In a Lonely Place

Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

1950 Humphrey Bogart film in which he stars as a screenwriter asked to read a book to adapt the book into a screenplay. While at a restaurant, he finds an attractive coatcheck girl who has read the book, so he asks her back to his place so that she will tell him about the story, which allows him not to read the book. She cancels a date. Bogart typically plays his cards close to his vest, so we do not know if he intended to sleep with her, but he does not try very hard to accomplish that task.
She leaves shortly after arriving. He calls her a cab. At 5:00 a.m., he is awakened by a police officer who informs him that the girl has been found on the side of a road, strangled and thrown from a moving vehicle. Bogart is taken into the station. He tells the chief how the murder occurred, and who committed the murder. Bogart tells the chief it is because he has written the murder before, the chief believes it is because Bogart committed foul play.
Bogart's story is supported by a neighbor who saw him peering into his window that night. Soon, they are in a relationship, eventually leading to a marriage proposal. Along the course of their relationship, she sees his violent side, and begins to have second thoughts not only about their relationship, but also about his involvement in the girl's murder.
This film will inevitably be compared with Bogart's other works of the 1940's and 1950's. While those films are great, I thought this one is "merely" very good. Those films were more plot driven, this more character driven. Because we saw the events, we know Bogart did not commit the murder. Therefore, the witnesses doubt never really transfers to the viewer. I felt that I was watching an event play out the way I thought it would. What I do appreciate about those older films is the apparent lack of need to bring in numerous characters that have no service to the plot.
The director of Wonder Boys adds commentary on the D.V.D., and does a good job of discussing the intricancies of the Bogart character, and the importance of the film.
There is also a good segment on the restoration of the film. The company involved in the restoration and Sony talk about all the films that have been destroyed through time, and for those films that remain, about all the scratches, pops, ticks, and deterioration of the film. It certainly made me appreciate what they went through to restore this print. And they did a good job.
This role is something of a departure for Bogart. While he was certainly tortured in his earlier films, this is the first one where I found him to be downright unlikeable. Which may explain why his production company produced the film. Very good film, recommended particularly for those who like Bogart.

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Kimber Kable

Topic - In a Lonely Place - jamesgarvin 11:37:26 04/18/05 (4)

Re: In a Lonely Place - JefferyK 10:43:23 04/20/05 (1)

Re: In a Lonely Place - jamesgarvin 12:53:54 04/20/05 (0)

Re: In a Lonely Place - rico 12:34:15 04/18/05 (0)

Thanks for the info: I'll definitely look for it. nt - tinear 11:51:26 04/18/05 (0)

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