In a Lonely Place

(Nicholas Ray, US 1950, 93 min., 35mm)

The Noir Effect. In perhaps his most intense performance, Humphrey Bogart plays Dix, a troubled, neurotic screenwriter who is implicated in the murder of a hat-check girl. Laurel (the fabulous Gloria Grahame), Dix’s aspiring actress neighbor, provides him with an alibi and the two embark on a tempestuous romance that is constantly threatened by Dix’s violent temper. This powerful noir drama by director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) is both an indictment of Hollywood and a deeply personal look at human relationships.