In a Lonely Place

Gloria Grahame plays Laurel Grey, the sexy new neighbor in Bogey's apartment complex.  Humphrey Bogart is Dixon Steele, a script writer whose career as a Hollywood screenwriter is in the dump.  When "Dix" is accused of the murder of a young female visitor, Laurel provides his alibi.  A romantic interest develops between the two in the weeks that follow (culminating in a hasty engagement), but Dix begins acting increasingly cruel, violent and erratic, all the while the police (and eventually Laurel) suspect him of murder.

Nicholas Ray's 1950 noir does an incredible job of stringing the viewer along, questioning Dixon Steele's innocence.  He clearly has issues, as demonstrated by his short temper, violent rages and controlling behavior.  As the film progresses we see his true character unfold piece by piece, and only at the very end of the film are we given any answers.  Though a later noir, In a Lonely Place is highly original, and a much better watch than some other noir "classics" like Scarlet Street (1945, Fritz Lang).   The film is not without its flaws, however; it isn't as gritty or tough as other genre pieces, and was surely cranked out by the studio.  The film makes up for its faults by compelling the viewer to press onward, in hopes of penetrating the mystery surrounding Bogart's Dixon Steele.

Overall, In a Lonely Place is pretty decent studio noir with excellent performances across the board.  Bogart is in top form here, and in spite of this being a lesser talked about film than other [obvious] roles in his career such as in Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, this is one of his better performances.  Grahame is also great, but her character seems to become weaker as the film progresses, which is somewhat of a detractor from the film.  There are some really dark scenes, like the scene where Dix narrates his version of the murder of which he is accused.  As it is acted out in front of him, he becomes increasingly stimulated as the audience is made to feel increasingly uneasy.  Also, some really wonderful dialog from Robert Warwick as a washed-up actor friend of Dix, and a harrowing car ride sequence in which Bogart and Grahame just deadpan into the camera.  While In a Lonely Place isn't quite as bleak or stark as some other noir pieces, and isn't the absolute best the genre has to offer, it is still highly suggested film noir viewing. 

From Wikipedia:
Louise Brooks wrote in her essay "Humphrey and Bogey" that she felt it was the role of Dixon Steele in this movie that came closest to the real Bogart she knew. "Before inertia set in, he played one fascinatingly complex character, craftily directed by Nicholas Ray, in a film whose title perfectly defined Humphrey's own isolation among people. In a Lonely Place gave him a role that he could play with complexity because the film character's, the screenwriter's, pride in his art, his selfishness, his drunkenness, his lack of energy stabbed with lightning strokes of violence, were shared equally by the real Bogart."

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