Scarlet Street 1945 | Vintage Mystery Movies | Film Noir | Crime Noir

Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel La Chienne (literally The Bitch) by Georges de La Fouchardière, which had been previously dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne (1931) by director Jean Renoir.
The principal actors Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea had earlier appeared together in The Woman in the Window (1944), also directed by Lang. Local authorities in New York, Milwaukee, and Atlanta banned Scarlet Street early in 1946 because of its dark plot and themes
The film is in the public domain.
Plot:
Christopher "Chris" Cross, a meek amateur painter and cashier for a clothing retailer, is fêted by his employer for 25 years of service. After company head J.J. Hogarth presents Chris with a gold watch and kind words, Hogarth leaves the party and gets into a car with a beautiful young blonde. Chris muses to a colleague about his desire to be loved by a young woman like that.
Walking home through Greenwich Village, Chris sees a young woman, Katherine "Kitty" March, being attacked, and knocks her assailant unconscious with his umbrella. After Chris dashes off to summon a policeman, the assailant, who is actually Kitty's boyfriend Johnny, regains consciousness and flees. Chris walks Kitty to her apartment. His wistful remarks about art suggest to her that Chris must be a wealthy painter.
Enamored of Kitty and thinking she feels affection for him, Chris tells her about his loveless marriage. His shrewish wife Adele idolizes her previous husband, a policeman believed drowned while trying to rescue a suicidal woman.
Needing funds for a shady business deal, Johnny believes that Kitty should play on Chris' naivete and feign romantic interest in the supposed rich artist to swindle money from him. Kitty persuades Chris to rent her an apartment, suggesting that he could use it as his art studio. To finance the apartment, Chris steals $500 in insurance bonds from his wife and later $1,000 cash from his employer.
Unknown to Chris, Johnny tries selling some of his paintings, leaving them with a street vendor who thinks them worth no more than $25. The paintings attract the interest of art critic David Janeway, who declares the work as exceptional. After Johnny persuades Kitty to pretend that she painted them, she charms Janeway with Chris's own views about art. Captivated by the paintings and by Kitty, Janeway promises to represent her. However, Adele sees her husband's paintings, signed "Katherine March," in the window of a commercial art gallery and accuses Chris of copying March's work. Chris confronts Kitty, who claims that she had sold them because she needed the money. Delighted that his creations are appreciated, he lets her become the public face of his art. She becomes a huge commercial success, although Chris never receives any of the money.
Adele's supposedly dead first husband Higgins appears at Chris's office to extort money from him. Higgins did not drown but disappeared after stealing $2,700 from the purse of the woman whom he had tried to save. Already suspected of taking bribes from speakeasies, he faked his death to escape his crimes and his wife. Chris steals another $200 from his boss for Higgins. Chris plots for Adele to see Higgins, hoping that his marriage will be invalidated when Adele realizes that Higgins is still alive.
Chris goes to see Kitty, believing that he is now free and that she will marry him. He finds Johnny and Kitty in an embrace, confirming his suspicions that they are romantically involved. However, Chris asks Kitty to marry him, but she spurns him for being old and ugly and laughs in his face. Enraged, he stabs her to death with an ice pick. The police visit Chris; it has been determined he had embezzled money from his employer. His boss refuses to press charges, but fires Chris. Johnny is arrested for Kitty's murder.
At the trial, Johnny's past works against him. Chris denies painting the pictures, claiming to be an untalented artist. Several witnesses confirm Chris's testimony and attest to Johnny's misdeeds and bad character. Johnny is convicted and put to death for Kitty's murder, Chris goes unpunished and Kitty is erroneously immortalized as a great artist.
Haunted by the murder, Chris attempts to hang himself on the night of Johnny's execution, but is rescued. Several years later, he has become homeless and destitute, with no way of claiming credit for his own paintings, one of which has sold for $10,000. Tormented by thoughts of Kitty and Johnny loving each other eternally, Chris wanders New York, constantly hearing their voices in his mind.
Source – Wikipedia
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