Scarlet Street (1945)

Scarlet Street (1945), produced and directed by Fritz Lang.

A meek, unhappily married clerk (Edward G. Robinson) wants to be a painter. He gets wrapped up with a couple of grifters; the Code won't let them spell it out but Joan Bennett is obviously a hooker being pimped by Dan Duryea. After mutual deception and gender confusion our clerk's paintings become well regarded and he gets away with murder. Or he would have gotten away if it weren't for the voices haunting him...

This is a remake of Jean Renoir's La Chienne (1931) ("The Bitch"). Lang made a similar film with all three leads the previous year: The Woman in the Window (1944).

Available on Blu-ray from Kino. The commentary track by a Lang scholar gives good insight into the plot and much interesting background on the director and cast.

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