Film Review
Scarlet Street is the film
that marked the artistic highpoint of director Fritz Lang's career in
Hollywood during the 1940s and '50s. It is also regarded as
one of the best and bleakest examples of American film noir, even
though it clearly lacks some of the 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 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). Robinson's 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, 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.