- Title: In a Lonely Place
- IMDb: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back 75 years to the 1950 thriller featuring Humphrey Bogart as the temperamental screenwriter Dixon Steele who local police wrongly believe is responsible for the murder of a young cocktail waitress (Martha Stewart) which leads to continued harassment, although the events of that night do introduce him to his lovely neighbor Laurel (Gloria Grahame) and the beginning of a love affair. Despite the amount of time spent on its aftermath, including a memorable scene in the police station where Dix is first questioned, it’s actually little more than an unusual setup to our two leads together.
Despite both the audience and Laurel knowing Dix simply couldn’t have committed the crime, his violent temper (which we see multiple examples of) eventually is too much for the woman who falls for him easily but struggles to commit. Had the film be less definitive in Dix’s innocence, I think there would be more to play with. That said, the performance is regarded as one of Bogart’s best balancing the different sides of the character, often needing to turn on a dime given the right, often perceived, provocation.
While far from happy, it’s notable that the ending for the movie isn’t what was originally planned or shot (the script included an even bleaker ending) and director Nicholas Ray improvised the film’s actual ending on the fly with the help of his two stars. While moderately successful, the film has garnered more respect over the years as an example of film noir even if the film lacks staples of the genre in both noteworthy camera work or a femme fatale. However, it effectively builds tension between two people who are happy together until the point they can no longer ignore what each is overlooking (Dix’s temper and Laurel’s proclivity to run when things get serious) leading the climax of the film and its melancholy ending.
