Congratulations on stumbling upon this brilliant film. I felt the same way when I discovered it in April, and sense then I have fallen harder and harder for this dark, underrated and poignant gem...In fact, I think it's bordering on obsession. If you have any questions about the making of the movie or anything, you can email me at [email protected].
When the film was released, many critics thought that it was among Bogart's best performances. Even TIME magazine, which gave it a negative review when it first came out (it can be viewed here: http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/0,23220,in_a_lonely_place,00.html), named it one of the 100 best films ever made a few decades later. However, it was a financial disappointment. Something tells me that people weren't ready to see their beloved, world-weary but always heroic Bogart persona be shredded into bits to reveal that painful vulnerability and unnerving violence--this was just before Brando, Dean and Clift became sensations for Method acting, when stars were still beloved for selling their on-screen personas rather than exploring a variety of roles.
Ironically, even though this movie is praised for its acid look at Hollywood and is often overshadowed by All About Eve and Sunset Blvd., the three movies were actually released the same year, but In a Lonely Place actually debuted in May, before the other two. I think it's the best of the three, because it's so much more than an anti-Hollywood movie or a film noir--it's an adult love story about how insecurities and our reluctance to fully trust one another that can destroy even the most beautiful, hopeful and deepest of relationships.
And I think that this is Gloria Grahame's best performance. She made a career of being typecast as the lovable floozy, but this is a rare role that frees her of the convention and shows her for what she's worth. She and Bogart make a wonderful duo--Laurel is a role obviously meant for Lauren Bacall (Edmund North was tailoring the role of Dix for Bogart when he was adapting it, so it makes sense), but her contract wouldn't allow it, so Gloria Grahame, who was married to director Nicholas Ray at the time, was brought in. There is no doubt that Bacall would've made a memorable Laurel, but Grahame gives the role a worldly angle that Bacall could never have alluded to, and she more than equals Bacall with her chemistry with Bogart. In fact, she delivers one of my all-time favorite lines in movies ("I said I liked it--I didn't say I wanted to kiss it."), and she belongs on the list of great Bogart love interests, along with Bacall, Katharine Hepburn and Ingrid Bergman.
Grahame and Nicholas Ray were famously breaking up during the filming. This film is possibly the career best film for both, and remains a testament to their professionalism under pressure.
Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you *exactly* what to do, what to say?!
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bruce-129
17 years ago
Thanks for all the information. I was thinking about Lauren Bacall when
I was watching this, and for a moment had to blink a few times because
I thought Gloria Grahame was Bacall.
I knew I had seen that face before, and I was searching for who it was
throughout the whole movie ... to get home, consult IMDB and find out
it was the least expected place I would ever had thought, and that was
the mother character in the movie "Chilly Scenes Of Winter". She was
so great in that role, and the depth of the character against the rest
of the movie was sheer genius.
This movie is so dark I am amazed that it was made or seen at all.
I think of "All About Eve" which is brilliant as well, "Sunset Blvd"
never really resonated with me for some reason ... maybe I'll have to
see it again.
"In A Lonely Place" ... actually I'm surprised that it is even
recognized as the great work that it is today because it is so brutal
to look at - but there was a "psychological" innocent era of movies
when psychoanalysis and psychology first was considered by the American
audience. Films like "Marnie" or "Spellbound" that were simply and to
the point, where now the psychological aspect of most movies is simple
a plot gimmick.
I read about Gloria Grahame and such a funny thing about her marrying
Nicholas Ray, divorcing and then marrying his son! I never knew that
could happen ... so bizzarre!
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bruce-129
13 years ago
I just read the Time magazine article, and wow, it was terrible, and full of spoilers to boot. Time Magazine really hated this movie ... which I can understand at the time, because focusing on male temper tantrums and abuse was not accepted at the time.
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Echo_in_big_sky
13 years ago
It would have been so much more satisfying had Bacall played the part.
Gloria Grahame always struck me as an actor who tried too hard to be demure or substantial.
Always the officiant, never the bride. http://www.withthiskissitheewed.com
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JohnD61
9 years ago
I am glad they did not cast Bacall in this. Grahame was perfect.
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MyMovieTVRomance
9 years ago
I am glad they did not cast Bacall in this. Grahame was perfect.
I agree. I came away from the film IN LOVE with her! She was great.
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!
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