Film Review
Whilst it tends to be overshadowed by some of its director's
better known films of its time,
Scarlet Street represents one of the
early artistic highpoints of director Fritz Lang during his highly productive
time in Hollywood during the 1940s and '50s. There is no question
that it should be considered one of the best and bleakest examples of American
film noir - certainly on a par with Lang's subsequent great noir offerings
The Big Heat (1953),
The Blue Gardenia (1953),
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
(1956) - even though it is obviously lacking in some of the more obvious
film noir motifs. Based on a novel by Georges de La Fouchardière,
the film is effectively a remake of an earlier French film,
La Chienne
(1931), which was directed by Jean Renoir and starred Michel Simon.
Not only is
Scarlet Street extremely well directed
and shot with consummate skill, it also boasts some of the best performances
of any classic American film noir. The film's three lead actors
- Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea - work together remarkably
well, having appeared together in an earlier Fritz Lang film,
The Woman in the Window (1944). Robinson is a perfect
casting choice - he had a knack of portraying ordinary characters truthfully
and without overplaying the pathos, but he was also just as adept at playing
evil (something he originally put to good use in his early gangster roles,
in films such as
Little Caesar).
Robinson's deceptive air of childlike innocence is effectively contrasted
with the cruel venality of Joan Bennett's femme fatale. Watching the
scheming Bennett manipulate Robinson is like watching a cat toying with a
mouse, just before the coup de grâce is applied.
Fritz Lang's origins in German expressionist cinema are apparent in the way
he develops film noir technique in his films. Whilst Lang never returned
to the true, highly stylised expressionism of his early silent films (
Dr Mabuse, der Spieler
(1922),
Spione (1928),
M (1931)), he retained a penchant for harsh
lighting, unusual camera angles and shadow play. This can be seen most
readily in the final sequences of
Scarlet Street,
where the familiar expressionistic devices allow Lang to achieve economy
on both narrative and set design whilst heightening dramatic impact.
There could hardly be a more effective way of showing the central character's
descent into Hell than to have the shadows engulf him and drag him towards
his tragic destiny, making this an ingenious and brutal reinterpretation
of the famous Faust legend, in which a man sells his soul to possess the
one thing he can never have - love.
© James Travers 2008
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Next Fritz Lang film:
Cloak and Dagger (1946)
Film Synopsis
Mild-mannered store cashier Chris Cross relieves his humdrum life by
painting in his spare time, which is just one of the things that irks
his shrewish wife. One night, after attending a dinner in
his honour, Chris comes to the aid of a young woman who is apparently
being attacked by a man. The woman, Kitty March, accepts Chris's
offer of a nightcap. As they talk, both lie about themselves:
Kitty, a prostitute, says she is an actress; Chris admits to being a
successful painter. Realising the impression she has made
on Chris, Kitty decides to extort money from him. Encouraged by
Johnny, her loutish boyfriend-pimp, Kitty persuades Chris to give her
money to rent an apartment where they can meet. To raise the
money, Chris has no choice but to steal from his employers...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.