Scarlet Street

A film by fritz lang

Classic noir from acclaimed Austrian director Fritz Lang, in his American phase.

Trapped in a loveless marriage, Chris Cross (Edward G. Robinson) finds solace in art, and dreams that one day a beautiful girl will love him. When one stumbles across his path, under violent circumstances, he plays the hero, then tells a lie that sends them both spiralling on a path of deceit and destruction. Joan Bennett is gloriously amoral as Kitty, and her paramour, Johnny Prince, (Dan Duryea) is a feckless heel of the highest order.  Crisply understated performances, blackmail and mental torment combine to produce a stunningly original film, which was initially banned by the New York State Censor Board because of its moral ambiguity – allegedly the first film in which a criminal goes unpunished for a crime.

1945, English Language, 103 minutes. Based on the French novel La Chienne (The Bitch) by Georges de La Fouchardière.