“Scarlet Street’ has so many beautifully subtle touches in it that it really has to be seen several times in order to be fully appreciated: the parallel between Kitty and Chris’s flower (his ‘problems with perspective’); the expression that flashes over Kitty’s face when Chris ‘confesses’ that he’s a married man; the brief reference at the beginning to Chris’s superstition, which will eventually bring about his psychological downfall. Like many Lang films, it deals with the concept of criminal justice, and is a clever, cruel and fascinating film — a little dated technically, but far ahead of its time, and one of the greatest and blackest film noirs from the forties. The climax is still one of the most chilling in film history — more frightening than most of the great horror films.”
In my latest edition of “Movies for Grown Ups,” I’m introducing you to another film without robots, car chases or “cool” special effects.
Scarlet Street is a film noir, but not one of those detective centered ones like The Maltese Falcon or Kiss Me Deadly.
Because it was directed by a refugee from Hitler’s Germany – Fritz Lang – this movie features the kinky backstreet misanthropy – a kind of doomed, sadistic stoicism — that’s standard issue with Teutonic filmmakers. Think of Billy Wilder’s dingy, (un)romantic comedy The Apartment or von Sternberg’s grotty The Blue Angel.
Those two movies deal with erotic obsession — never thought of Jack Lemmon as a stalker before, had you? — and so does Scarlet Street. Yet it is so much more.
Here’s the plot:
Chris Cross (played by Edward G. Robinson) is an aging, lowly clerk whose miserable marriage and tedious job are only made bearable by his hobby. He’s a painter whose expressionistic canvases are painted in the bathroom — when his shrewish wife permits it. (Note: the video below was ripped from a public domain copy of the film. Keep reading to find out how to view a superior print.)
Mostly he’s shown wearing an apron and cleaning up the apartment, while she nags him in the background.
One evening, fate brings Cross into the path of a lazy, slovenly “actress” named Kitty (who’s really a prostitute, but the Hays Code forbade Lang from spelling that out.) To his own amazement, the timid clerk rescues Kitty (played by Joan Bennett) from a brutal attacker. She repays the favor by pretending to befriend him.
“Pretending” because Cross doesn’t know that Kitty’s attacker was really her boyfriend/pimp Johnny. (Actor Dan Duryea specialized in skinny, snake-like wife-beaters on the make; he’ll remind modern viewers of an unsavory mutation of Richard Widmark and William H. Macy.)
Flattered by her attention, Cross lets Kitty mistake him for a famous artist – a fib that inspires the vulgar pair to take the old guy for all he’s worth.
Kitty talks Cross into renting a studio apartment in Greenwich Village so he can paint in peace (in fact, she just wants a fancy new place to live.) He duly sets up an easel, and moves his finished canvases out of his own home before his wife makes good on her cruel threat to throw them away.
A series of twists and misunderstandings leads a renowned art critic to mistake Kitty as the artist responsible for these unusual paintings. She can’t very well deny it, and Johnny won’t let her, now that “her” paintings are commanding high prices in upper crust galleries.
When Cross finds out what’s happened…
I’ll leave it there.
It pains me to do so, because Scarlet Street’s intricately plotted, edge-of-your-seat twists are among its greatest achievements, and I’d get a little frisson of excitement retelling them to you right now. However, it wouldn’t be fair.
Let’s just say that “following your dreams” can sometimes become a nightmare, especially when three people decide to blithely believe what they want to believe, with tragic consequences.
Thank you for writing about one of my favorite movies. Did Edward G. Robinson ever give a bad performance? I can’t think of one and I’ve seen him in any number of movies starting with Little Caesar. As for Dan Duryea, while he specialized in playing sleazy low lifes, in real life he was a devoted family man.
I’ve got to go watch this one again.
Did Robinson ever give a bad performance? Maybe not. I love Edward G. Robinson. But I think he was horribly miscast a time or two. The time that jumps to my mind was as the Hebrew slave/overseer in “Ben-Hur.” I kept hearing him say, “Yah! Build the pyramids, see?”
Here’s a weird aside: I once created a series of paintings that were based on bad paintings completely in the background one might see in 50s movies such as in a Park Ave office or study of a wealthy person. You might see such works in “The Apartment” or “Designing Women” or any of a host of films. Keep a weather eye out in the future and I’ll think you’ll be amused at the paintings used to “dress” a set.
I didn’t use any actual paintings as models but simply created “bad” 50s art out of my head such as organic looking sculptures on a pedestal or dumb abstract compositions. It was a fun project to try and create “bad” art.
Autie Mame, 1958 – lots of weird art in that one.
Here you go, James:
http://museumofbadart.org/
Here’s a colored pencil study of one of the paintings:
http://www.mnartists.org/work.do?rid=229352
Best line in this movie: “I never got a square deal in my life!”, from pimp Johnny. I saw this movie when I was about 17 years old, and the circumstances and absurd irony of the statement had me rolling on the floor.
Scarlet Street was a follow-up to Woman in the Window, also directed by Lang and starring Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea, and the two are very similar (with Scarlet Street being superior). The ending of Woman is a Hayes Code cheat, but Scarlet Street took similar themes and did it better.
Interesting footnote: Bennett ended her career as head witch of a girl’s school beset by maggots and killer barbed wire in one of the greatest horror movies ever made: Suspiria.
Love this film. Thank you for writing about it. The very last scene where he overhears the two cops talking about the consequences of murder leaves a very satisfying ending. You know that he will be tormented for the rest of his life.
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but for your younger readers, Edward G. Robinson is IMO the greatest actor of all time. Any film with him in it is good (even Brother Orchid).
E.G.Robinson was by far the greatest actor of all time,he played so many different types of parts it makes your mind boggle.A listing of some of his greatest films are;Two Seconds,House of Strangers,Blackmail,Smart Money,Women in the Window,Hatchet Man,Amazing Dr.Clitterhouse,Key Largo,Widow from Chicago,Bullets or Ballots.Their is a wonderful shot of E.G.and Bette Davis in the back seat of a car in Kid Galahad which i have in my office and look at it all the time.What is so outrageous is that he was never even nominated for an academy award except when he was dying the academy gave him an honorary one.I have never tired of seeing him as the banker father in House of strangers.
I found out about Woman in the Window while researching this movie and it is on my list.
Suspiria is amazing, esp. that soundtrack, which sticks in your head for days.
I have to disagree with you about Robinson being the best film actor. I have to give that to Lon Chaney Sr.
I’ve recently begun more fully exploring film noir and watched a good performance by Edward G Robinson in Double Indemnity, which I was watching for the first time.
Back on subject, I’ve seen Scarlet Street, but it’s many years. There’s something about watching someone in an abusive relationship that makes my skin crawl. I have to admit, I missed some of the more subtle clues and implications and I enjoyed the analysis.
Thanks for a beautiful piece about one of my favorite film noir films. Now I can’t wait to watch it again!
To Jay Kanter’s list of Edward G. films I’ll add “The Stranger” (1946); he plays a Nazi hunter on the trail of Orson Welles, who directed. Loretta Young also stars; one more bargain bin public domain find.
I’ve been a fan since I first saw “Little Caesar”: “Mother of Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?” For younger moviegoers, who might think that 1931 was during the Middle Ages, pick up a copy…see.
Because “This is Rico speaking. Rico! R-I-C-O! Rico! Little Caesar, that’s who! Listen, you crummy, flat-footed copper, I’ll show you whether I’ve lost my nerve and my brains!”
Great essay on a wonderful movie. When I first saw it, maybe in my twenties, I had only seen Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Stoddard Collins in Dark Shadows, of all things! Her performance was a revelation. I too, remember the moment when she reacted to Chris confessing his marital status. There are a lot of memorable moments in this movie! Thanks for brining it all back. I have pre-ordered the Blu-ray.
And Joan Bennett: “The Son of Monte Christo” (1940). Be still, my heart…I felt like a lovestruck teenager.
Re: best:
Just as I wouldn’t say my favorite composer Beethoven’s music is better than Mozart’s or J.S. Bach’s, comparing Edward G.’s wonderful body of performances to that of my favorite actor, James Cagney seems unfair to two great professionals, and their talented colleagues.
Enjoy it all.
The thing about Robinson’s performance as Rico is that he is the only movie villain I know of with NO redeeming qualities. He isn’t dashing or witty or possessed of a heart of gold deep down.
He is one of the least appealing movie characters ever.
Kathy,
Whatever you may make of Cody Jarrett’s relationship with his mother in “White Heat”, Cagney’s portrayal of pure evil matches Robinson’s. Some are born that way, and (deserve to) die that way; Alcatraz Island in San Francisco bay housed many of them.
Great choice as a “Movie for Grownups.” So many facinating and disturbing things are happening just under the surface in “Scarlett Street” that it is difficult to keep track of them. Fritz Lang, something of a minor league sadist himself, was a true product of Weimar Germany and he suffuses the film with a unique decadence and cruelty that is at once a little repulsive but quite irresistable.
The great Edward G. Robinson is letter-perfect as the poor schlub in way over his head. Joan Bennett proves again that she was film noir’s number one trashy siren luring schnooks like Chris to their doom. Also new viewers should pay Milton Krasner’s camerawork which wraps the entire film a feel of inescapable doom. “Scarlett Street” is a counterpoint to Lang’s earlier “Woman in the Window” which had similar themes (and almost the same cast) but a lighter feel. Viewing both in one sitting is a perfect way for a real film buff to spend an evening.