Z-View: “In a Lonely Place”
In a Lonely Place [1950]
Director: Nicholas Ray
Screenplay: Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North
Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame
The Pitch: “Let’s get Bogie and Gloria Grahame and make a really noir film.”
The Tagline: “The Bogart Suspense Picture with the Surprise Finish!”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Dixon Steele (Bogart) is an ex-military screenwriter who hasn’t had a hit since before the war. Since his return home, Steele’s quick temper and willingness to fight at even the smallest slight has left him with a bad reputation with the studios and run-ins with the law. So when Steele gets the chance to write the screenplay adaptation for a popular novel he knows he’s going to have to even if he can’t bring himself to read it.
As fortune would have it, the hatcheck girl at one of Steele’s favorite restaurants has read and loves the book. Steele invites her to his apartment late one evening after she gets off work with the idea that she can tell him the story. Steele’s neighbor (Grahame) sees him taking the young lady into his apartment. Later, as the girl tells Steele the story, he sees Grahame on her balcony. It’s late and Steele gives the girl money for her time and cab fare home.
The next morning a Detective informs Steele that the girl was murdered and her dead body was found at the side of a deserted road. Steele’s only alibi is Grahame who is called to the police station. Although they had never met before, there is an immediate spark between Bogart and Graham. Although she saw the girl enter with Bogart, Grahame didn’t see the girl leave, but that’s not what she tells the cops. Instead Grahame offers that she did see the girl leave on her own… which is just the alibi that Bogart needs.
Over the next few weeks, Bogart and Graham fall in love and she begins to question if she alibied a killer.
Final Thoughts: The tagline touts a surprise finish and that is what you get. This is a dark film and one of Bogart’s best roles. I’m a fan of Gloria Grahame and this is one of her most famous movies. Robert Warwick is also excellent in a small supporting role.
Rating:
