Scarlett Street (Lang, 1945) #TSPDT #952

An unhappily married cashier and hobby painter is led to support a would-be mistress and her secret lover and resorts to stealing.

This movie still lingers on with many memorable scenes. The awkward rencontre in the cafe with his would-be mistress, the bizarre naivete of Robinson's characters which transcends beautifully to the pictures and the harrowing ending where the poor painter is haunted by a remorseless guilt. I 'm surprised that the 40s would give a director leeway to simply steer pass the obvious happy end into such deep waters as Lang does here pretty effortlessly.

Things that caught my eye were the interesting set-up of the apartment. The "drawing room" is elevated in one part of the flat, where as the bedroom is "way down somewhere" on the other side. Lang went into great lengths to explain the architecture and geography (it is quite important for some of the film's most important scenes)

Robinson is wonderful, but so are all the other actors. Maybe the characters were overly simplified, but it works out great. I'm looking forward to see the original Renoir's "chienne"

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