In a Lonely Place . Austin Chronicle . 03-30-98

In a Lonely Place

DIRECTED BY: Nicholas Ray

REVIEWED: 03-30-98

When Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame first notice each other at their condominium complex in 1950's In a Lonely Place, you sense they've known one another for some time or are hiding something, but no, that's just the powerful, longing gaze of classical Hollywood cinema emblematically realized. Later, when she's called in for questioning about Bogart, who's under suspicion of having killed a nice young nightclub hostess, she provides him with an alibi. Bogart is right there at the police office listening to her do this, so he knows one reason Grahame was so obliging is because, as she says, she likes his face. She later tells Bogart, when he asks the mirror how anyone could "love a face like this" and then turns to kiss her, that "I said I liked it; I didn't say I wanted to kiss it," a classic line if ever there was one. The plot hinges around Bogart's inexplicable rage and Grahame's overly eager willingness to forgive - two finely tuned, sensitive performances that Ray, the actors themselves, and Andrew Solt's screenplay draw out in equal measure.

--Claiborne Smith

Film Vault Suggested Links
Kiss of Death
A Perfect Murder
Dolores Claiborne

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