Scarlet Street

Another Lang noir. There's a bit of a disconnect in my brain between the Lang making silent epics like Metropolis, and the Lang making noirs in the US. A film like Scarlet Street certainly feels a lot less special, it's a typical genre flick that does little to set itself apart from its peers. That said, it's far from the worst noir I've seen.

Chris is trapped in a loveless marriage, his nagging wife drives him up the wall. To escape from his dreary life, Chris like to paint. Through his paintings he meets Kitty, a young woman who loves Chris' work. Their budding romance stirs something in Chris, what he doesn't know is that Kitty is involved with a younger man, planning to scam Chris.

I've been watching quite a few classic noirs and the setup rarely deviates. There's a lot of empty dialogue, slightly too much drama that finds little support from the basic characters, and a more tense ending, usually involving murder in a rainy setting. That's pretty much what you can expect from Scarlet Street.