Scarlet Street

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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...

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 ...

It's interesting to see Edward G. Robinson cast as the downtrodden bank cashier, trapped in a loveless marriage, who has a penchant for painting. He comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress "Kitty March" (Joan Bennett) who is having a tough time with her loutish boyfriend "Johnny Prince" (Dan Duryea). He falls for her hook, line and sinker only to discover she has assumed that he is a wealthy man and she tries to manipulate and embezzle from him. Soon, he is caught in a cyclical trap and we know he is heading for disaster. What is most odd is the sight of Robinson in an apron preparing some liver. A clever crime thriller from Fritz Lang with good performances from the three principals.

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 isnt just aesthetic; its the very essence of the storys 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 Langs 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 colouriza...