Rob Caravaggio Commentaries

The "self portrait" of Kitty March, Joan Bennett's fast-talking femme fatale who steals Edward G. Robinson's heart in Fritz Lang's film noir, Scarlet Street RC-2013-108: The Film Noir Series—Scarlett Street (1945) Your browser does not support this audio Ask a person to name her five favorite Fritz Lang films, and you're not likely to hear Scarlet Street. Yet it has all we've come to love about Lang—and about film noir. Inside the dusty B-movie packaging we find a big star, Edward G. Robinson, playing somewhat against type as a meek cashier named Chris Cross. As we watch the noir vortex suck him in, my heavily shadowed commentary addresses the ongoing debate over film noir's definition, the way Fritz Lang utilizes his roots in German expressionism, and the snappy dialogue of Dudley Nichols' screenplay. I'm also able to put my love of the film aside long enough to discuss the fascinating life and career of Robinson and the even more fascinating life of Joan Bennett, the