In A Lonely Place [DVD] [1950]
One of the classics of the noir psychological thriller, In a Lonely Place is one of Humphrey Bogart’s finest performances. He is almost unbearably intense as Dixon Steele, a screenwriter with high standards and a nasty temper who finds himself under suspicion when Mildred, a hat-check girl he knows, is found murdered. Immediately he gets an alibi from a neighbour, Laurel, and equally quickly, he recognises that this is a woman who meets his standards: the question is, as suspicion of his involvement in Mildred’s death continues, can he make himself meet hers?
This is a wonderful study in trust and suspicion and the limits of love; Bogart’s performance is impressive simply because he is prepared to go well over the limits of our sympathy in the name of emotional truth. The scene where he explains imaginatively to a cop and his wife how the murder might have happened is a spine-chilling, creepy portrait of amoral artistic brilliance. Gloria Grahame is equally fine as the woman who lets herself love him, for a while.
On the DVD: In a Lonely Place comes with an excellent documentary in which Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential) explains the importance of the film to him and discusses its place in the work of Bogart and the director Nicholas Ray; there is also a quick interesting documentary about the restoration and digitisation of classic films. The film is presented with a visual aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and with restored Dolby Surround sound that does full justice to the film’s snappy dialogue and the moody George Antheil score. –Roz Kaveney
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Classic noir,
This is a dark, beautiful film from director Nicholas Ray, best known for “Rebel Without A Cause”. Ray was one of Hollywood’s outsiders with a reputation for dark, edgy pictures that went against the grain of what a commercial movie should be. “In A Lonely Place” finds the brilliantly-cast Bogart as a weary, volatile, couldn’t-care-less screenwriter who is mistakenly suspected of the murder of a young girl. The mysterious, ice-cool blonde nextdoor (Gloria Grahame) gives him an alibi… but why? The pair proceed to seduce each other but their complex relationship is put to the test by Bogart’s insecurities and barely suppressed temper… is he capable of murder after all?
It’s a powerful, well-written film with a suitably moody L.A feel, a terrific anti-hero performance from Bogart (proof of his acting chops and why he was such a big star), and a fittingly well-wrought climax. One of my favourite ’50s movies.
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|Great,
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This film is a wonderful exploration of psychological doubt. What seems at first to be a simple film noir full of wise craching and sexy women turns into an interesting exploration of relationships- of how to maintain and not maintain relationships wherein one of the partners is unstable in some way. The actors turn in fantastic performances, Bogart as people have said above is flawless in his portrait of Dixon but Gloria Graham is wonderful too- torn between her doubts about Bogart and her love for him. You can see the chemistry crackle between them- they have some marvellous exchanges of dialogue which light up the set with wit, but you can also see why this man is a potential wife beater, a potential murderer. Bogart gives us a thug who is tender and kind, who protects an actor who is out of work and a drunk, who wants to write only films he will be proud of- instead of a pure thug- we have a nuanced portrait of a man who might be a murderer. Quite simply this is possibly the best noir of all the ones I have watched- a wonderful wonderful experience which all should share.
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|A really good Bogart film, with a powerful storyline…..,
“I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” Dixon Steele
Humphrey Bogart plays Dixon Steele, a Hollywood Screenwriter with a violent nature. After he is called upon to write a screen play for a trashy book, he engages the help of Mildred Atkinson (Martha Stewart) to summarise the book for him at his house. (Atkinson is young, naive and annoying; I think she is the only thing that overcasts a great movie).
Atkinson eventually leaves to go home (she goes to a cab station) and we never see her again. Nor does anyone else; she’s been brutally murdered and dumped at a roadside.
Having been the last person to see her, Steele is naturally suspected by the police. However, his alibi is backed up from his beautiful neighbour, wannabe actress Laurel Grey (Gloria Grahame.)
A standard film would then centre on the budding romance between Steele and Grey, but “In a Lonely Place,” to its credit, does not. Instead the end result of the film makes you want to see it all over again, despite the ending (I will not spoil it for those who have not seen it!) It is a really powerful film, and due to the great acting you definately empathise with the characters, and understand the conflicting emotions of love and fear.
This is a good film, and one I would recommend buying.
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