NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Kino 4K UHD (February 2024): Kino have released Fritz Lang's "Scarlet Street" to 4K UHD. It is cited as being a "Brand New HDR / Dolby Vision Master – From a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Nitrate Composite Fine Grain". We compared Kino's 2012 Blu-ray to five DVDs (the film is in the Public Domain) HERE. This 4K UHD package includes a new, second disc, Blu-ray also transferred "from a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Nitrate Composite Fine Grain". I was suspicious how this would look as the previous digital editions have not been stellar. This 2160P looks wonderful - the contrast and grain support are at exemplary levels. There are still some surface scratches and a few minor speckles - but over this is a HUGE, and highly appreciated, upgrade.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

The 4K UHD and Blu-ray have two commentaries. The one on the 2012 Kino Blu-ray (and other releases) by David Kalat (author of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse: A Study of the Twelve Films and Five Novels.) He does a great job of discussing this Noir gem. We also get a new commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith who describes Scarlet Street as "indispensable". She discusses The Woman in the Window made the previous year with the same director (Fritz Lang), cinematographer (Milton R. Krasner) and the same three stars - Robinson, Bennett and Duryea. Imogen cites Patrick McGilligan's book Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast. and the differences between Scarlet Street and Jean Renoir's 1931 La Chienne with no admirable characters - plus how she finds that men in Noir are always willing to be deluded by the fairer sex. She observes how the female leads portray a shrewish, nagging, wife or a gold-digging temptress. She discusses Lang's use of diegetic music in the film (repeated 'Melancholy Baby' as Kitty's theme), Dudley Nichols' screenplay, Kitty's telltale laziness, Bennett's affair with her agent Jennings Lang and so much more. It's a good a commentary as you can imagine coming from Imogen. There are no other extras on the 4K UHD and the second disc Blu-ray also has a few trailers not present on the 4K UHD disc. The package has an O-card slipcase and reversible artwork (see below.)