When a movie is in the public domain and is available everywhere, I often think that makes people less likely to check it out, particularly when there are some shocking versions in poor quality or if its a black-and-white movie that’s been colourised. Scarlet Street (1945) is in the public domain and I was also reluctant to seek it out, as I remember Martin Scorsese examining it in his Personal Journey Through American Cinema, and showing a key murder scene from it. Basically I had the impression of what type of film noir Scarlet Street would be, a poor sap cashier (Edward G. Robinson) giving over to dark impulses when he rescues a dame (Joan Bennett) walking home through the late night streets of Greenwich Village. His attraction is returned, but only because the dame’s seedy boyfriend (Dan Duryea) wants to bilk the cashier for money, effectively pimping her out for a potential blackmail frame. Directed by Fritz Lang, Scarlet Street was what I expected but was surprisingly more than what I expected. I love film noir for its archetypes and conventions, but you can always feel a master’s hand at the wheel when the characters are given more shading and the plot makes strange detours, such as where Robinson’s love of art and painting intersects in this whole set-up, or how the movie continues on past where you think it might end, opening itself up to an Edgar Allan Poe type gothic psychodrama. Robinson is great as the straight-arrow gent who ruins himself over a mid-life crisis, Bennett complicates the femme fatale role by being brashy and fed-up, playing a role as the character is also an amateur actor, and Duryea effectively portrays the sleazy and unpleasant operator. With how the camera moves in at certain points, or the framing of scenes, or just the inclusion of certain details that help make moments come alive, Lang and his collaborators make sure the film delivers more than you might have bargained for. Available to stream on Tubi and Kanopy, as well as rent/purchase on iTunes. Recommended.
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