In this remake of Jean Renoir's controversial 1931 film, LA CHIENNE, Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson), a quiet, staid cashier and dedicated Sunday painter, feels consumed by passion for the first time in his life when he meets pretty, manipulative Kitty. The two become involved, but Kitty is really in love with petty crook Johnny. She keeps Christopher around simply for his money. In order to impress his precious mistress, Cross embezzles funds from his employer. He doesn't realize, however, that Kitty and Johnny are also getting rich on his paintings, which are becoming a huge success under Kitty's name. When Christopher's theft comes to light, he loses his job and his dignity. And when he seeks out Kitty for solace, he discovers her in Johnny's embrace. The film explodes in its violent climax, and with it Lang creates perhaps his most chilling Film Noir work. The tightly structured story and the evocative paintings that lie symbolically at the center of the plot create a visual and psychological atmosphere of suspense, filled with double meanings and games of representation and appearance, all pointing toward a brutal final act, motivated by Cross' inner demons and repressed emotions.
Christopher Cross, a quiet and staid cashier with dreams of becoming a painter, feels consumed by passion for the first time in his life when he meets pretty, manipulative Kitty. The two become involved, but Kitty is really in love with petty crook Johnny--she keeps Christopher around simply for his money. In order not to lose his precious mistress, Cross embezzles funds from his employer; he doesn't realize, however, that Kitty and Johnny are also getting rich on his paintings, which are becoming a huge success under Kitty's name.
When Christopher's theft comes to light, he loses his job and his dignity. And when he seeks out Kitty for solace, he discovers her in Johnny's embrace. Furious, Christopher stabs Kitty repeatedly with an icepick. Then, he stands coldly by as Johnny is implicated, and finally executed, for the crime.
Theatrical release: December 28, 1945.
SCARLET STREETwas filmed in Los Angeles in 1945.
SCARLET STREET was the first film in the partnership between Lang, leading lady Joan Bennet and her husband , producer Walter Wagner.
Fritz Lang's SCARLET STREET has the same leading actors as his 1941 film, THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
(unspecified) - English
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary: David Kalat - Author
Text/Photo Galleries:
Photo Stills
Art Director
Alexander Golitzen: Oscar winning production designer, SPARTACUS
Director of Photography
Milton R. Krasner: American Director Of Photography, GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN
Art Director
John B. Goodman: Art Director\1940s-1950s
Review 1:
"[Bennett] throws herself into the role with gusto and a delectable, unsentimental slyness that's perfectly matched by Lang's mordant pessimism."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.89 11/25/2005
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