Too much of everything

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

This is an outstanding film. It is well directed, and the cat is given an excellent script.Martha Stewart had very few film roles, but makes the most of a few brief moments with Bogie before her murder. That crime then dominates the entire film plot, with Grahame even questioning who done it? Watch for a young James Arness in the police station as a sort of junior officer serving coffee, housekeeping, and doing other chores.Jeff Donnell is very effective as an actress in this one too. She is a detectives wife who is busy analyzing Bogart and Grahame. Bogart is really a character here, violent and uncontrolled at times, and always in a hurry. Why the speed? Watch the movie to find out.The leading cast is so good, that you have to watch intently to pick up on clues leading to the surprise at the end.

Like many 50's films these days, all Hitchcock for example, this film's reputation, for some reason, has overshot reality.Sunset Boulevard, released in the same year, is a much better film. It doesn't go out of its way to be different for difference's sake, as this does. Lonely Place is less than the sum of it's parts and the parts ain't very good. A slightly better than average film.I would suggest watching Beat The Devil right afterward to get this film's turgid taste out of your mind.

I am unsure why this film is receiving such high marks as a film noir. For me, this has to be one of the most boring noirs I have ever seen, and as a noir buff, I've seen dozens and dozens of films noir. The entire movie takes place in the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. The remaining middle of the movie can be excised without affecting the outcome at all. This movie doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: mystery, drama, crime story, or comedy. The music is childish and cartoonish and often intrusive.The only aspect of this movie that makes it worth watching is Bogie's slow 'crash and burn' as Dix Steele, who realizes how shallow his relationships with others are, even the woman he loves, played by the unbelievably wooden and amateurish Gloria Grahame.She is supposed to be a woman living in fear that she might have gotten involved with a murderer but there is no love in her, or fear, or happiness, or any other emotion for that matter. I find myself not caring one iota about her and wondering why Dix even bothered pursuing her in thee first place.The rest of the cast is a mélange of interchangeable, immediately forgettable characters that add very little to the story. There are 2 cops on the case, but one would have been plenty. We have the obligatory drunk friend who adds nothing at all, except for the minuscule comedy relief, which is not welcome here, and the balance of the cast is just filler material. The only exception being Dix's agent Mel who is surprisingly realistic.All in all, a very forgettable film. Too bad, because Bogart is awesome.

Dixon Steele is a Hollywood screenwriter in career difficulty, going to a nightclub to see his longtime agent, who tries to help Steele's career by having a trashy novel adapted to the screen. Steele agrees, but in the process gets into two violent confrontations at the nightclub. Despite this, a hat check girl at the club who has read the novel, which Steele didn't want to read, agrees to visit Steele at his apartment to describe what was in this novel, despite the fact that she would break a date with her boyfriend as a result. She does so and Steele pays her, but after she has left, she is later murdered.New neighbor Laurel Gray and Steele are called to the police station and questioned, and upon their meeting, develop a romance. Trouble is, Steele has a long record of violent behavior, and Steele alternately acts kind and generously and then threatening towards Gray, making her question her relationship with him. Continuing such behavior makes everyone else, including the police, more and more fearful of Steele. Who is he and what has he done? Great performances from all cast members, great noir atmosphere, but ultimately this is not a pleasant story. The ending in fact is a blessing in disguise.