In a Lonely Place (aren’t we all these days?) is a 1950 American film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart’s Santana Productions. The script was written by Andrew P. Solt from Edmund North’s adaptation of Dorothy B. Hughes’ 1947 novel of the same name.
Bogart stars as Dixon Steele (super realistic name, yeah?), a deranged and highly abusive screenwriter suspected of murder, and Grahame co-stars as Laurel Gray, a neighbor who falls under his spell (because women just love an abusive narcissist right?). Beyond its surface plot of confused identity and tormented love, the story is an acerbic comment on Hollywood mores and the pitfalls of celebrity and near-celebrity. I like this movie. Bogart is really at his peak here. Grahame is always fun to watch and she’s very believable in this. (Or maybe I just have weak spot for vulnerable blondes. Don’t ask.) Initially Dixon is fairly likeable and just seems like a burnt out screenwriter. I related to Bogart from the point of view of being a ‘creative type’. He is adroit and caustic and the scene with Mildred Atkinson in (the hat check girl cum script reader) his apartment is a great set up for the awful fate that is about to befall her. The relationship between Bogart and Grahame is intimate and knowing for anybody that’s ever fallen in love. The inevitable demise is also familiar (again, don’t ask).
The film is very different from the Hughes’ book (but in a very good way). The book is harsh and depressing I didn’t like Dixon at all but the Grahame character bails on him a lot earlier (Good for you!).The movie is just a familiar walk down that bleak film noir alley I find so appealing. Watch it if you have any down time…
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