"Slightly Scarlet" follows the adventures of two beautiful red-headed sisters, both of whom fall for the same ambitious go-getter. The tale is set against a background of hoodlums trying to maintain their grip on an unlucky city.
There's much that's over-the-top in "Slightly Scarlet". Indeed, the movie flees from subtlety like a vampire flees from garlic. One of the two sisters, for instance, is a kleptomaniac nymphomaniac drunk whose behavior grows more outrageous by the minute. Near the end she's a giggling wreck, ripe for a psychiatric institution for dangerous offenders.
The same "more is more" approach was applied to the sets and locations, resulting, among other things, in a gangster's beach house large and luxurious enough to serve as a president's official summer retreat. (By the way, note the absence of some kind of caretaker or guard on the premises. The 1950's must have been a more trusting time, even in criminal circles.)
The plot, on the other hand, feels undernourished. There are strange leaps in logic. One of the minor members of a gang steps forward in order to announce that he is now the new boss, because. The other gangsters bow their heads and acclaim him as their new master, although he doesn't seem to have much in the way of street credibility, expertise or support. It's completely absurd - this is not the way to take over a going criminal concern. It's not even the way to take over a legitimate small-town grocery shop.
Still, if you like the crime genre and if you're looking for madder music and stronger wine, you know what to watch...
There's much that's over-the-top in "Slightly Scarlet". Indeed, the movie flees from subtlety like a vampire flees from garlic. One of the two sisters, for instance, is a kleptomaniac nymphomaniac drunk whose behavior grows more outrageous by the minute. Near the end she's a giggling wreck, ripe for a psychiatric institution for dangerous offenders.
The same "more is more" approach was applied to the sets and locations, resulting, among other things, in a gangster's beach house large and luxurious enough to serve as a president's official summer retreat. (By the way, note the absence of some kind of caretaker or guard on the premises. The 1950's must have been a more trusting time, even in criminal circles.)
The plot, on the other hand, feels undernourished. There are strange leaps in logic. One of the minor members of a gang steps forward in order to announce that he is now the new boss, because. The other gangsters bow their heads and acclaim him as their new master, although he doesn't seem to have much in the way of street credibility, expertise or support. It's completely absurd - this is not the way to take over a going criminal concern. It's not even the way to take over a legitimate small-town grocery shop.
Still, if you like the crime genre and if you're looking for madder music and stronger wine, you know what to watch...