MovieChat Forums > In a Lonely Place Discussion > Anyone else find Dix super annoying?

Anyone else find Dix super annoying?

posted 3 years ago by Phids (315)
15 replies | jump to latest

Maybe I'm just not a Humphrey Bogart fan in general, but his character in this movie was really not likable, and I don't know that it was that well acted, either. It kind of ruined the believability of his relationship with Laurel (besides the age difference).

Also it didn't seem like there was a close enough relationship drawn between his eccentric, violent personality, and his supposedly awesome screenwriting skills. I could understand his personality if the film portrayed his dark side as a necessary precondition for his genius, but it wasn't done.

With that said, I suppose the movie did fulfill the function of what Film Noir is supposed to do, so I guess it kind of worked after all.

[–] Ace_Spade (9348) 2 years ago

I love Humphrey Bogart, but Dix was a piece of work.

I will disagree with you about the acting; I thought Bogart was top-grade here. I think the script did a good job of showing us how Dixon could be fun, witty, urbane, and just enough of a cynical artist to be desirable company for anybody looking for excitement and "depth", yet at the same time shows us this pathetic rage-machine driven by an ego. It seemed real - like all the stories I've ever heard of such "romances" where one partner is abusive. Frankly, the horror of the film is how real it is, right down to her finding excuses that she loves him to stay with him longer.

On that point, I think it's also great that the film didn't make his infantile behaviour necessary for his genius, because (1) it isn't, and (2) that shouldn't excuse the behaviour.

The film fulfilled a function of noir, but also drama, romance (before Dix corrodes into a devil), quite a lot of witty one-liners (I laughed a lot at the beginning...), tragedy, and the whole thing could be used as a PSA about abusive relationships.

Now, I'm not sure what the age difference has to do with anything. Those relationships happen; what's not believable? Heck, Bogey himself was famously in a long-term, loving (by all accounts) relationship with Lauren Bacall, 25 years younger than her leading man.

[–] Phids (315) 2 years ago

I think at the end of the day, I wasn't convinced of the relationship between Dix and Laurel because there wasn't enough to like in him. Sure, celebrities (such as real life Bogart) can get away with a big age difference in relationships, but regular people (or down-on-their-luck screenwriters) can't rely on that, which is why I think the age difference among the characters here was an oddity.

It wasn't a bad movie, and worked as film noir, but Bogart just didn't make it very enjoyable for me.

[–] Ace_Spade (9348) 2 years ago

I guess I've just known enough May-December romances that maybe I buy it more. Maybe I'm too big a Bogey fan so I'll overlook it. I dunno.

If it didn't work for you, that's cool. I do think he wasn't supposed to make it "enjoyable", although maybe this is semantic. I'm going at this: I think we're not supposed to think of Dix as a "good guy", although I'm sure we are supposed to sympathize with him and like him to an extent. I got there (I think the tragedy is that he was capable of goodness and failed - that's what made the drama compelling for me), and it sounds like you didn't. I'm not faulting you or saying I'm superior, but I'm just saying...that's what it sounds like?

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

Notice any parallel between Dix and Fred C. Dobbs?

[–] Ace_Spade (9348) 2 years ago

Yes, but it's been too long since I've seen ol' Dobbs, so I can't really say anything insightful about the connection.

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

Humphrey Bogart heavy from Treasure Of The Sierra Madre. Same sort of antipathetic character, with some endearing qualities.

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

I could agree with you that this movie was not really enjoyable. I am not sure why they made it. It would be interesting if there were any interviews or information about it.

I think there was a lot of depth to this movie, talking about rage and anger management. Dix couldn't control himself. Dix also seemed tired bored and sick of life, soul sick.

He had one last chance, and he could not let go of his anger. A very curious movie.

[–] Phids (315) 2 years ago

Just curious - what are some other film noir movies that you like? Do you have a favorite?

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

I'm not a big fan of genres, or film noir, in general. I like movies that I like, and film noir seems a pretty artificial category. Looking at lists of movie to me it is almost Bogie, not the genre I enjoy.

Looking through the list the 1946 version of "The Killers" looks like something I'd like to see - with Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien.

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

He was not supposed to be likable. A character being unlikable is not bad acting ... no amount of good acting will make a heavy likable. Dix was a SOB especially when he treated his old drunk buddy badly. He probably got the role because he acted so well as the unlikable Fred C. Dobbs in "Treasure Of The Sierra Madre".

I think the movie's point was how people stay liking someone when they have fame, wealth, or confidence long past the point they show they are bad people.

[–] Phids (315) 2 years ago

I think it was more that wasn't likable *and* his performance wasn't the best. Blame the screenwriters at least in part for the former. In my view, even an unlikable character should be shown to have likable qualities, particularly when the film revolves around a romantic relationship involving that character.

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

True, there was not a whole lot to recommend Dix as a human being.

[–] huwdj (4562) 2 years ago

He got the role because it was made by his own production company - Santana Pictures Corporation. As you said, Dix was a deeply flawed, sometimes nasty character. But there was something, or had been once, such that old friendships endured.
I always thought this was one of the best of his later films but it's a long time since watched it and I can't find my copy - hiding in a wrongly labeled box somewhere.

[–] brux (14666) 2 years ago

It is on Amazon Prime, and sometimes someone posts it on YouTube, otherwise you have to pay for it there.

A good reason to watch this movie is the leading lady, Gloria Grahame, who I know about because she was in another of my favorite movies, Chilly Scenes of Winter, playing Charles' ( John Heard's ) unbalanced mother - wonderfully. At at 56 she is still very beautiful.

[–] huwdj (4562) 2 years ago

Yes. I've always liked Gloria Grahame. I think it's the way she looks at people.