Ronald Colman has trouble with reality in “A Double Life”

Ronald Colman

A Double Life (1947) is a film noir directed by George Cukor, starring Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso. The husband and wife team of Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin wrote the screenplay. Milton R. Krasner did the cinematography and Miklos Rozsa wrote the score.

The plot concerns the famous Broadway stage actor Anthony “Tony” John (Colman) who is coming off tremendous success in a comedy entitled A Gentleman’s Gentleman. Max Lasker (Philip Loeb), a theatrical producer wants Tony’s next play to be Shakespeare’s Othello. Lasker also wants Tony’s ex-wife, Brita (Hasso) to co-star as Desdemona.

Tony and Brita star in Othello to wonderful reviews and the play runs for over a year on Broadway. As time goes by, Tony finds it difficult to distinguish between the character he is playing and reality. Will Tony be able to hold on to his sanity or will he disintegrate into madness.

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) was an English-born actor whose career started in the theatre. In 1923, Colman appeared opposite Lillian Gish in the silent film The White Sister. He was a hit with the public and starred in over 20 silent films in America. Due to his wonderfully trained stage voice, Colman made the transition to talking pictures with ease. Some of his sound films include Clive of India (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Random Harvest (1942). Colman was nominated three times for the Best Actor Academy Award. He finally won for his performance in A Double Life (1947).

Signe Hasso (1915 – 2002) was a Swedish actress who was promoted in the United States by RKO Pictures as “the next Garbo.” Although she wouldn’t live up to the promotion, Hasso had some memorable film roles in Heaven Can Wait (1943), The Seventh Cross (1944), Johnny Angel (1945), and The House on 92nd Street (1945). Hasso also acted on the Broadway stage and appeared on television making guest appearances on Route 66, Starsky and Hutch, Trapper John, M.D., and Hart to Hart.

Other actors you will recognize in smaller roles include Shelly Winters (this was her breakout film performance), Edmund O’Brien, Ray Collins, Whit Bissell, Betsy Blair, and Millard Mitchell.

A Double Life trivia:

• Laurence Olivier was originally slated for the role of Anthony John.
• The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Colman winner), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklos Rozsa winner), Best Director (George Cukor), and Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon).
• Colman had never performed any Shakespeare before and was uneasy about doing so on film.

To watch the film, click on the YouTube link below. Please use this link because there are other versions on the channel that aren’t as good.

After you’ve watched the film, join us for a discussion on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. on August 4, 2020. The links for the Zoom meeting are below.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "A Double Life"
Time: Aug 4, 2020, 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72687349308?pwd=Vml2SkVzeWNoWWlxdzFCQkVFYXRSdz09

Meeting ID: 726 8734 9308
Passcode: fJB4F9

Questions for discussion:

1. Noir or not? Does this film fit in with your idea of what makes a movie qualify as a film noir?

2. Was Ronald Colman convincing as a major Broadway star?

3. Did Colman and Signe Hasso have good on-screen chemistry?

4. There are lots of double images in the film; do you recall any of them? There is the contrast between illusion and reality. Our hero seems to have trouble distinguishing between the two as the film progresses.

5. Was the ending inevitable? Does it help with its film noir credibility?

Olivia de Havilland dead at 104

As Maid Marion in The Adventures of Robin Hood

Olivia de Havilland, winner of two Best Actress Academy Awards and the last remaining star of Gone with the Wind (1939) has died. She passed away in her sleep on July 25, 2020.

De Havilland was one of the last links to Hollywood’s Golden Age, having starred in so many classic films. Ironically, it was her lawsuit against Warner Brothers that helped bring down the studio system. She sued the studio for adding six months to her seven-year contract and won. Her court victory was known as the “de Havilland decision.” She was blackballed for a time by all the major studios, but she fought back and eventually reached heights few actresses ever attain.

In 1945, de Havilland signed a two-picture deal with Paramount. Her first film for that studio was The Well Groomed Bride co-starring Ray Milland, but it would her second Paramount release that would launch her career to the next level. As an unwed mother who gives up her child for adoption in Michell Leisen’s To Each His Own (1946), she won her first Best Actress Academy Award. Better roles continued with Robert Siodmak’s The Dark Mirror (1946) where she played identical twins—one good, the other a psychotic killer. One of her best roles was as Virginia Cunningham in Anatole Litvak’s The Snake Pit (1948). The film dealt with the treatment of patients suffering from mental illness under severe conditions at a state-run mental institution. The film’s success helped bring about many changes in mental hospitals.

William Wyler tapped de Havilland for the lead in The Heiress (1949). The movie was based on the Henry James novel Washington Square. For her performance, she won the New York Film Critics Award, the Golden Globe, and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Now a two-time Oscar winner, de Havilland’s services were in demand by top directors and studios. Elia Kazan wanted her for the role of Blache DuBois in his film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1950), but she turned it down. Her Gone with the Wind co-star Vivien Leigh ended up playing Blanche, winning her second Best Actress Oscar in the process. Besides her work on the screen, de Havilland appeared on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet and Candida, taking the latter on the road.

Celeste Holm (left) and Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit

During the 1950s, de Havilland starred in Not as a Stranger (1955), receiving top-billing over Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra, The Ambassador’s Daughter (1956), and The Proud Rebel (1958). The Proud Rebel, directed by Michael Curtiz co-starred Alan Ladd who would become a lifelong friend. The Ladd family and the de Havilland family remain close to this day. In 1962 she starred in Guy Green’s Light in the Piazza. The film co-starred Rossano Brazzi with Yvette Mimiuex playing de Havilland’s mentally disabled daughter. That same year she starred on Broadway with Henry Fonda in A Gift of Time. The play brought some of the best reviews of her career. The New York World Telegram and Sun said of her performance, “It is Miss de Havilland who gives the play its unbroken continuity. This distinguished actress reveals Lael as a special and admirable woman.” Also that year-a busy one—she published her first book, Every Frenchman Has One about her attempts to adapt to living in France; it became a bestseller.

Olivia de Havilland (left) with Yvette Mimiuex in Light in the Piazza

Her movie career slowed down in the 1960s although she would appear—somewhat reluctantly—in the box office hit Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte with fellow Warner Brothers alum Bette Davis. De Havilland replaced Joan Crawford, at Davis’s request when Crawford dropped out of the film. During the 1970s, she still appeared in films, but she also appeared on television in a variety of productions including Roots: The Next Generations (1979) playing the wife of a former Confederate officer played by Henry Fonda. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 1986 for Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna.

This brief obituary of de Havilland is only a small slice of her talent and impact on Hollywood during its most creative period. Thankfully we have her tremendous body of work which will live on for generations to come.

Kiss of Death starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray, and Richard Widmark in his screen debut

Kiss of Death (1947) is a film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Victor Mature, Brian Donlevy, and Coleen Gray. It marked the screen debut of Richard Widmark; he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and a seven-year contract at 20th Century-Fox.

Brian Donlevy, Richard Widmark, and Victor Mature

Mature stars as Nick Bianco, a small-time criminal who robs a jewelry store on Christmas Eve with three other crooks. The robbery seems to go off without a hitch until the injured proprietor manages to set off the alarm. In an attempt to escape, Nick assaults a cop and is sent to Sing Sing Prison for 20 years.

Louis D’Angelo (Donlevy), the Assistant District Attorney tries to persuade Nick to name his partners in crime in exchange for a lighter sentence. At first, Nick refuses, but when his wife commits suicide and his two young daughters are sent to an orphanage, he has a change of heart. But “ratting” on other criminals brings complications of their own that put Nick and his family, which now includes new wife Nettie (Gray), in peril.

Henry Hathaway (1898 – 1985) was an American film director and producer. Hathaway started working in silent films in 1925 as an assistant to established directors like Victor Fleming and Josef von Sternberg. His first solo directorial effort was Heritage of the Desert (1932) starring Randolph Scott. Hathaway, along with Scott, would be known for western movies. Besides Scott, Hathaway directed Gary Cooper in several films, including The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) which earned him his only Best Director Academy Award nomination. In 1940, Hathaway began working at Fox where he directed Tyrone Power in Johnny Apollo and Brigham Young (both 1940), Gene Tierney in China Girl (1942), Don Ameche and Dana Andrews in Wing and a Prayer (1944), and Call Northside 777 (1948) starring James Stewart and Richard Conte. After leaving Fox, he was one of three directors who worked on the western epic How the West Was Won (1962). He directed Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith (1966), directed John Wayne in True Grit (1968) which won Wayne his one and only Best Actor Academy Award.

Victor Mature (1913 – 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who became a major movie star during the 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. Before his film career took off, Mature starred in Lady in the Dark (1941) on Broadway opposite Gertrude Lawrence. Some of Mature’s notable films include I Wake Up Screaming (1941) with Betty Grable, The Shanghai Gesture (1941) with Gene Tierney. In 1942, he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in the musical My Gal Sal. Other notable films include Samson and Delilah (1949), and The Robe (1952), the first film released in the Cinemascope widescreen process. Mature was self-deprecating when it came to his acting. He said, “I’m no actor, and I’ve got 64 pictures to prove it.”

Brian Donlvey (1901 – 1972) was an American actor noted for playing tough guys in the movies. He mostly worked as a supporting actor, but sometimes played the lead as in the Preston Sturges classic The Great McGinty (1940). Donlevy worked in the theater but soon found regular work in silent films. He transitioned to sound pictures and starred in “A” and “B” pictures at most of the major studios. He supported the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age including Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, and Bing Crosby.

Victor Mature and Coleen Gray

Coleen Gray (1922 – 2015) was an American actress who was under contract to 20th Century-Fox in the 1940s. She co-starred in the noir classic Nightmare Alley (1947) with Tyrone Power. She also had a role in Red River (1948) with John Wayne. In the 1950s she started working in television, guest-starring in many popular shows of that period.

Kiss of Death trivia
Kiss of Death was written expressly for Mature due to his excellent performance in My Darling Clementine (1946). The actress Patricia Morison played Mature’s wife who is attacked and raped by a gangster who was supposed to be watching her while Nick was in prison. All her scenes were cut from the film and her rape is only hinted at by Nettie’s (Gray) character. Because of this, Widmark’s role was expanded. The famous wheelchair scene had to be filmed twice because the cameraman forgot to load the film. The trade papers of the day announced that Richard Conte was set to play Udo, the role that made Widmark a star. Widmark received his first and only Academy Award nomination for Kiss of Death. Since the film was shot on location, a toilet is visible in Mature’s jail cell. You wouldn’t see another toilet in an American film until Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

To watch the film, click on the YouTube link below. Be sure to use this link because there are several prints of this film on the channel of inferior quality.




To join us on July 28 at 6:30 p.m. Central Time for discussion on Zoom, click the link below.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "Kiss of Death"
Time: Jul 28, 2020, 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78526823065?pwd=bzFaZ01LaUVjMVpoQ2lhdnZNSDczZz09

Meeting ID: 785 2682 3065
Passcode: F8m5H4


Discussion questions
1. Noir or not? Does this fit in with your understanding of film noir?
2. What did you think of Victor Mature’s performance? Was he believable as a small-time criminal? Did the studio make the right choice in casting him?
3. Richard Widmark made an amazing debut in Kiss of Death. Can you see anyone else in this role? In just three years, he would star in Night and the City.
4. Did the movie end the way you thought it would? Was it satisfying to you?

John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine” and myth of the American West

My Darling Clementine (1946) is an American western film directed by John Ford, starring Henry Fonda, Linda Darnell, and Victor Mature. Many critics consider it one of the best westerns ever made.

The movie takes place in 1882, with the Earp brothers Wyatt (Fonda), Morgan (Ward Bond), Virgil (Tim Holt), and James (Don Garner) on a cattle drive to California. On the way, they meet Old Man Clanton (Walter Brennan). Clanton wants to buy the Wyatt cattle, but they refuse to sell. When they learn of the nearby town of Tombstone, the three older brothers ride in, leaving their younger brother James to watch over the herd. When Wyatt, Morgan, and Virgil return to camp, they discover that their cattle have been rustled and James has been murdered.

This is the setup for the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Some Clementine Trivia
My Darling Clementine was Fonda’s first film role upon returning from service in World War II. Mature had one of his best roles as Doc Holiday, even winning praise from director Ford, which was no easy task. Darnell who was emerging as 20th Century-Fox’s top bombshell is the fiery Chihuahua. Jeanne Crain was originally considered for the role of Clementine Carter, but studio head Darryl F. Zanuck had bigger plans for her. He thought the supporting role was too small for Crain who was being groomed for major stardom. Brennan disliked Ford so much that he never work with him again. Jane Darwell who plays dance hall owner Kate Nelson won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940) which starred Fonda as Tom Joad.

Linda Darnell and Henry Fonda in an iconic scene from the film

John Ford (1894 – 1946) was an American film director. Best known for his classic westerns. Ironically he won four Best Director Oscars for non-western films, a record that has yet to be equaled. Ford directed more than 140 films going back to the silent era. Orson Welles and Ingmar Bergman are among the many who consider Ford the greatest director of all time.

Henry Fonda (1905 - 1982) was an American stage and film actor. Fonda became a star in his first film role as Dan Harrow in The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) co-starring established star Janet Gaynor. In 1938, he co-starred in Jezebel with Bette Davis. In 1939 he starred as Frank James along with Tyrone Power in Jesse James (the second biggest hit of the year), Young Mr. Lincoln, and Drums Along the Mohawk, the latter two directed by John Ford. Fonda worked steadily on the stage and on film until a year before his death. He won his one and only Oscar for On Golden Pond (1981).

Linda Darnell (1923 – 1965) was an American film actress. She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox at age 15 and became a star almost overnight. She was immediately cast opposite Tyrone Power in Day-Time Wife (1939). She made two films with Power in 1940: Brigham Young and The Mark of Zorro. In 1941, she was again paired with Power in Blood and Sand, which also starred an up and coming Rita Hayworth. Darnell’s most famous role was that of Amber St. Clair in Forever Amber (1947), which turned out the be the biggest hit of the year. The role of Amber was the most sought after female role since the casting of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939). Other important films she starred in include Unfaithfully Yours (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), and No Way Out (1950). She died tragically at age 41 in a fire while visiting friends in Glenview, Illinois.

Victor Mature (1913 – 1999) was an American stage, film, and television who became a major movie star during the 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. Before his film career took off, Mature starred in Lady in the Dark (1941) on Broadway opposite Gertrude Lawrence. Some of Mature’s notable films include I Wake Up Screaming (1941) with Betty Grable, The Shanghai Gesture (1941) with Gene Tierney. In 1942, he starred opposite Rita Hayworth in the musical My Gal Sal. Other notable films include Kiss of Death (1947), Samson and Delilah (1949), and The Robe (1952), the first film released in the Cinemascope widescreen process.


To watch this film on YouTube, click on the link below. Be sure to use this link because there are several prints of this film on the channel, but this one is the best by far.



After you’ve watched the film, join us for a discussion on Zoom, July 21, 2020. Click on the link below to join the discussion.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "My Darling Clementine"
Time: Jul 21, 2020, 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75170417977?pwd=eUF5VFdKRmEzK1JWbisxNy9yV3pkZz09

Meeting ID: 751 7041 7977
Passcode: Z5pkxp


Discussion questions:
1. This film is considered one of the great American westerns. How does it rate in your estimation?
2. Henry Fonda was Ford’s first and only choice to play Wyatt Earp. What did you think of Fonda’s performance? Can you see another actor in the role?
3. John Ford was at first unhappy about the casting of Victor Mature (he had wanted James Stewart), but after interviewing the actor, he was convinced he was right for the part. What do you think?
4. Many critics think that Linda Darnell was miscast as Chihuahua. Do you agree with the critics and why or why not?

Edward G. Robinson lives in a "House of Strangers"

House of Strangers (1949) is a film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte. The cinematography is by Milton R. Krasner (Scarlet Street 1945).

Richard Conte (sitting), Paul Valentine, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and Luther Adler

Edward G. Robinson is Gino Monetti, an Italian-American banker whose business practices are questionable at best, against the law at worst. His four sons work with him at the bank. Gino dominates and belittles them at every opportunity, which causes deep resentments.

When Gino is put on trial for bank fraud, three of his sons take control of the bank with only Max (Richard Conte), a lawyer, taking his father’s side. Max bribes a juror in an attempt to keep his father out of jail, which leads to his disbarment and a seven-year prison term.

Richard Conte and Susan Hayward

Once out of jail, Max vows revenge on his brothers, especially older brother Joe (Luther Adler) who, like his father, controls his younger brothers Pietro (Paul Valentine) and Tony (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.).

Max’s quest for revenge threatens his relationship with Irene Bennett (Susan Hayward) a client he fell in love with. Will Max’s hatred and bitterness destroy him and his family or will he be able to create a new life with Irene.

Nineteen forty-nine was a great year for director Mankiewicz. That same year he wrote and directed A Letter to Three Wives, for which film he won two Academy Awards for directing and writing. He would win two more Oscars the following year for writing and directing All About Eve (1950). He is the only director to win back-to-back Academy Awards for writing and directing.

Edward G. Robinson (1893 – 1973) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Robinson is a true star from Hollywood’s Golden Age where he starred in the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931), Kid Galahad (1937), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), The Sea Wolf (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Key Largo (1948). Robinson was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1973 but was never nominated for a competitive Oscar.

Susan Hayward (1917 – 1975) was an Academy Award-winning actress for her role as Barbara Graham in I Want to Live (1958). Hayward worked as a fashion model but traveled to Hollywood in 1937 to try out for the role of Scarlett O’Hara. She didn’t win that coveted role, but she secured a film contract. Hayward’s career took off in the late 1940s when she was nominated for Best Actress for Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). She received four more Best Actress nominations for My Foolish Heart (1949), With a Song in My Heart (1952), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and I Want to Live. Later in her career, Hayward replaced Judy Garland as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls (1967).

Richard Conte (1910 – 1975) was an American actor who came to prominence in the late 1940s under contract to 20th Century-Fox. He co-starred with James Stewart in Call Northside 777 (1948) and had the lead role in Thieve’s Highway (1949) directed by Jules Dassin (Night and the City 1950), and played Gene Tierney’s husband in Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Conte worked constantly and had major roles in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Godfather (1972).

Below is the YouTube link to House of Strangers. Be sure to use this link because there are several versions available on the channel. The quality of this one is terrific.

After you’ve watched the movie, join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. Central Time on Zoom for a discussion. The Zoom meeting link is below

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "House of Strangers"

Time: Jul 14, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72214920975?pwd=V1RjQXZMS1BDQzVZR0JYUFpkaWNvQT09

Meeting ID: 722 1492 0975

Password: 9skVd3

Questions for discussion:

1. Noir or not? How does this fit in with the genre in your opinion?

2. Did Edward G. Robinson’s character remind you of another famous character from the movies?

3. Some critics thought that Susan Hayward’s role wasn’t necessary for the film narrative. Do you agree with that assessment?

4. Were you surprised by anything? Did the movie end the way you thought it would?

A walk down "Scarlet Street" with Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea

Scarlet Street (1945) is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang, produced by Walter Wanger, cinematography by Milton Krasner, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea.

With the critical and box office success of The Woman in the Window (1944), director Lang once again directed Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea in another film noir thinking lighting would strike twice and it did.

Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street

The plot revolves around Christopher “Chris” Cross (Robinson), a shy and reserved cashier for a retail store. In his spare time, he paints to help him forget his dull life and loveless marriage with Adele (Rosalind Ivan). Walking through Greenwich Village he witnesses Kitty March (Bennett) being roughed up by Johnny Prince (Duryea) and proceeds to knock Johnny out with his umbrella. Chris is enamored with Kitty and the two go out for drinks. While together, Chris is somewhat vague about his profession and his financial situation. Based on the way Chris talks about art, Kitty suspects he’s a rich and famous artist. When Kitty tells Johnny about her encounter, Johnny cooks up a plan to swindle Chris of his “fortune.”

Edward G. Robinson paints in his bathroom in Scarlet Street.

If The Woman in the Window was all a dream, Scarlet Street is a nightmare. Much darker than its predecessor but with similar ironic twists and turns to keep you guessing till the end.

Scarlet Street was a nominee for Best Feature Film at the 1946 Venice Film Festival.

Fritz Lang (1890 – 1976) was an Austrian-German-American director. Lang is the director of the silent film classic Metropolis (1927). After serving in World War I, Lang worked for a time as an actor in the theater and then worked as a writer at Decla Film in Berlin. Lang’s first talking picture was M (1931) a story about a child murderer. Due to his growing renown, Joseph Goebbels offered him the position of head of the German film studio UFA in 1933. Lang emigrated to Paris and then to the United States in 1936. Lang worked for all the major studios, making twenty-three feature films in the United States. Some of Lang’s films include Scarlet Street (1945), The Big Heat (1953), and While the City Sleeps (1956).

Milton R. Krasner (1904 – 1988) was an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work at 20th Century-Fox where he filmed such classics as All About Eve (1950) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Other notable films he photographed include Scarlet Street (1945), The Dark Mirror (1946), The Egg and I (1947), The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), Bus Stop (1956), An Affair to Remember (1957), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), and The Singing Nun (1966). Krasner won an Academy Award for his work on Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).

Robinson and Bennett

Edward G. Robinson (1893 – 1973) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Robinson is a true star from Hollywood’s Golden Age where he starred in the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931), Kid Galahad (1937), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), The Sea Wolf (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Key Largo (1948). Robinson was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1973 but was never nominated for a competitive Oscar.

Joan Bennett (1910–1990) began her film career during the early sound era. A natural blonde, Bennett dyed her hair as a plot device in the film Trade Winds (1938). As a brunette, Bennett projected a sultry persona that had her compared to the brunette beauty, Hedy Lamarr. During this period she starred in two costume epics. She played Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg in The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Bennett was one of two finalists for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), along with Paulette Goddard. She had a very successful collaboration with the director Fritz Lang. With Lang, she starred in the classics Man Hunt (1940), The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945). Bennett acted on stage and on television where she became a pop culture icon playing Elizabeth Collins Stoddard on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966-1971).

Dan Duryea (1907 – 1968) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his character roles as villains, but he had a long career that included a variety of lead and second lead roles. Duryea graduated from Cornell University in 1928. In his senior year, he was the president of the college drama society. Duryea went to Hollywood in 1940 to Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes, a role he created on Broadway. He established himself in films noir costarring in classics like Scarlet Street (1945), Criss Cross (1948), and Too Late for Tears (1949).

Below is the link to the movie on YouTube. Please use this link; there are several prints uploaded to the channel, but this one is the best one available.



Join us on Zoom for a discussion of this film on July 7, 2020, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Check below for meeting links.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "Scarlet Street"
Time: Jul 7, 2020 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74072831028?pwd=REdjTU00bERyc1BMVCs2a2FnMExjUT09

Meeting ID: 740 7283 1028
Password: 9NLZi9

Questions for discussion:
1. Does Joan Bennett’s Kitty March have anything in common with Alice Reed from The Woman in the Window?
2. How similar is Edward G. Robinson’s Christopher Cross with his characterization of Richard Wanely?
3. What about Dan Duryea? Was his characterization similar to the one in The Woman in the Window?
4. What classic film noir elements, based on your understanding of the genre, did you notice?
5. Was the ending a surprise to you? Was it a satisfying ending?
6. Of the two films: The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street, which one do you think is the better film?

Olivia de Havilland is 104!