On the night of his retirement, aging, mild-mannered cashier Christopher Cross becomes an accidental hero rescuing a gorgeous young woman, Kitty March, from a would-be attacker. The poor sap doesn’t realize he’s stumbled upon a dust-up between a hooker and her pimp, and before long the devious duo is playing him for a prize chump, selling to tony galleries the amateurish paintings the love-struck Cross bestows on Kitty. This wretched roundelay can only end in tragedy. One of the truly definitive noir films, Scarlet Street is a perfectly directed and acted immorality play. Edward G. Robinson’s performance—so achingly sincere and utterly delusional—is at times almost painful to watch.

35mm print courtesy of the Library of Congress