Hollywood, 1950s. A list of filmmakers were denied work due to suspected Communist Party membership or sympathies. Some folded under pressure and started naming names. Some moved to Europe. But stars like Humphrey Bogart tried to protest against the blacklist, until they were pressured to stop. So while In A Lonely Place can simply be seen as a decent novel adaptation, a great murder mystery, or an even greater romance, there’s something sublime about how the lovers, and Hollywood, coulda had a good thing goin’, if it ain’t for the suspicion within. In A Lonely Place captured that palpable disappointment and heightened tension through classic noir storytelling.
"Few movies suggest such a forthright flaying of their director's soul."
— Richard Brody
"Director Nicholas Ray maintains nice suspense. Bogart is excellent. Gloria Grahame, as his romance, also rates kudos."
— Variety Staff
A violent screenwriter and a female neighbor fall in love after she clears him of murder, but she begins to have second thoughts.
Screenwriter Dixon Steele falls in love with his new neighbor Laurel Gray. However, due to his anger issues, his crime story knowledge, and the victim being last spotted leaving his house, Dixon is considered the prime suspect for the murder of Mildred Atkinson.
Reportedly, this was Bogart’s most personal role. It’s interesting to see how he felt about Hollywood through one of the few films made through his production company.
It’s not Bogart’s best known work, but my gosh, it should be.
