Marriage would have been a disaster

I totally agree, but Laurel still had feelings for him. Like many such women, she wanted to believe things would have been different, and so she deluded herself. Of course, sooner or later, he would have started knocking her around. Eventually, she probably came to realize how lucky she was not to have married Dixon. Much of his trouble was no doubt due to battle fatigue, and in those days, divorce was not common, no matter what. The world changed, which is why so many combat veterans of later wars have been married three or more times. I was luckier than many, and I'm grateful for it.

I just commented on another subject about the movie, so I'll repost part of that here since it touches on everything you covered: "I had never see this movie before; caught part of it on Thursday afternoon, then woke up at 3 AM to see a repeat on AntennaTV -- which I thank so much for airing it! What a brilliant ending and had it had the typical happy ending, it wouldn't have been the same. As someone in law enforcement who has regrettably had to come in on the conclusion of way too many domestic violence cases (I work crime scenes), had these two characters married, it would have ended in one of two ways -- her running for her life or him being locked up for her murder. Considering this film came out in 1950, it was amazing how well it captured the circle of abuse in these type of relationships: he loves her; he abuses her physically or emotionally; he begs forgiveness; she forgives him...and the circle begins again."

So in response to your own comments, I HEARTILY AGREE! Like you, I also caught the dialogue about had they known several days before, and I thought "Like it would have mattered anyway if you think beyond 'Oh they could have lived happily ever after.'" You're right in that Dix was already revealing the sort of man he was, and the type of relationship he and Laurel would have had. One day it's his poor old manager. Another day it's the UCLA student. The next it would have been Laurel, who likely -- for a time, would have wondered what SHE was doing wrong to incite him. The scene in the restaurant was even more intense (for me personally) than the one after the beach scene because you see the tension even more, as well as the suspicion and mistrust. By the time we get to the very end, when I half-expected him to either kick down the door or force open a window, well, it was a crescendo of jealousy, violence...and what has likely been the line of many domestic violence killers as they murdered their wife, girlfriend or ex "I'll never let you go."

I think that in the near future, when Laurel reads in the paper that Dix has been arrested for assault or murder (probably when the director of the movie adaptation or an actor decides to change a line of his screenplay), well, as you said, she'll realize that she escaped with her life!

I agree completely. He would have beaten the life out of her in the long run.

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JIM HUTTON: talented gorgeous HOT; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

I agree as well - I thought it was a very happy ending, because Laurel had been spared from marrying a monster.

What confuses me - was the audience in 1950 expected to be disappointed that they did not marry at the end? Did the 1950 audience see this as a sad or tragic ending - that if only Dixon had been cleared a few days earlier they could have gotten married?

I suspect at the time people did view the ending as "sad" because the issue of abuse was then so little recognized and understood.

I believe we're in a more enlightened age today. I think back in the fifties people didn't know about the circle of abuse that's pretty well known today. I think abuse was kept behind closed doors back in the old days.

I certainly agreed that she was saved by the bell. Literally, the telephone bell. He was in the process of murdering her when the telephone ringing snapped him out of his desperate, blind rage. To have had the exoneration of Mildred's murder two days earlier might well have led eventually to her own death, certainly into an abusive marriage, even though she knew he was bad news.

That's part of the genius of this movie, what makes it stand the test of time. Perhaps in the movie's era such an ending would be moving because hopes and dreams weren't realized... love lost. Today it's equally compelling because we breathe a huge sigh of relief that she escaped his clutches.

Quite a feat of film making, to have a movie work across vastly different eras the way "In A Lonely Place" does. A masterpiece!

The tragedy isn't just that his innocence wasn't established soon enough. It was that his neurotic, abusive personality would have prevented them from having a good relationship, in spite of the fact that, in some ways, they were soulmates. It was all just doomed from the start.