Even though the movie Scarlet Street is a remake of La Chienne, they bear many differences in the plot and tone of the movie. While Scarlet Street is very Film Noir in style, the original film (La Chienne) is an odd movie that is very hard to classify because it seems made up of several different genres AND because it deliberately avoids going the directions you think it will. While not a terrific movie (the plot lags here and there and the acting, with the exception of the fantastic Simon, is uneven). I give the movie a lot of credit for trying to be different and for a 1931 French film, the production values are good.

Although I will not explain exactly how they differ, know that this French film does not follow the Hayes code so it will seem a bit seamier than the American version and the ending is anything but Hollywood inspired. In fact, the French version is MUCH better, because the later Hollywood film "cops out" and tacks on a much more predictable and sanitized ending. Now that I think about it, chienne" means "bitch"--this SHOULD clue you in that the French film is indeed seedier.

The meek cashier of a company and aspirant painter Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is married with the abusive widow Adèle (Magdelaine Berubet) that mistreats him. After a celebration in the company where he works, Maurice stumbles upon a man called André "Dédé" Jauguin (Georges Flamant) hitting a young woman called Lucienne "Lulu" Pelletier (Janie Marèse) on the street. Maurice protects Lulu and brings her home. Lulu, who is a prostitute, tells to the naive Maurice that Dêdé is her brother but he is actually her pimp. Maurice rents an apartment for Lulu and she becomes her mistress. Soon he brings his paintings to the apartment since Adèle intends to throw them away. But Dêdé sells the paintings to an art dealer for a large amount telling that Lulu had painted them using the alias Claire Bloom. When Maurice stumbles upon Adèle's former husband that was supposed dead in the war, he plots a scheme to get rid of Adèle. He succeeds in his intent and surprises Lulu and Dêdé on the bed during the night. He leaves her apartment and in the morning he returns to talk to Lulu. She discloses that she loves Dêdé and humiliates Maurice, telling that the only reason she stayed with him was his paintings and the money. Maurice kills Lulu and leaves the apartment with no witness. What will happen to him?

"La chienne" is a dramatic film ahead of time directed by Jean Renoir with an amoral story of triangle of love, greedy and perfect crime. For a 1931 film, the production and the conclusion are excellent. In 1945, Fritz Lang remade this drama as "Scarlet Street" with improvements and many differences in a film-noir style but an extremely moralist conclusion maybe because of the Hayes Code. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'A Cadela" ("The Bitch")

I had been buying the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die since it was first released in 2004, so that's 16 editions (plus five with alternative covers) across 16 years. Some of the films that appeared in it through that time have been difficult to find, and some are questionable entries, but it has been an interesting experience to find and watch all 1,222 titles. This French film was the final film I ever had to watch from any of the 16 books, an odd choice, but I went with it, directed by Jean Renoir (La Grande Illusion, La Règle du Jeu, The Golden Coach). Basically, Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon) is a meek cashier and aspirant painter. He is unhappily married to Adèle (Magdeleine Bérubet) who is abusive and mistreats him. After a celebration in the company where he works, Maurice witnesses a man, André "Dédé" Jauguin (Georges Flamant),hitting a young named Lucienne "Lulu" Pelletier (Janie Marèse) on the street. Maurice protects Lulu and brings her home. Lulu is a prostitute, she tells the naive Maurice that Dédé is her brother, in fact Dédé is her pimp. Maurice rents an apartment for Lulu and she becomes his mistress. Maurice's wife Adèle intends to throw his paintings away, so he brings them to the apartment. Dédé takes these paintings for himself and sells them to an art dealer for a large amount. But he tells the dealer that Lulu is the artist who painted them, using the alias Clara Wood. Maurice meanwhile stumbles on Adèle's former husband who was thought to be killed during the war. Maurice is beginning to realise that Adèle is not a good woman, and he plots to a scheme to get rid of her. He is successful in throwing her out when he surprises Lulu and Dêdé in bed during the night. Maurice leaves her apartment and returns to Lulu the following morning to have a talk. She confesses that she loves Dédé and humiliates Maurice by saying that she only stayed with him for his money. Maurice attacks her with a knife and leaves the apartment unnoticed by any witnesses. Dédé arrives moments later and discovers Lulu's body. Dédé is accused of Lulu's murder owing to his reputation, he is found guilty and executed. Maurice becomes a vagrant. Also starring Jean Gehret as Monsieur Dugodet. It is a fairly simple story of a naïve and simple man who thinks he has finally found love, abandoning his marriage, but the woman is nothing but a money-hungry streetwalker, and her pimp is part of her scam. You could argue it is more about the innocent male character than the "b****" of the title, or indeed her pimp, but the callousness of the scammers is intriguing, the on-location filming was an influential break from studio sets at the time, it does have moments that get your attention, overall it is an interesting drama. Good!