Hollywood Classics Collectors Edition - Scarlet Street

Hollywood Classics Collectors Edition - Scarlet Street
Kino Video's remastered edition of Scarlet Street finally does justice to one of the best film noir classics of the 1940s. Less than a year after scoring a critical and popular success with The Woman in the Window, director Fritz Lang reunited with stars Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea for this fatalistic New York City tale of a meek, middle-aged cashier and aspiring artist named Christopher Cross (Robinson) who unwittingly falls into a trap set by a pair of Greenwich Village con artists (Bennett, Duryea) who plot to sell his paintings and make off with the profits. In addition to Lang's masterful use of studio backlot locations and cinematographer Milton Krasner's exquisite control of light and shadow, the film draws its primary strength from the atypical performance by Robinson (typically so good at playing heavies, and a knowledgeable art collector off-screen) as a hen-pecked husband and self-professed failure whose withered ego makes him especially vulnerable to the false charms of Bennett, a femme fatale as heartless as she is ultimately doomed. Her scandalous behavior on screen and off (Bennett was the wife of producer Walter Wanger and Lang's mistress) and Duryea's pimpish amorality made Scarlet Street both immensely popular and scandalous enough to be banned in three states when the film was released in late 1945, but in Lang's dark vision of corrupted souls and avenging angels, nobody goes unpunished. The ending of Scarlet Street is as unforgiving as it is unforgettable, and in the hands of Fritz Lang, it's the purest essence of film noir at its finest. Kino's DVD release offers a high-definition digital transfer from a 35-millimeter negative preserved by the Library of Congress (in other words, it puts every previous video release to shame), and there's an astute, scholarly commentary by Lang expert David Kalat that puts Scarlet Street into critical perspective with Lang's career and film noir in general. For fans of the genre, this is a must-own DVD. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Review: More Great Fritz Lang
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.
Customer Review: Film Noir Surprise
I don't know if anyone else would agree, but this film seems like a precursor to David Lynch movies especially in the characterizations. It's an incredible film noir. Like Richard Widmark, Dan Duryea could play a weasel very effectively in one movie and then appear as equally effective in another as the good guy. Fritz Lang gives a very quirky edge to all the familiar character types appearing in this film. I saw a faded copy and was still blown away by it. I'm going to order the restored Kino print for my library dvd collection. Even if you don't care for film noir, but like old movies, please see this. Give it a chance to unfold and draw you into it. Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennet, Charles Kemper everyone is excellent.