Scarlet Street on DVD (Yay!!!!!)

[Midnite]

"Scarlet Street," starring Joan Bennett, was released today on DVD (Kino, $25).  The LA Times review is also at calendarlive.com, which I believe makes it only available to non-subscribers for a short time.  This page includes a stunning photo of Bennett with her costar Dan Duryea (click it to open a larger version in a new window) that also appears on p. E3 of the print edition:

German Genius in the U.S.  THE EXTRAS FILE:  Fritz Lang's noir 'Scarlet Street' and mystery 'House by the River' reveal a masterful storyteller.

The article calls Bennett "deliciously wicked" in the role, "a vulgar femme fatale."  From the review: Extras include a photo gallery (that features images of deleted scenes) and informative commentary from film historian David Kalat.

[Charles_Ellis]

Well, here's the problem.  Scarlet Street has been in public domain for some time now, and old prints have been used for DVDs by other companies- usually PD specials ranging from one to five dollars each in stores.  This new release obviously has more extras, and although Kino is well respected for releasing Hollywood rarities, I wouldn't expect the print used to be top notch.  The only way this situation can be rectified is if Universal (the studio that originally released the film in '45) puts out a legit edition using a newly-struck print from the master negative.  It can be done- Paramount finally put out a legit (and brilliantly restored!) version of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers recently after years of bad PD DVDs made from old prints.  Unless Kino used a sparkling print from the Universal library, I wouldn't hold my breath about this release.

[Midnite]

The only way this situation can be rectified is if Universal (the studio that originally released the film in '45) puts out a legit edition using a newly-struck print from the master negative. It can be done- Paramount finally put out a legit (and brilliantly restored!) version of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers recently after years of bad PD DVDs made from old prints. Unless Kino used a sparkling print from the Universal library, I wouldn't hold my breath about this release.

Charles,

This one was digitally transferred from an archived (LC) negative and is way sharper and clearer than what's already out there.

[Gothick]

Joan Bennett is just INCREDIBLE in this movie.  The phrase "lazy legs" (which was also the director's nickname for Joan) stuck in my head for a long time after seeing Scarlet Street.

If the Oscars meant anything, Joan would have been given one for her performance in this movie!  Robinson and Duryea are both top-knotch, as well.

G.

[Charles_Ellis]

I'm in agreement with you on that one, and so is film historian Danny Peary.  Check out his book Alternative Oscars in which he makes his choices for Oscar winners in the 3 biggest categories (Best Picture/Actor/Actress) from 1927 to today.  He makes a strong argument for a 1945 win for Joan.  So why wasn't she ever nominated for any of her film work?  It may have to do with the fact that her husband at the time, producer Walter Wanger, was also president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences during most of the 1940s, when Joan's film career was at its peak.  If she were nominated, there may have been questions of nepotism and conflicts of interest.  It happened before when Academy co-founder Mary Pickford won a Oscar for her talkie debut in 1929's Coquette over the more critically acclaimed performances of Ruth Chatterton as Madame X and the then recently deceased Jeanne Eagels in the first sound version of The Letter.  To add insult to injury, Fairbanks was also the Academy president at the time.  So poor Joan literally found herself in a no-win situation when she did her best film acting under Fritz Lang's direction in films like Man Hunt, Woman in the Window and her best film performance as the slutty Kitty March in Scarlet Street.

PS- get the Peary book- he finally corrects some legendary Oscar oversights (Marilyn finally gets an Oscar, Judy gets "the Oscar that got away" from A Star Is Born, and both Burtons win for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).  Midnite, if a Libray of Congress negative was used, I am definitely interested in this new DVD release!!

[Darren Gross]

I'm happy report that the Scarlet Street transfer is getting very high marks, including one from my mate Glenn Erickson at DVD Savant...

Here's the review!

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1848scar.html

[retzev]

Reviewed here -

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1848scar.html

[Midnite]

OT

Amazon's Conditions of Use regarding copyright states that their images, text, graphics, and other content are the property of Amazon.com or its suppliers and are protected by law.

[retzev]

Understood, thanks for the heads up.

I didn't realize this thread existed when I started the other, and my post seems a little redundant seeing that Mr. Gross posted the same link a few days before, so, my feelings won't be hurt if you'd like to delete my post altogether.

[Luciaphile]

I'm in agreement with you on that one, and so is film historian Danny Peary.  Check out his book Alternative Oscars in which he makes his choices for Oscar winners in the 3 biggest categories (Best Picture/Actor/Actress) from 1927 to today.  He makes a strong argument for a 1945 win for Joan.  So why wasn't she ever nominated for any of her film work?  It may have to do with the fact that her husband at the time, producer Walter Wanger, was also president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences during most of the 1940s, when Joan's film career was at its peak.  If she were nominated, there may have been questions of nepotism and conflicts of interest. 

Bear in mind that Bennett wasn't associated with a studio at the time. The studio system had its definite disadvantages, but at the same time if you were an actor under contract to a particular studio, the studio had a vested interest in promoting your career. That would include things like campaigning for you in things like the Oscars. Also when you look at the competition for the years in question...these are (and I adore Joan Bennett) but these are A List, bonafide Stars with a capital S. You've got Greer Garson (3x for those years), Ingrid Bergman (2x), Jennifer Jones, Gene Tierney, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis (2x), Claudette Colbert, and Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Fontaine, and Olivia de Havilland. Most of those women were under contract to major studios and the films in question were mostly big, big movies with star studded casts and A List directors.

I'm not denigrating Wanger, Bennett, Lang, Robinson, Duryea, or any of the other creative forces in those films, but I don't think they stood a snowball's chance in hell of making it to the Oscars--which ultimately aren't that meaningful as a measure of quality.

We also need to consider that what we call film noir today didn't really exist as a genre--these were considered crime pictures. There wasn't a lot of cachet to being in one of these.

Also Wanger was an independent producer and not on the same level as Selznick. That's part of the reason why the films Bennett made with him are either not released or exist in poor PD prints only. His arrangements with studios and distributors were apparently complex beyond the telling. Trying to untangle the copyrights is, I am told, involved.

I've got the Kino release of Scarlet Street on my Christmas list. Now if they would only remaster and release Reckless Moment, I would be a very very happy camper.