Scarlet Street

[piperhaven]

Just finished watching Scarlet Street and most of it seems to be played for comedy.  Edward G in an apron!!!!   Maybe this was the antithesis of Woman in the Window the Lange movie with which it shares many elements.  It also made me realise that whereas woman seem to be very powerful in noir, men are often diminished.  Even Bogart and Mitchum, who know where their female nemeses are coming from, still allow themselves to be led down those mean streets. Is this mysoginie?  Well, yes but I believe that, like all subversive genres. noir allows us to indulge our secret desires at least until the end when the perpetrators are suitably punished.  . 

[DustyMc]

Just finished watching Scarlet Street and most of it seems to be played for comedy.  Edward G in an apron!!!!   Maybe this was the antitheses of Woman in the Window the Lange movie with which it shares many elements.  It also made me realise that whereas woman seem to be very powerful in noir, men are often diminished.  Even Bogart and Mitchum, who know where their female nemeses are coming from, still allow themselves to be led down those mean streets. Is this mysoginie?  Well, yes but I believe that, like all subversive genres. noir allows us to indulge our secret desires at least until the end when the perpetrators are suitably punished.  . 

 

I think the fact that the Edward G character is so inherently clueless is comedic.  But in a very sad and pathetic way.  He believes what he truly needs to believe in order to fall for the woman and be scammed.  

[TopBilled]

Just finished watching Scarlet Street and most of it seems to be played for comedy.  Edward G in an apron!!!!   Maybe this was the antitheses of Woman in the Window the Lange movie with which it shares many elements.  It also made me realise that whereas woman seem to be very powerful in noir, men are often diminished.  Even Bogart and Mitchum, who know where their female nemeses are coming from, still allow themselves to be led down those mean streets. Is this mysoginie?  Well, yes but I believe that, like all subversive genres. noir allows us to indulge our secret desires at least until the end when the perpetrators are suitably punished.  . 

Suitably punished according to the production code. But often those punishments are contrived. It never makes sense that a noir story would ultimately cross into a moral universe at the end. Most of these characters would just keep going and keep destroying everything in their paths (and sometimes not really be stopped). 

[Shannon Muir]

Just fit this one in recently as I joined the class in Week Three, but am trying to skip back and see the public domain films from the first 2 weeks.

 

This movie seems selected more as a noir precursor in its lighting and staging, as well as time period, and not necessarily in the expected plot elements of noir. The elements of romance, temptation, and intrigue that peel off like layers of an onion felt at times more like a romance novel that just happened to have a murder plot. All this said, SCARLET STREET also reminded me a lot of my own writing style! I tend to put characters first and action second, especially in early drafts of what I do. So in that aspect I found it very enjoyable and it was the unusual characters that kept me interested. The only other thing that might make it classify noir is the amoral ending, even if the lead does end up with a bit more of a conscience in the end than we see in other films.

[MyMoll]

I agree with this. I watched Woman in the Window before and then Scarlet Street and Scarlett Street has the same three main characters, but it's like Scarlet Street is Lang's way of saying what if everyone didnt act so civil. What if things in Woman in the Window went really downhill, I'll make Scarlet Street. I don't like Edward G. Robinson acting so clueless and letting himself be taking advantage of, but it happens in real life by some men so..

Just finished watching Scarlet Street and most of it seems to be played for comedy.  Edward G in an apron!!!!   Maybe this was the antithesis of Woman in the Window the Lange movie with which it shares many elements.  It also made me realise that whereas woman seem to be very powerful in noir, men are often diminished.  Even Bogart and Mitchum, who know where their female nemeses are coming from, still allow themselves to be led down those mean streets. Is this mysoginie?  Well, yes but I believe that, like all subversive genres. noir allows us to indulge our secret desires at least until the end when the perpetrators are suitably punished.  .