Scarlet Street (1945), directed by Fritz Lang, is a film noir based on the French novel La Chienne [The Bitch] (English titles: Poor Sap [1930], Turn of the Worm and Sensualité [1954]) by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatised on stage by André Mouëzy-É and cinematically as La Chienne (1931) by director Jean Renoir. The principal actors Edward G. Robinson, Dan Duryea, and Joan Bennett, had earlier appeared together in The Woman in the Window (1944) also directed by Fritz Lang. After the success of that movie the three were re-teamed for Scarlet Street.

Chris Cross, 25 years a cashier, has a gold watch and little else. That rainy night, he rescues delectable Kitty from her abusive boyfriend Johnny. Smitten, amateur painter Chris lets Kitty think he's a wealthy artist. At Johnny's urging, she lets Chris establish her in an apartment (with his shrewish wife's money). There, Chris paints masterpieces; but Johnny sells them under Kitty's name, with disastrous and ironic results. Written by Rod Crawford

In New York, after celebrating his twenty-fifth years as a cashier of a company and receiving a golden watch in a dinner party, the middle-aged amateurish painter Christopher Cross protects a young woman, Katharine March, from an assault on the street by a young man, Johnny Prince, without knowing that he is her lover. Chris invites Kitty to drink a coffee in a bar, and presents himself as a successful and wealthy painter. The small time crook and caftan Johnny sees the chance to raise easy money and convinces the manipulative Kitty to take as much money as possible from Chris. He embezzles his company and steals his wife, and Kitty moves to a huge studio. Chris brings his paintings to the new address, and Johnny takes them for evaluation and they are considered masterpieces by an arts critic and by the owner of a gallery. Kitty pretends to be the painter, becomes famous, leading them to a tragic conclusion. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil