One DVD Three Soso Films

Edward G. Robinson: Triple Feature Movie Marathon

Two copies of this DVD at the Library in Bandon.
Amazon: Edward G. Robinson Triple Feature

Scarlet Street

Married everyman Edward G. Robinson comes across a beautiful woman being accosted by a man on the street. He saves her and she flirts with him, talking him into taking her out.

He seems to want to do anything to escape his dull life. The woman thinks he has money and she can play him for a sucker. The man beating her up turns out to be her good-for-nothing boyfriend. They scheme to get him to pay for an apartment to keep the woman in, on the guise that Robinson's character can use it for a studio.

When the woman tries to sell his paintings, they find out he has talent. Her boyfriend passes her off as the artist and she gets Robinson to paint more for her. Happening upon her making love to her boyfriend the artist flies into a rage and stabs her.

He gets away with the murder but it haunts him. I guess maybe for the time this might have been a very intriguing film. So you might find it better than I did. It kind of slogged to an inevitable conclusion. Look in Lakeside for the VHS copy of this film.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038057/

Amazon: Scarlet Street

The Red House

Crabby father figure Edward G. Robinson tries to keep strangers away from property next to his farm. When a boy starts getting deeply interested in his young ward, Meg, he tries to frighten the boy away from cutting through the woods.

The young teens fall in love and go exploring in defiance. The boy sees a strange house and then gets scared off by a woodsman we later find out the father figure paid to keep the kids clear of the spooky woods.

They make reference to some creepy backstories and we do find out the whole sad truth in the end, but I don't want to spoil it. Lets say it's the tale of another haunted man.

Lakeside also has a VHS copy of this film.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039757/

Amazon: Red House

The Stranger

Though directed by Orson Welles, I only liked this one slightly more than the other two. Really, it's his movie, but Edward G. Robinson got top billing. I guess he's the hero.

They took a really long convoluted route to the plot. Made just after World War II, Robinson chases a Nazi sympathizer to a small town hoping to find a bigger fish. Welles kills the man out of Robinson's sight, but the investigator figured out he's the bad guy.

Now it gets tricky. He's engaged to the local university president's daughter and she can't believe anything bad about her man. She kind of helps him and he makes a plot to kill her. Robinson does everything he can to prevent this and ends up fighting with Welles up in the clockworks of a church tower.

I'd seen the film before and forgotten all but the last few minutes. I like a more linear clear plot and a well defined reason for people to do what they do.

There's a DVD called Classic Film Noir in Bandon with a copy of this film on it. Also, North Bend has a VHS tape.

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038991/

Amazon: The Stranger