Scarlet Street
About Scarlet Street
In 1934 New York, cashier Christopher Cross gets a watch for 25 years at the office and then steps in when a man roughs up Kitty March. The man is her boyfriend, Johnny Prince. Kitty lets Chris rent her a studio and thinks he is a rich painter. He steals from his wife Adele and from his employer to pay for it. Johnny sells Chris's pictures as Kitty's. When Chris finds them together he kills Kitty. Johnny is convicted and executed. Chris is not charged. Years later he is on the street, and a painting of Kitty sells for $10,000 while he hears her and Johnny in his head.
Cast & crew
More about Scarlet Street
Fritz Lang directed and produced with Walter Wanger. Dudley Nichols wrote the screenplay from Georges de La Fouchardière's novel La Chienne, already filmed by Jean Renoir in 1931. Milton Krasner photographed it, Arthur Hilton edited, and Hans J. Salter wrote the music. Universal released it on 28 December 1945. Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea had just made The Woman in the Window for Lang.
Themes
Reviews
Bosley Crowther in the New York Times called the story sluggish and manufactured. He wrote that Robinson was monotonous and Bennett colorless, and that only Dan Duryea was credible.
Look
Milton Krasner shot the film.
Music
Hans J. Salter composed the score.
Preservation
The film is in the public domain. Copies are on the Internet Archive and on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- New York banned it on 4 January 1946, Milwaukee on 11 January, and Atlanta on 3 February.
- The bans cited illicit love and a crime that is not punished.
- Rosalind Ivan plays Adele. Margaret Lindsay, Vladimir Sokoloff, and Samuel S. Hinds are also billed.
- The film is in the public domain in the United States.
- Chris steals $500 in insurance bonds from Adele and $1,000 from his boss before the pictures start to sell.
Scenes
- Johnny sells Chris's canvases as Kitty's, and a critic builds her reputation.
- Chris stabs Kitty, and Johnny is the man the court executes.
Influenced by
- La Chienne (novel and Jean Renoir's 1931 film)
Also available
- Internet Archive (scarlet_street_ipod)
