“In a Lonely Place” isn't your typical film noir, in that the main character Dixon Steele (even though he is played by Humphrey Bogart, the quintessential noir actor) is neither a gangster nor a private eye- he's an alcoholic writer in love.

On the other hand, he's also suspected by the police of being a serial killer, and even though his girlfriend (played by Gloria Grahame) wants to believe he's innocent, there are a few unsettling facts about him. For instance, his hair-trigger temper, his possessiveness, his fits of violent rage and his habit of drinking until he can't remember what he did or didn't do.

If the man you love is capable of murder, how much does it matter whether he's technically guilty or not?

Fans of the Smithereens may be interested to know that their song “In a Lonely Place” is a reference to this movie, and that the lyrics are taken from a line in the film: “I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me.”

The movie was considered a tough sell by critics at the time, because it isn't exactly a hardboiled crime movie but it's far too depressing to be a romance. It's essentially a story of alienation and self-sabotage, with a character you want to like yet can't help but despise. As understanding of the “film noir” ethos grew, the film came to be considered a classic of that genre, as it still is today.