Scarlet Street 1945

Reviews

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• griggs79on TMDB · Nov 20247/10

  Why on earth did they decide to colourize _Scarlet Street_? This is a film where every shadow, every drop of rain, and every grimy street corner needs to be black and white to intensify its moody, bleak atmosphere. The grayscale isn’t just aesthetic; it’s the very essence of the story’s dark descent and the bleakness surrounding its characters. Stripped of that stark, high-contrast style, it loses the bite and grit that makes it a quintessential noir. The decision to colourize it feels almost sacrilegious, robbing it of its noir identity and the raw power of Fritz Lang’s vision. This vision should be preserved and respected. Thankfully, I found a version of _Scarlet Street_ that had not been subjected to unnecessary and destructive colourization. In its original black-and-white, the film finally exuded that dark, oppressive vibe that colour could never capture, allowing Lang's film to hit the way intended. Oh, and of course, that one scene Tarantino would love.

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• John Chardon TMDB · Dec 20189/10

  If he were mean or vicious or if he'd bawl me out or something, I'd like him better. Christopher Cross, in middle aged, and in a life going nowhere and devoid of love and inspiration. Till one evening he rescues Kitty March from a mugger, it's the start of a relationship that has far reaching consequences for them, and those closest to them. The previous year director Fritz Lang had made The Woman In The Window, a film that was hugely popular with critics and fans alike. Here he reunites from that excellent film with Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea, the result being what can arguably be described as one of the best exponents of Film Noir's dark sensibilities. Adapting from works by André Mouézy-Éon and Georges de La Fouchardière (novel and play), this story of desperate love and greedy deceit had already had a big screen adaptation from Jean Renoir in 1931 as La chienne, which appropriately enough translates as The Bitch! Now there's a Noir title if ever there was one! What Lang does with this adaptation is drip his own expressionism all over it, whilst crucially he doesn't ease off from the harsher aspects of the story. This is nasty, cruel stuff, and with Lang at

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• Steveon TMDB · Apr 201710/10

  www.noiroftheweek.com This week's Noir of the Week is Scarlet Street. Its one of my favorite films. Most of you already know the story and hopefully have seen the new release of the film on DVD from Kino International. The film was directed by Fritz Lang and was based on the 1930's French film, La Chienne. Scarlet Street is about a common bank cashier in the 1930s who succumbs first to vice and then murder. I won't give the plot away, because I'd run out of room writing all the film's twists and turns. What I enjoy about this film is the common man (played by Edward G. Robinson) is as selfish as Kitty and Johnny (Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea). There isn't a good person in the whole story. Even his boss (cheating on his wife) and wife (old battle-axe) are evil to a degree. Most critics seem to think the film is a carbon copy of The Woman in the Window. I have to disagree. In that one, Robinson and Bennett are sophisticated and smart (OK, Duryea is the same). Robinson is spending the evening with the beautiful girl on a lark - just so he can brag to his friends. In Scarlet Street, Robinson plays a man who married his wife because he was dying of loneliness. In the middle of Scarlet St

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Often watched with

Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Taste Buds

I Walk Alone

Byron Haskin · 1947

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Where to watch

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