Overview
A screenwriter's life spirals into chaos when a murder mystery unfolds around him, testing love and trust.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- brooding
- paranoid
- melancholic
- classic cinema night
- noir double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Nicholas Ray's noir melodrama as a sophisticated, suspenseful showcase for Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, distinguished by its bleak psychological treatment of romance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Laurel's attraction to Dixon is repeatedly undermined by his belligerence, macabre humor, and capacity for sudden violence.
Dixon's screenwriting assignment, agent, studio pressures, and dependence on a trashy bestseller establish a precarious postwar Hollywood workplace.
Dixon is both sympathetic and threatening, leaving his character and relationship to the murder persistently difficult to settle.
The black-and-white presentation concentrates attention on faces, interiors, nighttime streets, and the claustrophobic proximity of Dixon and Laurel.
Films like In a Lonely Place, and why
The Big Sleep
Shared film noir atmosphere, morally unstable protagonist, murder suspicion, and corrosive romantic tension.
Laura
Shared black-and-white noir style, romantic danger, psychological ambiguity, and a volatile male lead.
Out of the Past
Shared fatalistic noir romance, distrust between lovers, and an emotionally destructive central relationship.
Sunset Boulevard
Shared Hollywood setting, troubled artists, psychological tension, and bleak romantic melodrama.
Movie Details
- Director
- Nicholas Ray
- Release Date
- 1950-05-17
- Runtime
- 93 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (685)
Cast
- Humphrey Bogart
- Gloria Grahame
- Frank Lovejoy
- Carl Benton Reid
- Art Smith
- Jeff Donnell
- Martha Stewart
- Robert Warwick
- Morris Ankrum
- William Ching
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is In a Lonely Place about?
- A volatile Hollywood screenwriter’s romance with his neighbor becomes inseparable from the murder suspicion and violence surrounding him.
- What is In a Lonely Place like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of In a Lonely Place as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is In a Lonely Place violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in In a Lonely Place as moderate.
- What did critics think of In a Lonely Place?
- Critics broadly regard Nicholas Ray's noir melodrama as a sophisticated, suspenseful showcase for Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, distinguished by its bleak psychological treatment of romance.
- Which films are like In a Lonely Place?
- Films with a similar feel include The Big Sleep, Laura, Out of the Past, and Sunset Boulevard.
- How long is In a Lonely Place?
- In a Lonely Place runs 93 minutes.
- Where can I watch In a Lonely Place?
- In United States, In a Lonely Place is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
