money she can from him.
But of course, Fritz Lang is not your traditional Hollywood filmmaker. Even when I first watched this film and even today, I still had this grin of awe of the clever writing he was able to pull off and literally pull the seat under movie watchers because it was nontraditional movie making.
But "Scarlet Street" was a fantastic film that I absolutely enjoyed! But for those who are not erudites to Lang's work in Hollywood, let's just say that "Scarlet Street" is just the beginning to Lang's darker films.
During that era in time, Fritz Lang was well-known for his German films and in Hollywood, suffice to say, many film critics wondered why his films from the '40s to the '50s became darker and darker. In fact, things would get even darker in the '50s with films such as "The Big Heat" and it correlated with Lang's pessimistic view towards the world and seeing how things worked in the move industry.
For Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett, the films they made with Fritz Lang would be in their peak as Robinson's career would be called into scrutiny a few years later as he was threatened with black listening as the government (via the House Un-American Activities Committee) was cracking down on communist sympathizers in Hollywood.
This would lead for nearly a decade of B-movie films for Robinson until Cecil B. DeMille would later cast him in the epic "The Ten Commandments" in 1956.
As for Joan Bennett, she has had a long career since the silent era but a few years after "Scarlet Street", her career would be slightly damaged when her husband Walter Wanger tried to kill her agent Jennings Lang, when Wanger suspected the two having an affair.
And as the careers of these three individuals would change after "Scarlet Street", the film still resonates strongly among fans of Fritz Lang. And it is a wonderful choice for Kino Lorber to release on Blu-ray and one can hope that more of Lang's noir films will receive the HD treatment in the near future.
As for the Blu-ray release, as mentioned earlier, this is the definitive version to own of the film at this time. Watching it on Blu-ray has more clarity and no more interlacing or blurring issues. The film looks good, granted it could look better with restoration. The audio commentary by David Kalat is very good and includes a lot of in-depth information that cineaste will enjoy listening to.
Overall, "Scarlet Street" is an enjoyable, darker noir film from Fritz Lang and one of the earlier films to help kick off the film noir genre. Definitely recommended!
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