Film Noir Review: Scarlet Street Starring Edward G. Robinson

Scarlett Street from 1945 is considered one of the classic film noirs. The Czar of Noir Eddie Muller lists it in his top 25 film noir titles. I was a little less impressed as I liked The Woman in the Window, also featuring the same three leads: Edward G. Robinson, Dan Duryea, and the lovely Joan Bennett. Both films were directed by Fritz Lang. (My review of The Woman in the Window appears in an earlier blog.) Scarlett Street runs a little longer at 101 minutes, and that might be the problem. There is more time to exchange dialogue, and it slows down the pace. The final 20 minutes are prime noir, however. So, bear with the movie for big pay-off. Robinson plays a hen-pecked, middle-aged cashier who washes the dinner dishes while his harridan wife listens to the radio dramas downstairs with the neighbor lady. He paints on the side as a passionate hobby. He's more talented than he gives himself credit for. Joan Bennett comes into his life, and Dan Duryea, her actual boyfriend, helps her cook up a grift to fleece poor, old Robinson (through his position as a cashier) who thinks he's madly in love with the much younger lady. Middle-aged men, I suppose, indulge in those fantasies. The photography of post-war New York City is great. Edward G. Robinson is superb, again. I just like the edgier The Woman in the Window a bit more. However, the pair of films are well worth seeing one  after the other. I hope neither picture ever goes out of print.