Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett star in this 1945 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. Robinson plays a meek office clerk whose meekness is compounded by one of the most domineering wives in film history. Anyway, one dark evening while walking home from an office party honoring him for years of loyal service, he gets involved in a street altercation and things spiral out of control with tragic results. 102 minutes. No subtitles.
The year before critics complained about the ending of Fritz Lang's film noir, The Woman in the Window, and so in 1945 Lang made a very similar film, Scarlet Street, with the same cast but with a dramatically different and dark ending.
Once again Joan Bennett is the femme fatale, and Dan Duryea the sleazy villain, but Robinson is again superb as the meek office clerk whose only consolation is painting which he does in his spare time despite the sneers of his wife. Eddie Muller's intro to this film claims that it is "essential" film noir, and Fritz Lange's best film.
Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett star in this 1944 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. Robinson plays a criminal law professor attending an academic convention in New York city who one night meets the model for a beautiful portrait displayed in his hotel window. This chance encounter leads to murder, blackmail and a very suspenseful climax. 99 minutes.
Despite a long and brilliant film career, Edward G. Robinson never received even a nomination for an Academy Award. His Romanian Jewish family had settled in New York City before WWI, and he was educated in City schools where he developed an interest in acting. Eventually, he became a star during Hollywood’s Golden Age despite his small, stocky body, and unattractive looks. He burst into prominence in 1931 playing a snarling, vicious Italian gangster in Little Caesar. It was a role that would forever mark him as a tough guy, but unlike most stars he was able to have more than one film persona.
Joan Bennett is a fine femme fatale in this film, and Dan Duryea establishes his own screen persona as a smarmy blackmailer. In his intro on TCM's Noir Alley Eddie Muller places this film with the wonderful crop of crime dramas from 1944 like Double Indemnity, Laura, Murder My Sweet, and Phantom Lady that established film noir in film history. ###
The Burglar. Dan Duryea stars inthis little known 1957 crime thriller with typical noir twists and turns. Duryea plays a cunning jewel thief hoping to pull off his final heist. In a rare serious role Jayne Mansfield plays one of the accomplices. Based on a novel by famed crime writer David Goodis who also did the screenplay. 90 minutes. No CC.
This film was made in 1955 but only released in 1957. In the meantime, Jayne Mansfield had become a blonde sex-symbol, but in this early film she turns in a fine, subdued performance. Dan Duryea, one of the great film noir villains, plays the burglar, a real professional with a sense of loyalty and honor. The beautiful Martha Vickers does a good job in a supporting role.
Eddie Muller of TCM's Noir Alley provides a good intro.
Too Late for Tears: Lizabeth Scott and Dan Duryea star in this 1949 tale of a beautiful, scheming housewife who will let nothing stand in her way after a fortune drops into her lap. This role put Lizabeth Scott among the top femme fatales in film-noir history.
Directed by Byron Haskin the film also features Don DeFore and Arthur Kennedy in supporting roles. 100 minutes. CC.
Too Late for Tears was a box office flop but is now a cult favorite. In his intro and outro to the film Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movies Noir Alley discusses the making of the film as well as the painstaking restoration that saved this noir classic from oblivion.
Criss Cross: Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo play star-crossed lovers in this 1949 heist drama that critics rank among the top three of all film noir. Robert Siodmak directed this film full of plot twists and turns, excellent cinematography, and a film score by Miklos Rozsa. 84 minutes. CC.
There is a tragic love triangle at the heart of the story. Lancaster is still in love with his beautiful ex-wife, played by DeCarlo, but she has taken up with a smarmy gangster played by Dan Duryea, one of Hollywood’s greatest film villains.
Lancaster gets involved with the gangster, and although the hatred between them is palpable, he agrees to participate in the robbery of an armored car bearing a company payroll. Lancaster, a driver for the armored car company, will be the inside man. As usual the gang members mistrust each other and plan to double cross each other once they get their hands on the loot.
The cast is superb. Lancaster’s character has his flaws, and is engaged in a criminal enterprise, but our hearts go out to him right to the tragic ending. He is tough but his innocence makes him a true tragic hero. Fate is against him.
Apparently, the producers wanted Ava Gardner or Rita Hayworth for the female lead, but since neither was available, they settled on DeCarlo. It was a happy accident. I can think of no other actress that could have matched her passion and intensity in this film. Her fiery personality is especially evident in a beautifully photographed Latin dance number performed by her and an uncredited Tony Curtis on a crowded night club floor. No wonder Lancaster could not forget her. It is sad to think that this beautiful actress ended her career playing Mrs. Herman Munster on the TV comedy series, the Munsters.
As always, Dan Duryea is superb as a sleazy, vicious gangster.
In 2004, film critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "Robert Siodmak ...directs this cynical film noir of obsessive love and betrayal. It's 1940s film noir at its most influential as far as style goes, that is further enhanced by the beautiful dark photography of Frank Planer, the tight script by Daniel Fuchs, and the taut pacing by Siodmak. It's based on a story by Don Tracy...Siodmak keeps the suspense at a feverish pitch, and the characterizations are well drawn out. Criss Cross is one of the great examples of 1940s film noir at its most tragic. A must see film for fans of the genre."
Eddie Muller of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) rated Robert Siodmak as the best director of Film Noir, and called Criss Cross his masterpiece. Clicl on this link for Muller's six minute introduction to the film, or watch the video below.
Note: I would just like to add one more word about the final scene. It seems to me that whoever designed this scene must have had Michelangelo’s famous Pieta in mind. There was a cultural heritage that filmmakers and viewers shared back in Hollywood’s Golden Age, that sadly is no more.
