Scarlet Street (1945) User Reviews (188)

Excellent noir by a master

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 5 August 2007]

Fritz Lang does a wonderful job directing "Scarlet Street," a true film noir from 1945 starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea. A miserable, henpecked man, Chris (Robinson) falls in love with a prostitute, Kitty, and she starts milking him for money with the encouragement of her abusive boyfriend Johnny (Duryea). Chris is a cashier who has just reached his 25th year of service; he's also a part-time painter. He steals bonds from his wife, who is the widow of a police detective, and sets Kitty up in an apartment where he can also paint since all his wife does is complain about him cluttering up their place. He believes that Kitty is an actress and that Johnny is the boyfriend of Kitty's ex-roommate. You really want to slap him. His stealing escalates; meanwhile, Johnny and Kitty are passing his art work off as Kitty's, and she's making a name for herself. Instead of killing her then and there, Chris is happy about it, believing that he's a failure and could never have sold a painting, and continues providing her with art work. We assume she and Johnny are getting the money.

Alas, there probably are desperately lonely and unhappy men like Chris with footprints all over their bodies, though Chris seems pretty gullible even by 1945 standards. Robinson, however, does a fantastic job in helping us understand why Chris is the way he is. He's a simple, shy, self-effacing man who just wants someone to love him and enjoy his hobby of painting, and Kitty pays lip service to that while she's sleeping with Johnny. It seems that just to bask in her presence is enough for Chris.

Using the backdrop of New York City, Lang has directed this with magnificent style and flair, making it one of the most famous noirs of all time. And the performances are top notch. It's amazing how much Joan and Constance Bennett looked alike when they were both blond, but they were very different actresses. Constance had a great deal of sophistication; Joan did better playing tramps. She had a low voice and could be very sexy, and she made a stunning brunette. I saw her in person in the late '80s and was surprised at how tiny she was given how tall she looks here. If anyone has seen the "Gone with the Wind" screen tests, she was one of the most beautiful Scarletts. Here she's very convincing talking out of both sides of her mouth, telling Chris that she loves him and Johnny that she loves him. Duryea is phenomenal as a very unlikable con man, and the two make a great couple.

But the character of sad Chris hangs over the film due to Robinson's performance with his shy smile and nervous manner. When his anger emerges, it's years and years worth of it. Unfortunately, he's basically too good a man not to hate himself for actions committed in a rage, and in true Hollywood fashion, he goes the way of most men who let themselves be made fools of by women.

A really, really great film. Lang was difficult to get along with, and as the studio system diminished, the powers that be were less willing to put up with him, so his last Hollywood films can't compare with those he did at the top. This is top Lang. Don't miss it.

Late Expressionism, Early Noir--incredible plot, amazing movie

[secondtake · 9/10 · 5 May 2010]

Scarlet Street (1945)

It starts slowly, with little bits of intrigue and a lot of empathy for Edward G. Robinson's character, Chris Cross, a lonely cashier with dreams of being in love. And then he sees a man hitting a young woman on the street, and he rushes to help her. Things start a torturous, complicated, fabulous decline from there. The woman sees how Cross finds her beautiful, but Cross, it turns out, is unhappily married. And petty, selfish cruelty turns to many worse things.

Fritz Lang, the Austrian director now firmly settled into Hollywood, is not known for cheerful movies (he directed M, for one), and this one draws on so much empathy, and heartbreak, and finally downright shock and surprise, it's breathtaking. Great film-making, beautiful and relentless. The woman, Joan Bennett, comes alive on the screen, duplicitous and raw. Her boyfriend, Dan Duryea, is perfect Duryea, clever and annoying and as usual, coming out less than rosy.

The cinematographer, Milton Krasner, has so many richly brooding and dramatic films to his credit, it's almost a given that we will be invisibly swept into every scene (and much of the action takes place in an apartment almost tailor made for great filming, with glass doors, and two levels to look up or down from). The story is key, based on a novel by Georges de La Fouchardière, little known here, but he wrote "La Chienne," the basis for Jean Renoir's second film (1931), where the film announces to the audience that it is about, "He, she, and the other guy . . . as usual." And that describes Scarlet Street just as well, for starters.

Lang is credited as one of the key shapers of the film noir style, and that certainly applies visually. It lacks that film noir key of a young man at odds with post-War America, but it does have a man, alone, at odds with the world. Chris Cross is a pathetic creature, far more naive than most of us could ever be, but yet we identify with him because he represents innocence swept up in a world more sinister than we expect. He's a victim, in a way, but also the cause of his own troubles.

And troubles they are. What a story, what a film. Dark, wrenching, and unpredictable. Very Fritz Lang.

Another compelling masterpiece from Fritz Lang!

[The_Void · 9/10 · 17 November 2004]

It is often said of Fritz Lang that his American films aren't as good as the ones he made in Germany, and judging by the films of his that I've seen so far; this analysis is proving itself to be true...but damn, this one isn't far off. Scarlet Street is simultaneously compelling and unpredictable for it's duration; Lang truly knows how to plot a film, and that is evident throughout. The story follows a banker and aspiring painter, played to perfection by Edward G. Robinson, who saves a young woman from a purse snatcher one night while on his way home from a party. The two begin talking to each other, and the banker 'accidentally' tells the girl that he's paints pictures and gets a lot of money for doing so (Lang shows us the pitfalls of trying to impress young women by way of lies). However, all was not what it seemed with the purse-snatcher, and he's actually the young lady's fiancé; and when he learns that his girlfriend has a man with money after her.... he's out for all he can get!

A lot of Lang's American oeuvre is concentrated on the American justice system and various other crime related things, and this one is no different. Scarlet Street professes that nobody can ever 'get away with murder', and the fantastic climax to the movie shows this masterfully; much more so than many other films that have tried to convey the same message have. Scarlet Street is drenched with irony throughout (ironically, it took a non-American to make an ironic American film). This irony ensures that the film stays interesting, as the audience is never able to guess what's around the corner. There's nothing worse than a predictable film, and Scarlet Street is certainly anything but. The movie is packed with stand out moments, but non stand out more so than the ending. I'm a big fan of horror films and have seen many; but many of those fail to be as chilling as the ending of Scarlet Street. The atmosphere that Lang creates is incredible, and it ranks one of the most powerful psychological mind games that I've ever witnessed on screen. If Fritz Lang set out to put people off murder with this film; I dare say he succeeded. I know I won't be murdering anyone after watching this!

Overall; Scarlet Street is another Fritz Lang masterpiece. While not as mind blowing as Metropolis or as powerful as M; Scarlet Street fills a niche all of it's own. I rate this film as a 'must see', and I can almost guarantee that you will not be disappointed after seeing it.

A Brilliant Remake

[Zen Bones · 3 April 2002]

I've seen LA CHIENNE, and although most of SCARLET STREET is a remake, the two are entirely different films. LA CHIENNE is virtually a comedy. In fact, it begins with an introduction by puppets (!), so we know we're not to take the plot very seriously. Renoir's film is light and fun, and is very interesting to watch for comparisons of 'moral standards' between France and Hollywood.

By now, you probably know the story. A sad little man gets involved with a prostitute and her pimp. Hollywood toned down the fact that Robinson and Bennett were involved in a sexual relationship, and the ending of the film had to live up to Hollywood's standards of 'morality'. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet, but needless to say, the endings between the two films differ in a major way.

What makes SCARLET STREET so outstanding in my opinion, is that given the repressed nature of the protagonist, the film works better because of the changes. You can better understand the pressures of what living as a human doormat has done to this man, and how coiled up he really is. Edward G. Robinson gives one of the best performances of his career, which is saying a lot! I know, there will always be those who will insist on seeing him as the cigar-chomping tough guy only, and won't accept him as anything else, but SCARLET STREET showcases his more subtle talents and his enormous range. Joan Bennett is pure charm and snake oil in this, and Dan Duryea out-weasels Richard Widmark in KISS OF DEATH [in fact, I'll bet good money that the weasel toons in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT were based on Dan Duryea's character!]. Hollywood films will always falter in comparison to other country's films because the industry's fear of offending audiences always dulls the blade of truth. But, at least during the classic era of Hollywood, the talent usually made up for the story flaws. What do you get when you put Fritz Lang, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea together? Magic!

If he were mean or vicious or if he'd bawl me out or something, I'd like him better.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 6 September 2009]

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 the time feeling a bit abused and used by the studio system he was slave to, who better to darkly cloak a sordid story with a biting edge? Is it purely coincidence that Lang took on this film about a struggling artist who's vision is stifled by another? Possibly not one is inclined to feel.

Edward G. Robinson is fabulous as the pathetic Chris Cross. Married to a wife who constantly heckles and belittles him (Rosalind Ivan), Robinson's take on Cross garners empathy by the shed load, so much so that once Kitty (Bennett) and her beau, Johnny Prince (Duryea), start to scheme a scam on Chris, the audience are feeling as desperate as Cross was himself at the start of the movie. Few noir guys have so meekly fell under a femme fatale's spell as the way Cross does for Kitty here. But such is Lang's atmospherics, you not only sense that it's going to go bad, you expect it to, and naturally Robinson is just the man to punch us in the guts with added impetus. Bennett and Duryea are very convincing, almost spitefully enjoying taking the hapless Robinson character for everything they can, and the visuals, especially during the bleak, shadowy last couple of reels, cap the mood perfectly.

This film is in truth probably saying more about its director than anything else that he made. And in fact it was said to be one of his all time favourites. That's nice to find out because it finds him on particularly good, and yes, devilish form. Grim, brilliant and essential film noir. 9/10

A Masterpiece

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 8 January 2007]

In New York, after celebrating his twenty-fifth years as a cashier of a company and receiving a golden watch in a dinner party, the middle-aged amateurish painter Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) protects a young woman, Katharine March (Joan Bennett), from an assault on the street by a young man, Johnny Prince (Dan Duryea), without knowing that he is her lover. Chris invites Kitty to drink a coffee in a bar, and presents himself as a successful and wealthy painter. The small time crook and caftan Johnny sees the chance to raise easy money and convinces the manipulative Kitty to take as much money as possible from Chris. He embezzles his company and steals his wife, and Kitty moves to a huge studio. Chris brings his paintings to the new address, and Johnny takes them for evaluation and they are considered masterpieces by an arts critic and by the owner of a gallery. Kitty pretends to be the painter, becomes famous, leading them to a tragic conclusion.

"Scarlett Street" is a masterpiece of film-noir: a magnificent sordid story, with sex and corruption, the femme fatale, and the losers, all the elements are presented in this movie. The direction of Fritz Lang is precise as usual, and Dan Duryea, Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett are simply fantastic. The conclusion, with Chris haunted by the ghosts, is excellent. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Almas Perversas" ("Wicked Souls")

Note: On 09 January 2017, I saw this film again.

The penultimate film noir

[Mr_Mirage · 8/10 · 28 July 2004]

I am of the firm belief that Orson Welles's Touch Of Evil is the ultimate film noir, but this little gem comes in at a very, very close second.

The Lang direction and visual style is apparent on every frame, and the performance of Edward G. Robinson is among his best, and often strangely neglected.

For me, the essence of noir films has as much to do with the bleak outlook on human existence as it does the visual sense, and at the very beginning of this film, we see (IMHO) the single, most perfect noir moment: Chris Cross (Robinson) is given a dinner, a nice little send off for a nice little man. On his way out, a friend asks if Chris is going to ride the train home, as is his normal pattern. Chris has something on his mind though, and chooses to walk instead.

That one single moment, that one choice... and because of that, this man will lose his home, his wife, his career and the very thing that makes him want to continue, his art.

One moment, one choice, and an entire life is destroyed.

THAT is noir!

No Fool Like an Old Fool

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 6 November 2006]

It's hard to see that your youth has escaped you. It happens to us all. The sad personage of Christopher Cross is very touching. He has seen his life pass with a nice gold watch all he has to show for it. His wife is ugly and mean spirited, his work is dull. He is quite a good painter but hasn't time to do anything about it. Them "she" comes into the picture. All those charms, sexy, vulnerable, and evil, with a connection to Dan Duryea (what a cad) to boot. When the Robinson Character comes to her rescue, it's Johnny (Duryea) who is slapping her around. She is perceptive enough to believe that the well dressed older man must have money, and, if she plays her cards right, she can squeeze him for money. He falls, hook, line, and sinker, and really believes she cares about him. Not only is she an opportunist, she even uses his art as her own to get more money. Because he is moonstruck, he lets her go on and on. There is a subplot concerning his wife's first husband and some other things, but he slowly descends the path to destruction. Everyone watching the movie knows that the poor sap is going to get his at some point. The way it happens is a bit of a stretch. Chris should really feel very little guilt; he is victimized all long the way. But in film noir, the dark elements demand their pound of flesh. He is paid for his foolishness and trust.

A Conscience Can Kill You

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 20 July 2006]

After a slow first half, the second half of the film picked up considerably and made the whole film worth watching. Because I am a fan of many of the actors in here, I'll watch it again but it's not one of the more intense, riveting film noirs of the 1940s.

Dan Duryea did what he did best: play the cocky wise-guy. Joan Bennett as "Kitty March" offered good looks, a body, and a despicable character. Her foil was the pathetic "Christopher Cross," portrayed by Edward G. Robinson. No tough guy role here for Eddie G. He's just a poor sap taken in by a pretty younger woman. Actually, it's hard to feel too sorry for "Chris" as he lets an innocent man go to the electric chair. At least he has a conscience, which torments him more and more as he winds up losing his mind.

Here's another example that one really does "reap what one sows" even if it isn't apparent at first. A conscience gets the best of most people. That's the message of this film, if you can stay with it. Margaret Lindsay is in here, too, someone I've always enjoyed watching, particularly in her films of the early '30s.

The Old Fool & the Femme Fatale...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 17 February 2023]

You're in banking, as a humble clerk cashier, when walking home an unfair damsel (Kitty) does appear, she's in distress, so you help out, knock perceived assailant out, you walk her home, and on your sleeve, a heart appears. It's not too long before you're doing what she says, rent her a place, where you can meet up on some days, your wife causes you constraint, you move your easel and your paint, though you're not fond of one, who Kitty does liaise.

Two impassioned lovers, from rather different perspectives, follow their hearts and not their heads, with rather disastrous consequences. Both Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett are outstanding.

Right when you're having the time of your life.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 2 November 2002]

Fritz Lang directs this moody Film-Noir. Glorious black & white. Interesting story line and well acted. A meek henpecked bank cashier(Edward G. Robinson)becomes an embezzler after meeting and falling in love with a much younger woman(Joan Bennett). The lovely and alluring Bennett's pimp(Dan Duryea)convinces her into manipulating the older man for money and control of his modest art work. Emotions can run the gamut and it is easy to find Duryea's character most offensive. Robinson and Bennett leave very little room to improve their skills. Also in the cast are Margaret Lindsay and Jess Barker. I loved the rainy scene and the moment when Robinson finds out that his muse is using him. The wrong seems to be righted, but still leaving a price to pay. Wonderful old time classic.

A great film from director Fritz Lang

[marxsarx · 9/10 · 24 July 2003]

************************MILD SPOILERS AHEAD*****************************

Edward G. Robinson is a diligent and mild mannered cashier who begins to envy his boss who has affairs with beautiful women and seemingly lives the good life. One dark night, he comes to the rescue of an attractive but gold digging woman, Kitty (Joan Bennett), who really doesn't love him, but thinks he is a talented and rich painter. He permits her to believe this because he is smitten with her. While he falls hard for her, she and her conniving boyfriend, Dan Duryea, run a scam selling his paintings, which turn out to be valuable after all. Edward G. Robinson's character is blinded by love and when he is finally convinced that Kitty won't ever be his, he snaps! The results are shocking.

I've heard much about the famed director Fritz Lang, but this is his first film I've seen that I'm aware of, unless he directed the silent film Metropolis which it seems that he may have and which I didn't like all that well.

Anyway, this is a great film! It's a morality tale and sometimes morality gets twisted when the good character goes bad and the bad characters get more that they bargained for from someone they thought was an easy target. It's wonderfully directed by the aforementioned director Fritz Lang. The movie gets better and better as it progresses. By the end, this old movie had me in it's clutches. Extremely watchable and entertaining, the director put together some extraordinary cinematic moments which pack a punch and linger in your memory. I was amazed by Edward G. Robinson's performance in the scene where his boss fires him. The tears in his eyes and the look of shame and defeat on his face are unforgettable. Edgar G. Robinson delivers a near genius performance. Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea are no slouches either. The real applause, however, needs to go to the director for many marvelous touches in this film and for a powerful climax that will impact you.

I give this movie a 91/100. In my book, it's a classic or near classic film. Don't miss it!

Immanent Justice

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 21 May 2008]

Edward G. Robinson is a timid bank cashier suffering from low self esteem. He's married to a shrew and takes refuge in his weekend painting, which he deems unfit for display except to friends, of which he seems to have exactly one, and THAT one so distant that he isn't even aware of Robinson's love of painting. Robinson's a decent man, though, and interferes when he sees a man slapping a woman around on a lonely street in Greenwich Village.

He shouldn't have. The woman turns out to be an "actress" (Joan Bennet) being mistreated by the man she loves, her "boy friend" (Dan Duryea). Over coffee, Bennet is mistakenly led to believe that Robinson is a famous painter whose work sells for as much as fifty grand. She and Duryea, two weasels, successfully dupe Robinson into supporting Bennet in her own apartment and Bennet is constantly wheedling money out of him. Robinson's problem is that he's trying to support himself and his nagging wife on a cashier's salary, but, since he's now in love with a woman who loves him, or so he thinks, he steals money for her from the bank.

The story gets complicated after that, with Robinson's paintings being discovered by an art critic and, without Robinson's knowledge, being sold for big bucks under Bennet's signature, and -- well, Robinson finally twigs and murders Bennet with an ice pick. Duryea is convicted of the crime and executed. Robinson's embezzlement is found out and he's fired. Then he contracts a severe case of immanent justice, which is the notion that bad behavior leads to illness and suffering, even in the absence of any causal connection. Robinson winds up wandering the streets, an insane bindle stiff, hearing the voices of Bennet and Duryea ridiculing him.

The year before this was released, Fritz Lang directed a successful noir with the same three leads in similar roles, "The Woman in the Window." There, Robinson was a psychology professor who kills a man in self defense and tries with Bennet's help to cover up the crime, even while scuzzbag Duryea is figuring things out.

"Scarlet Street" suffers by comparison. It's an ugly picture. In the earlier film, Robinson's wife was away, but he gathered with two or three friends regularly to have dinner and some witty and sophisticated conversation at their club. Robinson's professor was a little bored but otherwise generally satisfied with his life. The plot was simple, straightforward, and filled with suspense. In this one, Robinson is stupid and friendless from the beginning. Instead of one whiny voiced snoop, everybody seems to mistreat him, lie to him, exploit him, and ridicule him in his absence. Or, like his wife, they simply insult him constantly and boss him around. And they all live like slobs. Bennet flips her cigarette butt into a sink piled high with dirty dishes.

The problem doesn't lie in Lang's direction. He does a fine job. (The murder scene may make you gasp with surprise, the brutality emerging as it does out of a mild-mannered clerk.) There's a bit of ironic humor in evidence too. Robinson's wife, too stingy to buy her own radio, goes downstairs to listen to "The Happy Family Hour," while Robinson sits at the dinner table and buries his head in his hands. And the dialog is sometimes keen. "He's too dumb to be a phony". And he IS. Robinson's performance isn't bad but it's stereotyped. There's little complexity in it. He's thoroughly undermined by his corrosive lack of self esteem, a naive, self-deprecating fool and he's treated like one. Bennet is more animated than in the earlier film, but Duryea is, if anything, even a riper villain than before.

In real life, of course, Edward G. Robinson was a true aficionado of classical art and, along with Vincent Price, had one of the more esteemed and expensive art collections in Hollywood. In the film -- and I don't know if this was intended as a joke or not -- his much-admired paintings truly stink. Take a good look at that flower in the milk glass. My kid could have done better than that with finger paints in kindergarten. I'll reserve judgment on the big snake with the forked tongue wrapped around the el tracks. That one is either way over my head or way under it.

Overall, it's pretty depressing and paints a bleak Edward-Hopperly picture of modern life, so to speak, without much in the way of redemptive wit. It reaches for tragedy and winds up with only melancholy, baby. Rent "The Woman in the Window" instead. If nothing else, the transfer to DVD is better. This print is so fuzzy and blotched that when an envelope is held up for the audience, the viewer can't read the address.

Hays Code and plot contrivances undermine tale of milquetoast cashier undone by femme fatale

[Turfseer · 5/10 · 26 February 2021]

Scarlet Street, an early noir film directed by Fritz Lang in 1945, certainly has its flaws, mainly due to implausible coincidences and the interference of the production code.

Set in Depression-era New York City, Edward G. Robinson portrays Chris Cross, a timid cashier and amateur painter. After a work celebration, he witnesses a man assaulting a woman, Katherine "Kitty" March (Joan Bennett). Chris intervenes, and Kitty pretends to be interested in him, hiding her true profession as a prostitute and Johnny Prince's (Dan Duryea) pimp.

Despite his shrewish wife Adele (Rosalind Ivan), Chris falls for Kitty's manipulation and ends up giving her money, including embezzled funds, to rent an expensive apartment.

The film introduces two far-fetched coincidences that drive the plot. First, Chris's paintings gain fame when Johnny sells them as Kitty's work, even though Chris lacks confidence in his own talent. The idea of his paintings becoming masterpieces could have worked well in a comedy but leads to trouble for Chris in this noir. Surprisingly, Chris forgives Kitty, believing her desperate explanation for selling the paintings as her own.

The second coincidence involves the return of a presumed-dead police officer, previously married to Chris's wife. Chris tricks him into breaking into their home, revealing himself alive and causing their marriage annulment, allowing Chris to pursue Kitty.

As Chris transforms from a passive man to a murderer, we see an intriguing character shift. He goes from being pathetic to a vengeful murderer, adding depth to the story.

However, the production code's influence becomes evident in the film's later stages, forcing Chris back to his former sad-sack self after killing Kitty. The moralizing undertone could have been handled differently, allowing for a more complex exploration of Chris's psyche and motivations.

Edward G. Robinson delivers a solid performance as the beleaguered cashier, while Joan Bennett's portrayal of Kitty could have been more likable and less consistently angry. Dan Duryea's Johnny, though over-the-top at times, fits well as Kitty's creepy partner.

Overall, Scarlet Street provides mild entertainment, but its plot's implausibility prevents it from receiving the same accolades as more credible film noir entries.

I thought it good, memorable film noir

[cmr12 · 22 August 2002]

I have never seen "La Chienne," the movie that others say this is based on. I can only say what of think of this film. I thought this film was interesting and sad, and I have seen it several times and enjoy it every time.

"Kitty" and "Johnny" are con artists who dupe a middle-aged lonely man into loving Kitty, who's a lazy whore. Robinson has a painting hobby that has never gone anywhere, and he criticizes his own work for lacking "perspective." But he's happy to show Kitty his work, pretending he is a successful artist.

I have always liked Edward G. Robinson, in every role I have ever seen him in. In this film, he is married to an old, mean wretch of a woman, his job is really at a bank as a clerk, and when a younger, beautiful Joan Bennett pretends to be in love with him, he does everything he can to keep that love, even if it means going against the law to satisfy her demands for money.

In turn, the woman "Kitty" and her boyfriend, start showing his artwork using her name, and amazingly, she is a sensation. He ultimately finds this out, and even so, only wants her love, and she turns on him harshly, saying she never cared for him, making fun of him, and crushes his heart. He goes berserk, and winds up lonely, haunted by the beauty he thought loved him.

I thought this film was great film noir, and I enjoyed all the characters. Dan Duryea is at his best as a total piece of slime, Joan is a cruel, lazy beauty, and Robinson is just great in his role as a lonely, desperate man who only wants to be loved and admired.

Classic spiraling calamity

[I_Ailurophile · 9/10 · 25 July 2021]

'Scarlet Street' takes a little while to go anywhere, but once it catches our attention, it's wildly engrossing. This is a fine story about two con artists and the man they're fleecing for cash.

Edward G. Robinson is swell as hard-working, love-stricken Christopher Cross, a middle-aged gentleman trapped in a cold, loveless marriage. Robinson neatly captures Cross' mounting air of nervous desperation as he falls deeper in love, while being taken for ever more cash. Joan Bennett is vividly terse and demanding and entrancingly alluring as Kitty, the target of Cross' affections, as she strings him along with just enough false pretense to get whatever money she can from him. And Dan Duryea, as Kitty's boyfriend/partner Johnny Prince, exudes every possible ounce of calculating wise-guy smarm, bearing an outfit and accent that's readily recognizable as a contemporary archetype.

The progression of the narrative is increasingly riveting as the web of lies and deceit deepens, heading toward an inevitable catastrophe one way or another. I enjoy the costume design and set decoration all the while, helping to cement the story. The cast's excellent performances are made ever easier with characterizations of complexity and depth, allowing surprising nuance to come out. And Fritz Lang's keen eye as director builds superb, memorable scenes that leave more of an impression than the picture first leads us to believe it might.

From the start 'Scarlet Street' seems light in tone, and unassuming, but it unquestionably grows distinctly dark, and depressing, until by the end the picture hardly resembles the one we began watching. Even with Lang's reputation I was caught off guard by the first act, but make no mistake, he certainly delivers. This is an outstanding thriller that holds up magnificently almost 80 years later, well worth seeking out wherever one can.

A man can take only so much...

[AlsExGal · 10/10 · 29 January 2011]

and Chris Cross (Edward G. Robinson) has taken just about that limit. Fiftyish failure Chris has just marked 25 years with the same employer. That's the good news. The bad news is he has exactly the same job that he had when he first got there - bank cashier. Plus it looks like there are no promotions in his future. His wife Adele was originally his landlady. In middle age he married out of loneliness and now is pretty much relegated to being her housekeeper and her verbal punching bag with her constantly comparing him to her dear departed husband, a police officer who was drowned in the line of duty. Living spouses are usually no competition for dead ones, who lose all of their faults as soon as they lose their pulse, and this situation is no exception.

Then one night meek Chris makes an uncharacteristically bold move and interrupts what he perceives as a mugging. He's instantly smitten with young pretty Kitty March (Joan Bennett), the mugging victim. Chris may completely misunderstand Kitty - he thinks she is a young innocent alone in the big city- but Kitty has totally misunderstood Chris - she thinks he's rich and an acclaimed artist because of his knowledge of art and the fact that he mentions that he is a painter - it's actually his Sunday hobby. Neither corrects the wrong impression the other has because each wants something. Kitty wants money from Chris so she always has a sob story as to why she is poor and seemingly alone in the world. Chris wants to feel young and alive again, which he does with Kitty, so he finds ways - illegal ones - to give her the money she wants by embezzling from his employer and by stealing from his wife's personal stash of cash.

However, Chris and Kitty are not as different as you would think. Kitty is a doormat in a way herself. That mugging that Chris saw was actually Kitty's boyfriend Johnny (Dan Duryea) hitting Kitty for not giving him any money. In spite of Johnny's worthless ways she can't live without him and does whatever he asks which usually involves ever more elaborate schemes to get money out of Chris. She doesn't seem to mind the rough treatment she receives from Johnny either. All of this deception gets even more deeply layered before the film is through and eventually leads to murder. I'll let you watch and find out who is the victim, who is the killer, and who is the accused.

The acting by all of the principals here is just perfect. Although it seems that Kitty is a prostitute, at the beginning of the film she has a roommate that explains Kitty is a failed model because she is too lazy to show up to work. This was probably done to satisfy the censors because minus that explanation you couldn't help but conclude that Kitty is a prostitute and Johnny is her pimp. They certainly both have the attitude. Highly recommended as one of the great film noirs.

Fate And Circumstances

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 25 November 2007]

Scarlett Street finds Edward G. Robinson getting away from the gangster type and more to the mild mannered Mister Winkle which he played a couple of years before. Unfortunately things don't end as good for Christopher Cross as they do for Mr. Winkle.

A mild mannered little guy married to a harridan of a wife in Rosalind Ivans, Robinson's only outlet in his life is the painting he does. He's far better at it than he thinks and if he had some encouragement instead of misery from Ivans this whole story never would have happened.

In any event due to a combination of circumstances, his own personality and fates compelling the path he takes, Robinson winds up involved with bad girl Joan Bennett and her layabout boy friend, Dan Duryea. When Robinson moves his studio over to her place, Duryea grabs up some paintings and tries to sell them.

He makes a real impression on dealer Vladimir Sokoloff who sells them to noted critic Jess Barker and Duryea and Bennett say she did them. And Robinson the chump, goes along with it because he's so taken with Bennett.

Fritz Lang directed this film and it's one of his best American made films about fate just directing the broad march of events and trapping people into circumstances.

Leads Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea were all in Lang's last film The Woman in the Window and there is some similarity in plot. But I think Robinson's character is better compared to Claude Rains's Claudin in Phantom of the Opera and how he reacts when he thinks he's being made a fool of.

As for Joan Bennett, she's one of the coldest hearted women ever created on screen. All of the leads get a brand of justice one way or another in Scarlet Street.

For Once the little man 'wins'

[Pamsanalyst · 10/10 · 30 April 2005]

There's something to this story of Professor Unrath and Lola at the Blue Angel, but with Dan Duryea added to the mix. The respected cashier Robinson, having been honored by his co-workers and boss and having seen his boss slip out for a night on the town with a doubtful woman, finds out just how slippery the ground beneath his feet is when he tries to do the same. Bennett and Duryea ruin him, mock him but he overturns the applecart, sending them on their way to their own Hell.

How pathetic Robinson is! He must pursue his hobby in the bathroom, out of sight from Rosalind Ivan, playing another battle ax, and when his buddy from work stops, Robinson is like the boy caught smoking. We almost feel good for him for rescuing Bennett from Duryea until we see the designs the sleazy Bennett has on the little man. She portrays the part wonderfully. "Lazy Legs" Duryea calls her, but she is more of a spider, luring fly Robinson to her web. Duryea is wonderfully oily.

I think our one reviewer is correct: Lang surely was dissatisfied with the 'it was all a dream' finale to 'Window' that he took this one to a more satisfying conclusion.

Gritty, downbeat film noir from Lang

[sme_no_densetsu · 7/10 · 3 March 2010]

The film noir "Scarlet Street" is generally regarded as one of Fritz Lang's finest American films. In it, Edward G. Robinson plays a hen-pecked middle-aged husband who strikes up a would-be relationship with a younger woman of questionable moral fibre. Little does he know, her actual lover has persuaded her to milk him for all he's worth.

You might find that the above description sounds a bit clichéd and I'd be inclined to agree. About the first hour of the film proceeds in predictable fashion before the story really comes into its own. The plot does eventually justify your attention but the routine proceedings of the film's first half are arguably its biggest drawback.

The cast is decent but not outstanding. Edward G. Robinson gives the best performance by far. It's hard to believe that he was never even nominated for an Oscar over his long career. I have less patience for Joan Bennett & Dan Duryea, though that's mainly because their characters are basically one dimensional.

Lang's direction is attractive while the H.J. Salter score and Milton Krasner cinematography combine to give the film the atmosphere that it requires. The adapted screenplay from Dudley Nichols also delivers the goods in the long run.

Had the film not started out so ordinarily I would have ranked it higher but, even though the latter portion of the film is eminently satisfying, I can't ignore what preceded it. Nevertheless, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the film despite my caveat regarding the film's relatively uninteresting early stages.

By the way, this film is in the public domain, meaning that any distributor can sell copies without licensing the material. As a result, poor quality versions of the film abound on home video. As far as I know, the best presentation available is the Kino DVD edition, which is mastered from material preserved by the Library of Congress.

Murder by portrait

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 5 February 2020]

The idea for 'Scarlet Street' sounded great, and my interest in the film increased. Knowing that Fritz Lang (who directed masterpieces such as 'Metropolis' and 'M', both of which are very influential in their respective genres and film overall) directed and that it starred an actor as great as Edward G. Robinson (who throughout his career excelled in both supporting character roles and leading ones). Those two reasons are reasons enough to see any film, either one or the other and even better both.

Also because it had Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea, very talented too, and they starred with Robinson in 'The Woman in the Window' (also directed by Lang), also worth seeing. Seeing 'Scarlet Street' recently, it was also a very, very good film and close to greatness. Greatness it would have been if one subplot had been excised. Both 'The Woman in the Window' and 'Scarlet Street' are more than well worth seeing, musts if fans of the film-noir genre (put myself in this category), with this getting the slight edge for namely having a much better ending.

My only real complaint is the returning husband from the dead subplot, that was not necessary and the execution of it was silly.

Lang however is at the top of his game here. His direction may not be the best he did throughout his career, but he nails the moody atmosphere and his unmistakable style so perfectly suited is all over the film, he directs tightly yet still allows some breathing space as well. The murder scene is uncompromisingly brutal. 'Scarlet Street' is further advantaged by great performances, Robinson does a fantastic job in the lead role, tough yet also easy to root for. Bennett may seem too classy in looks for such a hard-edged film, but she is very appealing while Duryea shows why he was better than most at that time at playing sinister characters.

'Scarlet Street' looks impressive too. the moodiness of the lighting and slickness of the editing are striking but it is the beautifully composed and atmospheric photography that stands out. The music is ominous enough. The script is intelligent and taut, taking no punches while having darkly ironic humour. This uncompromising approach also carries over in the complicated (without being overly-so, it's always coherent) and twisty plotting, complete with a climax that still evokes chills. The tension is aplenty and enough to make one bite the nails, while the characters intrigue.

On the whole, very, very good. 8/10

Overlong.

[christopherlvngs · 6/10 · 24 January 2018]

This could of made a nice 80min drama. The story is totally unbelievable which in turn makes the end seem overly tragic. It's to slow compared with some of the great film noirs.

Exceptional noir film with a terrific performance by Edward G. Robinson and well directed by the master Fritz Lang

[ma-cortes · 8/10 · 10 August 2007]

This is a remake to Jean Renoir film , titled ¨La chienne¨ and concerns a good , middle-aged cashier (Edward G Robinson) suddenly meets a beautiful woman (Joan Bennett) when is scolding with her fiancé (Dan Duryea). Then , the couple schemes embezzle to the mild-manner , kind clerk . Jealousy , ambition and greed create a spiral of hate , killing and vengeance.

The film is a classic Noir Film , packing awesome scenes with an interesting script plenty of surprises and plot twists . The movie gets usual Lang characters , an average man is caught into a twisted cobweb , being involved in seedy nightmares of his own making and a tremendously imaginative journey into the depths of human desperation . The mild-mannered Edward G Robinson is extraordinary as a meek cashier snared by a femme fatal magnificently performed by Joan Bennett as a manipulating , predatory beauty woman . Nasty Dan Dureya with a straw-hatted completes the exceptional trio , playing perfectly an astute crook . It contains an atmospheric cinematography with dark and shades in black and white -although also available colorized- by cameraman Milton Krasner who along with John Alton and Nicholas Musuruka are the fundamental creators of the special atmosphere of noir cinema . Hans J. Salter composed the score musical finely fitting to the sensation of menace and suggestion . Fritz Lang made another great crime drama , also with a brightly portrait of the low life , titled ¨the woman in the window¨ with equal threesome players .

Fritz Lang was an excellent German director , in 1920, he began a relationship with actress and writer Thea von Harbou (1889-1954) , who wrote with him the scripts for his most celebrated films: Doctor Mabuse (1922), The nibelungs (1924) , Metrópolis (1927) and M (1931) . Subsequently , with the Nazism Lang exiled in the United States where he directed a lot of classic movies as Fury , You only live once , The return of Frank James , Western Union , Man hunt , Notorious ranch , Human desires , The big heat , Moonfleet , among others . Rating : Sensational , a real masterpiece by the genius Fritz Lang .

A glimpse at how Joan Bennett would have been had she played Scarlett O'Hara

[Entertainment-Buff · 6/10 · 12 August 2017]

Today, Joan Bennett is best remembered as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the mistress of Collinwood on the Gothic supernatural hit "Dark Shadows" (1966-71). During the exhaustive pre-production phase of "Gone With the Wind" (1939), thousands of actresses were interviewed and tested. Joan Bennett was one of the few who were seriously considered and actually made a screen test, which still survives today. In her portrayal of a conniving bitch in "Scarlet Street", we get a glimpse of how Joan would have been had she played southern vixen Scarlett O'Hara. Had producer David O. Selznick gone for star power rather than interpretation, Joan Bennett might have been cast. Joan would have been just "adequate" as Scarlett, but not perfect. It's a credit to Selznick's remarkable intuition that he took a huge risk by casting Vivien Leigh, a British actress virtually unknown to American audiences, as Scarlett. "Scarlet Street" is a well-made film that I would recommend. Edward G. Robinson and Duryea also give strong performances.

Jeepers golly, yipes This is film noir?

[zimmer-17 · 4/10 · 8 June 2006]

Third rate dialog and studio system casting doomed this project before it ever could get off the ground. Sultry Lauren Bacall or tempting Gloria Graham would have been highly preferable to Joan Bennett but even her casting made more sense than Dan Duryea as her pimp boyfriend. To say he is no Richard Widmark or Lee Marvin is an understatement. I expected him to take off his white hat and start singing and dancing every moment he appeared on the screen. The contrived appearance of a previously presumed dead character, wearing a pirate's eye-patch as a disguise, would have made more sense in an Ed Wood's Jailbait than in a film by the great Fritz Lang. The eye-patch as a disguise and his story of ending up on a banana boat to Honduras made as much sense as Victor Lazlo eluding the Nazis in a yellow suit in Ted Turner's colorized version of Casablanca. All of this is unfortunate because Fritz Lang was still capable of making great films as shown with The Big Heat a few years later. The basic premise of the love of a young woman ruining an older man (e.g. The Blue Angel) could have resulted in a worthy film.