A meek and mild-mannered cashier gets crisscrossed by a May-December relationship, where he paints his final masterpiece in thick congealing colors with an icepick. Fritz Lang’s brutish noir spares no one, portraying each character in broad brushstrokes of toxic narcissism, selfishness, greed, or despairing spinelessness. DP Milton Krasner captures this violent rupture with grand noir compositions of rainy streets, low key lighting, and haunting shadows.
Christopher Cross has been a trusty servant for 25 years, earning his gold watch from behind the cage of his cashier’s booth. Stuck in an insufferable marriage for the past five years, he daydreams of having an affair with a younger, beautiful woman who would be his muse. To make life bearable, he passes his time by painting, transforming his mundane world into primitive and eclectic designs. But circumstances soon lead him into a fateful encounter with Kitty (Joan Bennett) and her beau Johnny (Dan Duryea) where he will learn that no good act goes unpunished. Always castigated by his shrewish wife Adele (Rosalind Ivan), he is easily manipulated by Kitty and rents her a studio apartment and soon moves all of his paintings and supplies there. But Christopher can’t afford this double life, and due to a misunderstanding, must steal from his employer to pay the bills. Then there’s a minor subplot as a deceased husband returns to extort our hapless protagonist. All of this ends tragically. Can it end any other way in a film noir?
The acting is solid but without nuance. Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea portray their characters without conscience, just two grifters doing their thing. They dominate the screen with forceful personalities and are wonderful, but they are nothing more than cruel, violent, and manipulative. Rosalind Ivan as the wife is an overbearing and over-the-top bitch that we hope gets the knife by film’s end! But it’s Edward G. Robinson's self-deprecating performance that must earn our sympathy, but he is so reductive and subordinate that it becomes difficult to watch. We want him to respond and stand up for himself yet he’s so backwards and introspective, like an artist. This is a brave role for Edward G to play and he does it well, so when his character finally does act out, it’s grisly. This scene may be one of the most hardcore stabbings in classic noir! Well, at least Chris Cross finally penetrates her!
The film ends with Johnny getting the hot seat for a crime he didn’t commit, but he gets his revenge as he and Kitty haunt their killer as ethereal, accusing voices. And Chris loses everything including his Art (which is his lifeblood), and he wanders by a gallery where the portrait of his dead muse has just been sold for ten grand. This masterpiece will live on, but in someone else’s name.
Final Grade: (B+)
