02 Nov NOIRVEMBER: In a Lonely Place

In A Lonely Place

dir. Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame

Nicholas Ray begins “In A Lonely Place” expertly setting up his plot and his characters. With a tight screenplay from Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North who adapted the story from a Dorothy B. Hughes novel and with it, a few changes. The new script trades in a serial killing sociopath for a drunk and unfulfilled screenwriter. A far cry from the killer in the book, but a man no less tortured.

Humphrey Bogart stars as Dixon Steele, a screenwriter with a penchant for alcohol and may or may not get violent. The film strays from the repetitive noirs of the time by subverting some of the expectations. The story is certainly about murder, but it is more concerned about the examination of a man’s psyche. A war vet, an alcoholic, a man that is all alone, both by circumstance and choice.

After an evening out, he invites a hat-check lady back to his house to explain a book to him. The book itself is a trashy bestseller that the studio is asking him to adapt; not wanting the arduous task of researching himself, he lets her explain it in her own words. The next day he is brought in for questioning, as the hat-check lady was found murdered.

You can tell that this is a very personal film for Bogart; he gives what is arguably his best performance of his career. Those close to Bogart, like Louise Brooks, said it was the closest to the real Bogart in any performance. Maybe it was Steele’s temperament, or his artistic vision being compromised that Bogart connected with, but there is a kinship, and it translates well on screen.

When the seductive Laurel Gray (played by director Nicholas Rey’s wife, Gloria Grahame) is introduced, the heart of the film starts to unveil itself. As the title refers, the lonely place could mean many things. In this case, it’s the examination of Steele’s soul and the darkness therein, and the woman who thinks she can save him. The expertly crafted noir has you questioning the character’s motives and even their innocence, leading to a suspenseful and fittingly heartbreaking ending.

There’s visual symmetry of having the two love interests living in the same apartment block, apart from each other, but able to see into each other lives. The lonely place weaving in and out of the narrative leaves you feeling melancholic and cold, a shining example of noir and its effects on its audience.

Review by Joel Winstead. For more reviews from Windstead, check him out: Winstead’s Reviews – Reviewing films in a mindful and personal way. (winsteadsreviews.com)