REVIEW: Scarlet Street [1945]

So you won’t forget me. There’s a great horror concept within Fritz Lang‘s Scarlet Street. Unfortunately it’s pushed aside for a film noir that never quite gains traction. The problem as I see it stems from the fact that screenwriter Dudley Nichols tries to frame aging pushover Christopher Cross (Edward G. Robinson) as a sympathetic character throughout—an unsuspecting victim in the making rather than the haunted figure he becomes at its end. The latter is his most interesting form, a desperate man with nowhere to turn as a voice from…

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REVIEW: The Little Foxes [1941]

“That’s cynical. But cynicism is an unpleasant way of telling the truth.” The fact The Little Foxes didn’t win an Oscar wasn’t for a lack of trying as all nine of its nominations were well earned. An adaptation of Lillian Hellman‘s stage play from just two years prior directed by William Wyler, this tale of a ruthless trio of siblings hardly shy about admitting they “stole” their wealth through marriage is witty, biting, and authentic in its look at cheaters, victims, and those standing idly by. The early nineteenth century…

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