Review of Scarlet Street (1945) by Courtney T — 13 May 2008

SCARLET STREET.

Scarlet Street(Details here), from the hugely acclaimed and talented Fritz Lang, starring Edward G Robinson, this movie has some great prospects, part of the film noir movement all would seem on target for something special.

Chris Cross(Robinson) is a bank cashier who paints in his spare time. When he meets an attractive young lady half his age named Kitty(Joan Bennet), he tells her that he's a painter, which leads to Kitty manipulating and using him for money in a web of lies and deceit.

Acting is quite stylised, with some great moments but not a consistent level of brilliance, just the occasional spark of wonder. The characters themselves are reasonably rounded, but a few too many clichéâ??s and stereotypes have crept in to spoil it.

Fritz Lang provides some fantastic direction at times, however they are confined to a minority within the film. Opening scenes, poignant moments and the concluding moments are masterfully crafted, the rest is rather dull and a definate disappointment from one of the masters of cinema. Although his unique use of digetic sound still provides some extra special qualities.

The level of dialogue provides a few beautiful gems and sickeningly disturbing dark humour, as well as some very classy interaction and mood. Yet again, this aspect is inconsistent which lets the movie down greatly.

In conclusion, this is certainly not Lang's finest work by any analysis. There are some fabulous moments and a lot of worthwhile material, unfortunately it is never backed up thoroughly enough to amount to a great deal. One for extreme fans of cinema and the film noir movement.