In a Lonely Place

In a Lonely Place, motion picture starring Humphrey Bogart as a Hollywood screenwriter who gets tangled up in a murder mystery. Released in 1950, the film relates the story of Dixon Steele (played by Bogart), whose life as a lonely, struggling writer is just beginning to improve when he gets framed for murder. The murder charges jeopardize his relationship with his new girlfriend, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), and he becomes so rattled that he can’t stifle his own violent urges. By the time the actual murderer is exposed, Steele’s violence has cost him his relationship and his reputation. This movie contains stark lighting and a pessimistic, alienated hero, which were typical in the film noir movies of the 1940s and 1950s.

Director

• Nicholas Ray

Cast

• Humphrey Bogart (Dixon Steele)
• Gloria Grahame (Laurel Gray)
• Frank Lovejoy (Brub Nicolai)
• Carl Benton Reid (Capt. Lochner)
• Art Smith (Mel Lippman)
• Jeff Donnell (Sylvia Nicolai)
• Martha Stewart (Mildred Atkinson)
• Robert Warwick (Charlie Waterman)
• Morris Ankrum (Lloyd Barnes)
• William Ching (Ted Barton)
• Steven Geray (Paul)
• Hadda Brooks (Singer)
• Alice Talton (Frances Randolph)
• Jack Reynolds (Henry Kesler)
• Ruth Warren (Effie)
• Ruth Gillette (Martha)
• Guy Beach (Swan)
• Lewis Howard (Junior)
• Mike Romanoff (Himself)
• Arno Frey (Joe)
• Pat Barton (2nd hatcheck girl)
• Cosmo Sardo (Bartender)
• Don Hanin (Young driver)
• George Davis (Waiter)
• Billy Gray (Young boy)
• Melinda Erickson (Tough girl)
• Jack Jahries (Officer)
• David Bond (Dr. Richards)
• Myron Healey (Post office clerk)
• Robert Lowell (Airline clerk)

Quotes

• Dixon Steele (speaking about his brief romantic relationship with Laurel Gray): “I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.”