Scarlet Street DVD 1945 / Directed by Fritz Lang / Starring: Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea / With full-length commentary

UPC 5060000401103

REGION 0 PAL DVD (All Regions) - Black & White

MADE IN France

AUDIO: English 2.0

TOTAL RUNTIME: 103 MINUTES

English Summary:

Scarlet Street is a 1945 noir tragedy film directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel La Chienne (literally The Bitch) by Georges de La Fouchardière [fr], that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne (1931) by director Jean Renoir.

The principal actors Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea had earlier appeared together in The Woman in the Window (1944), also directed by Fritz Lang. Local authorities in three cities banned Scarlet Street early in 1946 because of its dark plot and themes.

The film is in the public domain 

Christopher "Chris" Cross (Edward G. Robinson), a meek amateur painter and cashier for a clothing retailer, is fêted by his employer for twenty-five years of service. After company head J.J. Hogarth presents Chris with a gold watch and kind words, he leaves the party and gets into a car with a beautiful young blonde. Chris muses to an associate about his desire to be loved by a young woman like that.

Walking home through Greenwich Village, Chris sees a young woman, Katherine "Kitty" March (Joan Bennett), being attacked and knocks her assailant unconscious with his umbrella. Chris, unaware that the attacker is Johnny (Dan Duryea), Kitty's boyfriend, summons a nearby policeman, but Johnny regains consciousness and flees. After Chris walks Kitty to her apartment building, she accepts his offer of a cup of coffee at a nearby bar. From Chris's comments about art, Kitty mistakes him for a wealthy painter.

Chris becomes enamored of Kitty. He is stuck in a loveless marriage with his shrewish wife Adele (Rosalind Ivan), who idolizes her previous husband, a policeman believed drowned in the East River while trying to rescue a suicidal woman. After Chris confesses that he is married, Johnny convinces Kitty to feign a romantic interest in Chris to swindle money from him. Kitty inveigles Chris to rent her an apartment which doubles as his art studio. To finance the apartment, Chris steals $500 in insurance bonds from his wife and later $1000 cash from his employer.

Cast