In a Lonely Place (1950)

Clinically excellent noir drama.

Plot Summary - First Paragraph

Screenwriter Dixon Steele is very talented, he also drinks too much and is prone to outbreaks of shocking violence. Thus the studios are reluctant to hire him, but through sheer determination, his agent manages to get him a coveted writing assignment to adapt a popular novel. The main players in the proposed picture meet up at a restaurant to talk things out, but with Dixon being Dixon it all goes wrong and violence curtails the evening. Though not really keen to read the novel he is to adapt, Dixon accepts an invitation from the hatcheck girl to read for him as it's her favourite book, they both go to Dixon's home and nothing untoward happens between the pair, he bids her farewell and puts out for her cab fare home. The next day the police show up at the door requesting Dixon accompany them down to the station, turns out that the poor hatcheck girl was murdered and dumped on the roadside, Dixon of course is the chief suspect. But a glint of light appears in the form of Dixon's beautiful neighbour, Laurel Gray, who provides Dixon with a solid alibi, this sets in motion a relationship between the pair that might break or make either one of them.

In A Lonely Place is a fabulous picture, not nominated for any academy awards (incredible in light of Bogart's stunning portrayal as Steele), and tagged on its release as being too bleak to be a winner, it's now rightly considered one of the best films of its type and contains some of the best work from those involved. What always amazes me with the film is how the two halves are so very riveting for different reasons. The first half we are trying to understand Steele's conflict with himself (a wonderfully complex character), he is our sole focus of attention. Then the second half as Laurel and Dixon enter into a full blown relationship, we find ourselves in Laurel's place, as Dixon grows ever more erratic, we join Laurel in her unease, it feels like a coiled spring waiting to unleash itself.

It's quite an achievement that director Nicholas Ray blends the pictures' halves together and dabs them with darkly affecting visuals, whilst simultaneously taking us on an up and down ride as to how we feel about Dixon Steele and the girl he has clearly fallen in love with. This is not just about the actors (Gloria Grahame as Laurel is also as fabulous as Bogart is) and the director, though, a tip of the hat has to go to the source material by Dorothy Hughes and Edmund H North and the adaptation by Andrew Holt. The ending here is different to the one in the book, but personally I think this one works better because it has a quandary cloud hanging over it, not in a short changed way, but in a deeply unnerving way, the kind that sets you pondering over a cold glass of beer.

Terrific stuff here for those willing to invest undivided time with it, a film that is now rightly revered as a classic, so just as Dixon Steele is up on that old knife edge, the makers are asking you to hop up on that edge alongside him, so do it and you wont be disappointed. 9.5/10

Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame are on great form in this complex and intricate crime noir. He ("Dixon") is a down-on-his-luck writer who finds himself squarely in the eyes of the police, suspected of murder. Fortunately, and somewhat out of the blue, his neighbour turns up at the station and gives him a cast iron alibi. She ("Laurel") saw the victim leave his home, and he stayed put! Now at this point, we have no reason to disbelieve her, but as the story develops and the two become more intimately connected, we start to see certain flaws appear in both of their characters that starts to make us doubt which (if either) of them might be telling the truth. The police haven't given up on him either, and their investigation and his consistently wayward behaviour soon has everyone on edge. It's a well paced and well written drama this, that plays well to the skills of the two stars. They exude a chemistry that is just as suspicious as it is loving. We are never quite sure where we are - not until the rather effective denouement which was not really what I was expecting. If you can watch this for ninety minutes on a big screen: it offers a richness of photography and a gripping George Anthiel score to complement a strong story well controlled by Nicholas Ray who is also at the top of his game.