why don't people like this movie?

Well, you asked for it...


My boyfriend and I saw this for the first time on Turner Classic Movies the other night. Obviously we both liked it enough to see it through to the end. At the famous fade-out, BF groaned. I jumped up and out of the bedroom with disgust (granted, mock disgust)!

He didn't like it too much. I did: the existential arguments isn't as strong as it should be, but good enough to support what remains fresh about the picture: society's protection and encouragement of even sociopathic behavior in icons like Dix (the ex-soldier who glorifies the mythic American male in his art and his own life). Its destructive effect on a genuine, vulnerable love affair refutes this messed-up value system.

Not a bad pic. Still, we don't love this movie as you do. This is because:

1) Dix Steele: the name alone! Drivel from the pen of a 12 year-old who read Freud.

2) Dix's treatment of Mildred the hat-check girl (giving her cab fare after refusing to drive her home). Yes, it foretells the moral death inside Dix that is the key to his character. But it is terribly impolite, even by 2006 standards. After he also fails to show emotion at the news of her murder, I hated him! All the more so, because it was clear that Dix was not her killer (see #3 below). Dix becomes so hard to root for that he dents the power of the ending.

3) Deep inside the bloated praise for this movie, one criticism has more or less continued through the years: Ray's clumsy switch-off between the MacGuffin of Mildred's murder and the relationship of the ledes. It is so abrupt that it almost feels cheap.

4) Bogey's performance. Yes, I know the consensus nowadays is that it's among his best. Rubbish! He is often good, but his lapses are strange: his most violent moments (e.g. when he beats up the UCLA jock) are his most wearied. Don't bring me jive about intended irony; Ray and Gloria Grahame (whose acting is beyond reproach) pitch the scene as if Bogey were the Tasmanian Devil. He just looks and acts like a tired old man, no match for an angry Trojan!

5) The music it's loud and it sucks. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about classical music or its derivatives, but this deep romantic melody was bereft of the Korngold/Steiner style horns common to film-noir. The result is strange, but not skillful enough to work for the movie.

6) Finally: Oooh, that damn LINE!!!! I cannot bring myself to repeat it! Actually, it is brilliant, and that is the problem. The aforementioned faults make this an interesting, sometimes very good, but not-great movie. When Gloria faded out, The End, we felt had because of this line. "CORNY!" said BF. I couldn't exactly argue.

Only long after all of its principals died has the rest of the world become interested enough to see what reallly was "In a Lonely Place." But the the people who made it saw a masterpiece in the making. It ain't, and it's most famous line thuds. The audiences and, apparently, the critics of 1950 had a point, although even I think they were too harsh.

This is a worthwhile movie that reached too hard for greatness...and fell on its face! Its many redeeming qualities, plus our culture's eagerness to give an A-for-effort, have resulted in a cult status that leaves you and other fans with nothing to complain about. This movie has gotten its share of praise.

I absolutely enjoy watching this movie, althought it is dark and depressing.

I sympathize with Bogie's character simply because it seems like he slowly destroys relationships with people he loves and cares about .

He has a serious mental/emotional problem that I feel he is too ashamed to admit that he has; let alone seek professional help for.

Gloria's character I feel was just perfect for him. She was supportive, with the maternal nurturing that he needed, and there was this HUGE sexual compatibility between them. They seemed to be a great match.

That is until Gloria's character realizes that she has to think of her own safety and well-being which ultimately means she was not going to be with Dix whether he was guilty or not.

One of my favorite scene's of course, is the Night Club scene featuring the
lovely and fabulous Hadda Brooks, The Queen of the Boogie Woogie. A very talented musician/singer who graced The Legendary Central Avenue in Los Angeles,
with her talent during "The Ave's" glory days of the 40'2/50's.

"OOO...I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"

I actually really like this movie.

I was thinking all while I watching this movie that we know how widespread domestic abuse was in the US during the 50s and before, and there was no divorce ... US society has really changed a lot. I think this movie hit way too close to home for people. I was thinking how many people must have gone to see this as couples and lived a very similiar moments ... way to close to home at the time. I just would like to know what was said about this movie at the time and how it was regarded.

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Women may rate it lower because Laurel changes from a strong, independent woman to a simpering wimp. I was hoping she'd tell Dix off at some point, but soon I realized that wasn't going to happen.

before Bogart was in the Maltese falcon he played the bad guy in films The Bogart persona is squelched in the film you're asking about It is a somber performance without his trademark qips and it is unapologetically so he is actually a cad in Maltese Falcon

because it has an unhappy ending.very unusual fot that time period.
audiences back then liked things neat and tidy and happy.