VCI Entertainment presents "Scarlet Street/The Red House" - Edward G. Robinson --- (Dolby digitally remastered)...featuring top performances by actors to die for from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays...from little known films we now refer to "film noir" that will leave you intrigued with all the suspense...so pop some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the movie.
First up we have Universal Pictures "Scarlet Street" (1945) (103 min. B/W)...under director & producer Fritz Lang, writers by Georges de La Fouchardière (novel La Chienne (as Georges De La Fouchardiere), André Mouézy-Éon play La Chienne (as Mouezy-Eon) and Dudley Nichols, music score by Hans J. Salter...the cast includes Edward G. Robinson (Christopher Cross), Joan Bennett (Kitty March), Dan Duryea (Johnny Prince), Margaret Lindsay (Millie Ray), Rosalind Ivan (Adele Cross), Samuel S. Hinds (Charles Pringle), Jess Barker (Janeway), Arthur Loft (Dellarowe), Vladimir Sokoloff (Pop LeJon), Charles Kemper (Patcheye), Russell Hicks (J.J. Hogarth), Anita Bolster (Mrs. Michaels), Fred Essler (Marchetti), Edgar Dearing (Policeman), Tom Dillon (Policeman). . . . . . our story reaches into the depths of a man's soul Edward G. Robinson, who is so hungry for love and kindness that he falls for the wrong girl Joan Bennett...for 25 years he is given a gold watch for his services as cashier in a bank for honesty and integrity...Bennett's boyfriend Dan Duryea is a con man who can see dollar signs as Robinson paints masterpieces and Duryea sells them under Bennett's name...will this threesome survive without death knocking at their door...director Fritz Lang gives us one of the top Classic Film Noir with this masterpiece of human drama.. . . . . .special footnote, Edward G. Robinson was named #24 greatest actor on "The 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the American Film Institute", "'Little Caesar' becomes at Robinson's hands a figure out of a Greek tragedy, a cold, ignorant, merciless killer, driven on and on by an insatiable lust for power, the plaything of a force that is greater than himself.", according to The New York Times (1930)...from the lips of Edward G., "Paintings never really belong to one of us, if we are fortunate, as I have been, we are allowed at most a lovely time of custody...acting and painting have much in common, you begin with the external appearance and then strip away the layers to get to the essential core, this is reality and that is how an artist achieves truth, when you are acting, you are playing a part, you are being somebody else, you are also, at the same time, being yourself, to be entrusted with a character was always a big responsibility to me."
BIOS:
1. Edward G. Robinson (aka: Emanuel Goldenberg)
Birth Date: 12/12/1893 - Bucharest, Romania
Died: 1/26/1973 - Hollywood, California
2. Joan Bennett
Birth Date: 2/27/1910 - Palisades, New Jersey
Died: 12/07/1990 - Scarsdale, New York
3. Dan Duryea
Birth Date: 1/23/1907 - White Plains, New York
Died: 6/07/1968 - Hollywood, California
4. Fritz Lang (Director) (aka: Friedrich Christian Anton Lang)
Birth Date: 12/05/1890 - Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
Died: 8/02/1976 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
Second on the double bill is United Artists "The Red House" (1947) (100 min. B/W)....under director & screenwriter Delmer Daves, producer Sol Lesser, screenplay by George Agnew Chamberlain & Else Jerusalem, musical score by Miklos Rozsa ....the cast includes Edward G. Robinson (Pete Morgan), Lon McCallister (Nath Storm), Judith Anderson (Ellen Morgan), Allene Roberts (Meg Morgan), Julie London (Tibby), Rory Calhoun (Teller), Harry Shannon (Dr. Byrne), Arthur Space (The Sheriff), Walter Sande (Don Brent), Ona Munson (Mrs. Storm), Pat Flaherty (Cop). . . . .our story and characters are perfectly cast with Edward G. Robinson and Judith Anderson who have raised Allene Roberts since she was a baby...Lon McCallister is hired to help with the chores on the farm and falls in love with Allene...Julie London and Rory Calhoun who is hired to guard the Red House give supporting performances...but it is Edward G. who is in magnificent form; he is only a handful of actors who could combine toughness and vulnerability in the manner Robinson did, and his performance is crucial to The House....meanwhile what is the dark secret of The Red House and what will be the final outcome...wonderful directon from Delmer Daves, who keeps you guessing until the last minute...the film music by Miklos Rosa is eerie and as always completely original in the Rosa style, it's a keeper.
BIOS:
1. Lon McCallister (aka: Herbert Alonzo McCallister Jr.)
Birth Date: 4/17/1923 - Hollywood, California
Died: 6/11/2005 - South Lake Tahoe, California
2. Judith Anderson
Birth Date: 2/10/1897 - Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Died: 1/03/1992 - Santa Barbara, California
3. Rory Calhoun (aka: Francis Timothy McCown)
Birth Date: 8/08/1922 - Los Angeles, California
Died: 4/28/1999 - Burbank, California,
4. Delmar Daves (Director) (aka: Delmer Lawrence Daves)
Birth Date: 7/24/1904/- San Francisco, California
Died: 8/17/1977 - La Jolla, California
SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES:
Movietone Newsreel 1947
Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Scarlet Street/The Red House", featuring Edward G. Robinson, digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch "Classic Film Noir" that only VCI Entertainment (King of the Serials) can deliver...just the way we like 'em!
Total Time: 203 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video 5011 ~ (3/28/2006)
