In a Lonely Place

The screenwriter Dixon Steele has not worked in a long time and cannot hold his temper. When a hat-check girl he invited home is found dead, he is the first suspect. His neighbour Laurel Gray gives the statement that protects him and the two grow close. As the investigation goes on Laurel starts to see how near this man lives to violence. Nicholas Ray directed. Humphrey Bogart plays Dixon and Gloria Grahame plays Laurel. Life on set overlapped strangely with the film. Ray and Grahame were married during shooting and the marriage was ending. Grahame had to sign a contract accepting her husband's authority over her during working hours. The couple separated during production and kept it secret so they would not be replaced. The ending changed too. Ray first shot a darker version in which Dixon kills Laurel. He later said he shot it because it was his obligation, and that they then improvised the ending as it now stands. In the new one nobody dies; both of them understand the relationship cannot survive, and that lands heavier. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 96 percent. The film entered the National Film Registry in 2007. Who it is for: viewers who like the kind of noir interested in character rather than in crime. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a sympathetic hero from Bogart. This man is dangerous and the film does not absolve him.