"I was born when she kissed me; lived a few short weeks while she loved me; I died when she left me." These bittersweet lines from In a Lonely Place are a fitting epitaph for the doomed romance at the center of this powerful Hollywood drama. Humphrey Bogart, in one of his most memorable performances, plays Dix, the hard-bitten and cynical screenwriter who falls for the glamorous Laurel (Gloria Grahame). But Dix has a violent streak in him, and though he's finally absolved of the murder he's accused of, the love affair cannot survive.
Undeniably, as Dana Polan shows in his subtle and intelligent account, there are autobiographical undertones in the film--the marriage of Gloria Grahame to its director, Nicholas Ray, began to break up during production. Yet despite its bleak ending and its frequent noir style, argues Polan, the wise-cracking between Dix and Laurel gives the film the aspect of a screwball comedy.
Critics were uncertain how to respond to this mix of genres when the film first appeared. Since then however, In a Lonely Place has rightfully been acknowledged as a classic and compelling story of blighted love.