…when he tells ye he didn’t do it! Ya just gotta! Because this time—for maybe the first time in his career as an unctuous movie villain—he’s actually telling the truth! He didn’t do it! The real culprit is…
Well, I don’t wanna spoil it if you haven’t seen the picture yet. The tale of a relentless search for the best DVD of Fritz Lang’s immortal 1945 Scarlet Street comprises this week’s Foreign Region DVD Report, at The Auteurs’.
The missus and I have been on a Lang kick as of late– the silent Mabuse being followed by the Nibelungen films and the starts-off-so-awesome-and-then-gets-incredibly-silly Man Hunt, which also features Joan Bennett playing a not-prostitute– which seems to make this the perfect time to watch this film that I’ve heard so much about; didn’t Scorsese feature it in his Personal Journey series?
The screen cap comparisons were most interesting.
I was actually a bit disappointed in Man Hunt after reading all the raves about it, especially after being so pleasantly surprised and impressed by Hangmen Also Die, which I felt was far superior. And I didn’t know whether to laugh at Bennett or admire her effort. Maybe both are appropriate. She’s a LOT better in Scarlet Street, and yes Tom, you should make it a priority. One of Lang’s best.
I also have to finish Die Nibelugen; I watched part one months ago and haven’t gotten around to the finale.
Lazarus, I think Part One of Nibelungen is far superior to Part Two– the whole plot of Two hinges, not ironically, on the assertion that an oath/blood brotherhood cannot be gone-back-on, which is odd coming from the two people what went back on it in the first film. And, not to spoil it, but Hagen Trojne does something really abominable on top of what happened in Part One, and it’s a little much.
That being said, Part Two is certainly worth watching, and Atilla’s reaction to both Kriemheld’s arrival and [the other thing Trojne does] are really unexpectantly moving.
I haven’t seen it in a while, but I remember believing strongly that the ending of Scarlett Street was intentionally hilarious(i.e. a great big cosmic joke).
@ MarkVH: Maybe you’re right, but man, that’s some dark sense of humor you’ve got there. Watching it recently and hearing the Joan Bennett voiceover…particularly when she goes “Jeepers…” just makes me shudder.
Saw Scarlet Street years ago on TCM. My mouth dropped open during one scene when I realized that Scorsese basically ripped off every single line from one scene and transposed it into one of his films. I don’t wanna give it away, but its one of the best moments in “Goodfellas”.
@ Joseph B: A little help here, friend. I just watched “Scarlet Street” in its entirety and did not get the dialogue parallel to “Goodfellas,” so I’m either losing memory, or hearing.…
Glenn, I could’ve sworn there was a scene in “Screlt Street” where one of the characters chastizes his buddy for flaunting a new coat and yells at him to take it back. Perhaps it’s MY memory that’s fading though.…
JosephB: There IS a faint pre-echo of that sequence in “Scarlet Street,” after the Katherine March exhibition that turns her into an art star: Johnny and Kitty pull up (to fast) to her apartment in this very swank new automobile and almost hit the fire hydrant, not to mention Marchetti, the owner of the grocery on the ground floor. Johnny and Marchetti have a little banter about how fast the car can go, then Johnny tells Kitty to not forget the champagne, and takes a block of ice off Marchetti…and borrows the fateful icepick. That did remind me a bit of the pink Cadillac that DeNiro has a fit over, along with the swanky coat, in “Goodfellas.” But the dialogue isn’t much of a match. Still, that could be it!