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One autumn night, a score of therapists met to watch a film that was older than most of them. In a Lonely Place is the story of a brief relationship between screenwriter and war veteran, Dixon (“Dix”) Steele (Humphrey Bogart) and his glamorous and sophisticated neighbour, actress Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame).
Shot in black and white, the film is spare: in a few short minutes we meet Dix and discover that he has not been able to write anything original since before the war, surviving by churning out screenplays of popular novels. We also learn that he is violent; indeed we see him in a number of fights, and are told that he broke the nose of a previous lover. His justification for his violence is always the same: “They had it coming.” Here is a man who is dangerous, but all that is bad is projected outwards.
The story develops when Dix is suspected of murdering Mildred Atkinson, a naïve young woman, who lives with her aunt, and checks coats at Dix's favourite bar. Dix invites Mildred to his apartment to tell him the story of a novel for which he has to write the screenplay, but which he is too apathetic to read. The next morning Mildred is found dead and Dix is taken to the police station for questioning. He is released when an alibi is provided by Laurel, who has just moved into the apartment opposite, and who saw Mildred leave.
Dix and Laurel begin a relationship and we see a honeymoon period during which Dix can write again. In keeping with the censorship rules of the time, little is depicted but much is implied. We understand that their relationship is sexual, because they make one another breakfast (and I particularly enjoyed the symbolism of Dix scooping out Laurel's grapefruit).
However, as the police investigation continues, the relationship becomes strained; Laurel witnesses another violent incident and begins to doubt Dix's innocence. Dix, sensing her ambivalence, becomes increasingly possessive. Friends are powerless to intervene as the film heads towards its