In a Lonely Place
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Movie Reviews of In a Lonely Place
Movie Review: Captivating!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place, released by Columbia Pictures in 1950, was long regarded as one of star Humphrey Bogart's minor films, as were most of the Columbia released Santana productions he made both during and after his lengthy and legendary tenure at Warner Bros. Now, the film is considered to contain one of his strongest performances. The Production Company was Bogart's own (Santana was the name of his yacht), which he started in 1948 and sold to Columbia Pictures in 1954. In a Lonely Place is not a whodunit, but it is cleverly disguised as one. The murder and suspense play a backstory to the study of an emotionally sick man involved in a world of strange tensions. The world is Hollywood and although a studio or camera are never seen on the screen, the film captures the loneliness, the lushness, and the edginess of it all. This remains one of the filmmaker's greatest and most deeply resonant features, and one of Bogart's best roles.Bogart plays Dix Steele, a fading screenwriter suffering from creative burnout. He is hired to adapt a best-selling novel, but instead of reading the book himself, he asks the hatcheck girl at his favorite nightclub to read the book and simply tell him the plot. The next morning, the girl is found brutally murdered, and Steele is the prime suspect. There isn't enough evidence to arrest him, but he's so good at thinking like a killer, and is always so up-front about what's on his mind, the police are forced to suspect him. "I'll be going now," he tells them. "Unless you plan on arresting me for lack of emotion."It is the would-be starlet who has starred in a couple of B-pictures, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), a new tenant in Dix's apartment complex, who provides him with a solid alibi. Soon, they begin a romance in spite of Gray's lingering concerns that the violent Steele might in fact be the deadly killer, plunging the audience into an intriguing and suspenseful mystery, which quickly becomes a backdrop to the troubled romance between the two wonderfully realized characters.
A lesser director may have established Dix's innocence earlier on and although the spectator naturally assumes Dix is guilt-free (indeed, he does have an air-tight alibi), screenwriters Edmund H. North and Andrew Solt go to great lengths to play with audience expectations, although the film is more about the loneliness and despair in Tinseltown than about the murder mystery surrounding it. We don't see for ourselves that the cynical, alcoholic, and abusive Steele did not kill the hatcheck girl, and of course we have doubts since there is a limited amount of suspects. The only other suspect is Henry Kessler, who was Mildred's boyfriend. Dix, however, claims to have gone to sleep right after directing the girl to walk a block and take a cab home, but he is unable to provide the police with an alibi, and a tightening knot of suspicion begins to form around the writer. It is Mrs. Gray who claims she saw the hatcheck girl leave the apartment complex alone and provides him with one, and the couple fall in love as the suspense mounts.
At first, the new relationship is invigorating for the hard-boiled writer, who plunges into his latest script with a renewed vigor and discipline. But as the police continue to shadow him, Steele's own penchant for violence erupts against friends, strangers, and even Laurel herself, whose feelings are increasingly eclipsed by suspicion that her lover is a murderer, causing their relationship to spiral and her love to turn into mistrust, and fear. Bogart conveys Steele's world-weariness and underlying vulnerability, and manages the delicate task of making both his romantic yearning and sudden, murderous rages equally convincing. It gave him a role he could play with complexity, because the character's pride in his art, his selfishness, drunkenness, and lack of energy, stabbed with lightening strokes of violence, were shared by the real Bogart. Ultimately, that performance and Grahame's sympathetic work elevate In a Lonely Place into what has been called "an existential love story" more than a crime drama. The film is a desperate tale of fear and self-loathing in Hollywood cleverly posing as a taut noir thriller. It is the closing lines of the film version, which Dix had written into his
screenplay, that lingered in my mind longer than anything else. "I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me." That powerful line sums up Dix's love life, and the film, extremely well
Movie Review: "I lived a few weeks while she loved me."
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a review for IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) which was one of my favorite Bogart movies for years but with the rise in popularity of film noir it's hardly the unknown film it once was. Which is all right by me, the more people who see something that's really good, the more chances there'll be of other good films being seen and appreciated, I believe.
IN A LONELY PLACE concerns an almost washed up screenwriter, Dixon Steele, played by Humphrey Bogart, who gets a chance to adapt a somewhat windy best selling "epic novel" into a screenplay as the basis for what hopefully will be a popular film. These words are not spoken in the film but it looks like this could be Dix Steele's last chance at a financially as well as artistically successful screenplay. Dix has a few problems, mainly drinking and a flashpoint temper that has led to a few violent episodes in the past including some involving the police. And now he is visibly aging but not necesarily mellowing.
In truth, Dix is not enamored with the bestseller he has been given to adapt and when a enthusiastic checkroom girl named Mildred Atkinson , played by a Martha Stewart, gushes over the book and the possiblilty of a movie based on it, Dix gives her the job of coming back to his apartment to read the tome to him so he might have some idea of the book without exerting any undue effort.
So the check room girl breaks her date with her banker boyfriend and goes with Dix to his courtyard apartment to dig into the book. Unfortunately things don't work out too well and Dix gives the girl some money for cabfare home and looking bone tired, says he's going to bed.
Next thing he knows it's 5 AM and an old army buddy, now a plainclothes detective, well played by Frank Lovejoy, is ringing his doorbell wanting to talk with him about Mildred Atkinson. It turns out she was murdered before she could get a cab and Dix was the last known person to have seen her alive.
While being questioned at the station house Dix answers to a police question that one person did see him when he said goodnight to Mildred Atkinson, a woman who lives across the courtyard. As it turns out the woman,
Laurel Gray, played by Gloria Grahame, has taken notice of Dix and is aware that he is a screenwriter.
As the film progresses so does the relationship between Dixon Steele and Laurel Gray. They both seem to get along well and she helps him with the screenplay, which needs a lot of help apparently.
At times Dix forgets everything of the outside world, his mind is strictly involved with his writing for the first time in many years. A lot of that has to do with Laurel's keeping his mind on the track of the story.
But occassionally another violent incident will occur, sometimes with Laurel there to witness it.
In the meantime the police investigation seems to be progressing slowly if at all and Dix is still a primary suspect. Sometimes Laurel can't help but wonder with the evidence of Dix's sometimes violent nature if he's the one who killed MIldred Atkinson.
In fact, that's the noirish part of the story that I enjoy most, the audience is left wondering if Dixon Steele can't control himself with "these kids in their cut-down cars" how would Dix react to an actual turndown from a young pretty girl? Especially after a couple of drinks, would he take it as a personal insult, something that had to be avenged immediately?
That's the crux of the decision that Laurel has to make about Dix and herself.....and the decision the audience has to make about Dixon Steele and the entire story of IN A LONELY PLACE.
It is a romance as well as a murder mystery with plenty of noir trappings thrown in, not just to confuse the characters, but to hold the audience in a gloomy cloud of suspense for as long as possible. And a fine job by
everyone involved, IN A LONELY PLACE is a memorable film, one that will hold your interest, to say the least, from beginning to end.
"I was born when she kissed me.
I died when she left me.
I lived a few weeks while she loved me."
Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Steele in
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950).
Movie Review: A Truly Great Performance in a Tragic Film Noir.
Summary: 5 Stars
Hot-tempered, uncompromising screenwriter Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) hasn't been able to write a successful script in years. When he's asked to adapt a popular novel, Dix invites an enthusiastic young hatcheck girl (Martha Stewart) who has read the book to tell him about it. She cancels a date for the chance to explain the novel to the famous screenwriter, and he's happy not to have to read the book. But Dix is summoned to the police station for questioning the next day, because the young woman was murdered shortly after leaving his apartment. A neighbor, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), who saw Dix the night before from her balcony, verifies that the murder victim left Dix's apartment alone. But Dix remains the police's prime suspect, as he and Laurel fall in love. Although she loves Dix, his controlling, violent personality eventually cause Laurel to distrust him, and then to suspect that he may be guilty of murder, after all.
"In a Lonely Place" is loosely based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes and is wonderfully reflexive in that Dixon Steele adapts a novel in the film, which he alters dramatically for his purposes. Edmund H. North, who adapted "In a Lonely Place", departed radically from Hughes' novel and completely rewrote the Dix character. Dixon Steele is a typical film noir protagonist in that he falls victim to his own character flaw: his violent and controlling nature. "In a Lonely Place" is a "Hollywood insider" film that takes place in and around the filmmaking industry and presents an unflattering view of the industry's motives and the audience's tastes. Even Burnett Guffey's "sunny California" cinematography is dark. Dix is to some extent made a heroic figure within this environment by his stubbornness -a writer with integrity trying to do good work in an industry of "popcorn salesman". Director Nicholas Ray is masterful at manipulating the audience's sympathies from Dix to Laurel and back again. When we are sympathetic to Dix, he frustrates the audience by being his own worst enemy. When he is callous and volatile, we wonder if he committed the crime. Ultimately, "In a Lonely Place" is about the corrosive effects of distrust and suspicion. Humphrey Bogart achieves true acting greatness with his complex performance, which is one of the most memorable of his career.
The DVD: Bonus features include 2 documentaries, a sort of retrospective of Bogart's career, and trailers for "In a Lonely Place", "The Lady from Shanghai", and "The Big Heat". "In a Lonely Place Revisited" (20 minutes) is hosted by director Curtis Hanson. Speaking from the courtyard of the hacienda-style apartment community where Dix and Laurel lived in the film, Hanson talks about various aspects of the film, including the director, actors, characters, and the collaboration between director Nicholas Ray and Humphrey Bogart that produced such an emotionally honest performance. He also contrasts the film and the book on which it was based. Commentary is illustrated with film clips. "In a Lonely Place: Restoration Story" (5 minutes) is an interesting look at the process of restoring the film from its original, very battered, cellulose nitrate film stock. Includes interviews with Sony's Vice President of Asset Management, Grover Crisp, the folks at Cinetech who restored the film images, and the folks at Chase Productions who restored the film's sound. "The Bogart Collection" (4 minutes) is a text bio of Humphrey Bogart's career, followed by posters and publicity stills for some of his films. Subtitles are available for the film in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. Dubbing is available in French.
Movie Review: The Best Film Most People Have Never Seen
Summary: 5 Stars
Nicholas Ray's "In a Lonely Place" (1950) owes most of its suspense to the same gradual revelations that characterized Hitchcock's "Sabotage" and Lang's "Fury". All three films concern a woman's slow realization that her husband, fiancée, boyfriend is a monster. Shortly after moving into a new apartment, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) discovers a mutual attraction between herself and neighbor Dixon "Dix" Steele (Humphrey Bogart).
Their actual introduction is at police headquarters where successful screenwriter Dix is being questioned regarding his relationship with Mildred Atkinson (Martha Stewart), a "hat-check" girl who had visited Dix in his apartment a few hours before her murder. Laurel is able to supply an alibi, having spotted Mildred leaving the apartment alone.
Dix is unmotivated but takes on a new project, adapting a novel for a producer who intends to make it into a movie. His romance with Laurel is a great tonic and he works hard on this screenplay. Early on the viewer learns that Dix is subject to fits of temper and rage, and needs little provocation to become completely unglued. But the viewer also sees his good qualities, he quickly comes to the defense of an older actor who has a drinking problem and does not take advantage of young Mildred during her late night visit to his apartment.
Despite his alibi, the police continue to suspect Dix of Mildred's murder; mostly because of his past history of violence. Brub Nicolai (Frank Lovejoy), an old war buddy and now a police detective, defends him and even has him over for dinner; although Brub's wife thinks that Dix has serious psychological problems.
The remainder of the story is told from Laurel's point-of-view. The two fall in love but as Dix's issues begin to manifest themselves she begins to wonder if he might actually be the murderer. He knows a little too much about the murder and rather oddly isn't angry about being a suspect, while his increasingly erratic behavior in other areas begins to terrify her.
In both "Sabotage" and "Fury" the good girl role was played very effectively by Sylvia Sidney, whose considerable acting for the camera skills allowed her to nonverbally convey her character's growing suspicion and eventual realization that a man she once trusted has a dangerous hidden side. Grahame's performance is not as nuanced but is still quite effective. Best remembered for her comedic role as Ado Annie in "Oklahoma", she was well suited to this type of airhead role (in the tradition of Una Merkel and Zasu Pitts). Yet she had considerable range as a serious actress, which she demonstrated here and again in "The Big Heat".
Bogart's Dix is a precursor of his Captain Quig character in "The Caine Mutiny". But Dix has considerably more dimensions and Bogart alternates between his standard "tough but basically good" loner and the disturbed Quig. This multi-dimensionality makes him very real and ultimately sympathetic as the viewer comes to realize that the title's "lonely place" is inside Dix's mind.
"In a Lonely Place" is a bit different than classic film noir. It is considerably more powerful and disturbing because the standard film noir murder element is of minimal importance. Instead Ray concentrates on making the viewer really care about his characters, hoping that Laurel's love will continue to transform Dix and so that he will eventually find a way to cope with his inner demons.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Movie Review: One of Bogart's most complex roles
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a very interesting role for Humphrey Bogart, and was a bit of a production code buster on several levels.
Bogart plays Hollywood screenwriter Dixon Steele, who is in somewhat of a writing rut. He also has a quick temper and a paranoia complex. He picks fights with people over the most routine matters and these fights commonly come to blows. He is indeed "in a lonely place" of his own making. Steele has a chance to write a screenplay based on a book, but the author wants him to read the book and give him his opinion in just a matter of a few days. At the restaurant where Steele has talked with the author, the hat check girl says she has just read the book and loves it. Steele invites her to come over to his apartment and tell him about the book to save him the trouble of reading it. This is all very innocent in what Steele intends and in what actually happens. In fact, Steele's reaction, unseen and unheard by the hat check girl, to her semi-literate oral book report is wickedly funny. After the girl tells her story, she leaves. Neighbor Laurel Grey (Gloria Grahame) sees her leave. However, the next day, the girl's strangled body is found next to a road. The police quickly find their way back to Steele's place where, due to his violent nature and nonchalant reaction to the murder, he is under immediate suspicion. He finds an alibi in his neighbor Laurel, and this is how they formally meet.
Almost immediately the two begin a relationship that gets serious fast. Laurel finds Steele attentive and interesting. Thus at first Laurel thinks Steele is innocent of the murder, but one by one her doubts grow. Steele explodes over little things, even eventually punching out his own agent over nothing. In fact, Steele's agent is his only real friend and actually is a bit of an enabler for his bad behavior. You always see Steele show his idea of remorse for his actions, even anonymously sending money to a guy he has beaten up over a traffic accident. However, the question that is left to be answered is - exactly what is going on with this guy? Could he have stalked and killed the girl over his anger at something else or someone else entirely? And if he didn't kill the hat check girl, will he eventually kill someone else? Laurel is asking these same questions as she begins to wonder - is it more dangerous to try and run away from Steele, or is it more dangerous to stay? One should never consider saying "yes" to a marriage proposal if it comes down to what is less dangerous.
Laurel is not exactly a finished book herself. Apparently she had a serious relationship with a well-off man just prior to this, and ended it for really no tangible reason. Then there is a kind of g ay subtext going on between herself and her masseuse Martha. They only have one scene together but it certainly throws out more questions than answers, just like the rest of this film.
If you like noir, if you like Bogart, if you like being challenged, watch this film.