The MoFo Top 100 Film Noir Countdown

2) Out of the Past
4) In a Lonely Place
5) Night and the City
6. The Killing
7) The Night of the Hunter
8) White Heat
9) Detour
12) Shadow of a Doubt
13) Ace in the Hole
14) Gun Crazy
16) The Postman Always Rings Twice
18) The Stranger
19) Odd Man Out
21) Mildred Pierce
22) The Lost Weekend
23) Sweet Smell of Success
24) Crossfire
25) The Big Sleep

In a Lonely Place is my #3! And also my favorite Bogart movie. To me, it's everything the movie Suspicion should have been. An air of paranoia and despair hangs over every scene in the second half. One of the perfect noir thrillers.

For the record, this film was going to be my guess for today's reveal, but I never made it in here to post. Oh well.

The reason it was my guess is that it is one of those films I have seen on lists of noirs in the past, but had never heard much about it. I have never seen it. Another one for the rectification list!

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Some folks' definition of Noir is pretty narrow. Stalwart detectives, dangerous dames, shadowy underworlds, and the perfect crime gone wrong. But Noir is more correctly a tone and a style than a genre. While many Noirs do have similar elements and plots, what it is really all about is the darkness of the human soul, the helplessness of good when confronted by evil, a cynical refraction of the American Dream. In A Lonely Place does have a murder and a police suspect in the mix, but that’s not what the movie is about.



Humphrey Bogart is Dix Steele, a once brilliant screenwriter whose career is on the outs due to his volatile temperament and drinking. But an old friend has gotten him a good job adapting a best-selling novel. It’s a romance novel, not Dix’s bag. With the deadline approaching he can’t even be bothered to read it. But he gets lucky. The young hat check girl at the restaurant has overheard part of their conversation and admits she loved the book. Dix asks her back to his apartment to tell him the story and highlights of the book. While entering his apartment he is noticed by his new neighbor, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame). The young girl begins to tell him the story, but he realizes pretty quickly he can make it up and come nearly as close. He gives the girl cab fare home and sets to typing.

The next morning he is woken by a friend of his, Detective Sergeant Nicolai (Frank Lovejoy), a former War buddy and now a homicide detective. That young hat check girl has been murdered overnight, and since Dix very publicly invited her to his apartment, he is the prime suspect. Dix, being a cynical misanthrope, is more amused by the accusation than upset. The cops also bring in that neighbor, and Laurel gives him an alibi, saying that she saw the girl come and also leave. As a relationship quickly develops between the neighbors the question becomes did Dix and that violent temper of his actually kill that girl, and whether he did or didn’t is he capable of it? Fantastic characters, iconic performances, and that moral mystery.



Whenever I am pressed to pick one title as my all-time favorite Film Noir it is In A Lonely Place. The dream of love killed by our darkest nature. “I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” My full twenty-five points helped get it to number six on the collective list.

HOLDEN'S BALLOT
1. In A Lonely Place (#6)
2. The Killers (#22)
3. Too Late for Tears (#81)
4. The Set-Up (#46)
5. Out of the Past (#7)
7. The Asphalt Jungle (#16)
8. Odd Man Out (#47)
9. Criss Cross (#44)
10. Stray Dog (#32)
11. The Killing (#11)
12. The Big Combo (#52)
13. Phantom Lady (#69)
14. Born to Kill (#84)
15. Pickup on South Street (#21)
16. The Big Heat (#17)
18. He Walked By Night (#88)
19. Fallen Angel (#80)
20. Shadow of a Doubt (#12)
21. Thieves’ Highway (DNP)
22. Panic in the Streets (#98)
23. Black Angel (DNP)
24. Crossfire (#51)
25. The Crimson Kimono (DNP)

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

First place on Holden's list? Now I really need to see this...

In a Lonely Place is a superb film. I had it at #12 but on another it could have easily placed in my top 10. Just watch it already, Sedai.

3. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
7. Notorious (1946)
8. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
9. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
10. Stray Dog (1949)
11. Mildred Pierce (1945)
12. In a Lonely Place (1950)
13. Detour (1945)
14. The Big Sleep (1946)
15. Bob le flambeur (1956)
16. The Killers (1946)
17. Rififi (1955)
18. The Killing (1956)
19. Strangers on a Train (1951)
20. Gilda (1946)
21. Pickup on South Street (1953)
22. Laura (1944)
23. White Heat (1949)
24. Out of the Past (1947)
25. Nightmare Alley (1947)

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

In a Lonely Place was my #12. It's definitely a case where you watch a character you really want to root for, only they have this fatal flaw, which is just going to carry them under. Still have a Bogart film higher on my list.

My List:
5.Out of the Past (#7)
6. Pickup on South Street (#21)
7. Stray Dog (#32)
8. The Killing (#11)
9. Laura (#10)
10. Shadow of a Doubt (#12)
11. Where the Sidewalk Ends (#66)
12. In a Lonely Place (#6)
13. The Big Heat (#17)
14. Sweet Smell of Success (#9)
15. Elevator to the Gallows (#41)
16. The Big Sleep (#8)
17. Ace in the Hole (#19)
18. Gilda (#27)
19. Mildred Pierce (#15)
20. This Gun for Hire (#78)
21. The Postman Always Rings Twice (#23)
22. The Wrong Man (#39)
23. The Set-Up (#46)
24. Scarlet Street (#29)
25. Gun Crazy (#36)

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

*cough*

In a Lonely Place is on my ballot at... *doesn't need to check ballot*, it's my #1.
I'll mostly echo Holden. Noir to me is the darkness of the human spirit. And this is the one feels like the dark lifetime of the soul.

I only watched this movie once a couple of years ago, but I loved it so much. It kind of disappointed me when trying to fill out this ballot that I struggled to come up with other similarly bleak movies.

In a Lonely Place is great. Probably my favorite Bogart performance. Really love the dark corners it pushes him to go. I had it at #16. That said, I'm really surprised it ended up at #6, 100+ points above Out of the Past and especially The Big Sleep. Not a slight on it, though. Just the general perception of the films.


SEEN: 35/95
MY BALLOT: 20/25

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I thought well of In a Lonely Place but have needed another viewing for a long time.

For a reveal.

My #17 is Repeat Performance. I randomly saw it in one of the various noir collections that have shown up on Criterion every month since November (someone there really leaned into noir this year). I just can't remember which one.



The criterion description pretty much says exactly what it is:

You know what? I really like The Twilight Zone. It's on my list.

In A Lonely Place featured career best performances by both Bogart and Gloria Grahame. It also was graced by two of the best in the business: director Nicholas Ray (They Live by Night; Rebel Without a Cause), and cinematographer Burnett Guffey (All the King's Men; From Here to Eternity).

It always seemed incongruous to me that Steele (Bogart) in the end hadn't killed anyone despite his extreme hot-headedness. Turns out in the original script Steele strangles to death Laurel Gray (Grahame), but Ray refused to have that ending.

Eddie "The Czar of Noir" Muller states that this picture is his favorite noir film. I love the picture as well, but have placed it at #7.

Kiss Me Deadly?

On the long list of titles that came up on best noirs that I didn't get to. I'll bump this one up towards the front of the queue if it's in that vein.

ETA: looks like it's not readily streamable for me. I will have to keep an eye out for it when it does.

In a Lonely Place is one that I've only seen once but that was enough to impress me mightily. Bogie is awesome here, and Gloria Grahame is probably the best she's ever been (although her role in The Big Heat comes real close). Still, I didn't want to put too many Bogart films on my list. Although...

#1 The Killing List Proper #11
#2 The Asphalt Jungle List Proper #16
#3
#4 The Big Combo List Proper #52
#5 Pickup on South Street List Proper #23
#6 Kansas City Confidential List Proper #53
#7 The Big Sleep List Proper #8
#8 While the City Sleeps NM
#9 Lady in the Lake NM
#10 The Big Heat List Proper #17
#11 Kiss Me Deadly List Proper #13
#12 The Postman Always Rings Twice List Proper #23
#13 Murder, My Sweet List Proper #28
#14 Kiss of Death List Proper #59
#15 He Walked By Night List Proper #88
#16 The Naked City List Proper #60
#17 The Killers List Proper #22
#18 Detour List Proper #24
#19 The Glass Key NM
#20 Gun Crazy List Proper #36
#21 Impact NM
#22 This Gun For Hire List Proper #78
#23 The Narrow Margin List Proper #43
#24 Pitfall NM
#25 Crossfire List Proper #51

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

Forgot to mention that In a Lonely Place was Nicholas Ray's third entry in the countdown. He had already placed They Live by Night (#55) and On Dangerous Ground (#62).

Stats: Pit Stop #10

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After hitting our tenth pit stop (95), here's were we are now:

Yearly Breakdown

• 1940 = 4
• 1941 = 1
• 1942 = 1
• 1943 = 2
• 1944 = 7
• 1945 = 7
• 1946 = 10
• 1947 = 11
• 1948 = 10
• 1949 = 7
• 1950 = 10
• 1951 = 4
• 1952 = 3
• 1953 = 5
• 1954 = 0
• 1955 = 6
• 1956 = 4
• 1957 = 1
• 1958 = 2
• 1959 = 0

1947 retakes the lead by the skin of its teeth, with 1946, 1948, and 1950 close behind it. Also, 1957 finally gets an entry while 1954 and 1959 remain clean.


Repeating Directors

• Alfred Hitchcock = 7
• Otto Preminger = 4
• Fritz Lang = 4
• Jules Dassin = 4
• Robert Siodmak = 3
• Orson Welles = 3
• Robert Wise = 3
• Henry Hathaway = 3
• Nicholas Ray = 3
• William Wyler = 3
• Howard Hawks = 2
• Billy Wilder = 2
• Michael Curtiz = 2
• John Huston = 2
• Edward Dmytryk = 2
• Raoul Walsh = 2
• Akira Kurosawa = 2
• Joseph H. Lewis = 2
• Jules Dassin = 2
• John Cromwell = 2
• Robert Rossen = 2

Alfred Hitchcock remains untouched, but Otto Preminger gets his fourth one. Meanwhile, Nicholas Ray gets his third and Howard Hawks joins the group with two.

#6 In a Lonely Place - Oh, how good this is. It came up on my watchlist recently, and this is the review I wrote :

Despite only having seen it recently, In a Lonely Place ended up snagging a lofty #3 position on my ballot. It was simply that good.

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Seen : 33/95
I'd never even heard of : 47/95
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 15/95
Films from my list : 21

#6 - My #3 - In a Lonely Place (1950)
#7 - My #7 - Out of the Past (1947)
#8 - My #6 - The Big Sleep (1946)
#9 - My #9 - Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
#10 - My #24 - Laura (1944)
#11 - My #13 - The Killing (1956)
#13 - My #4 - Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
#14 - My #10 - The Night of the Hunter (1955)
#16 - My #15 - The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
#21 - My #17 - Pickup on South Street (1953)
#24 - My #20 - Detour (1945)
#27 - My #14 - Gilda (1946)
#28 - My #11 - Murder, My Sweet (1944)
#31 - My #25 - The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
#33 - My #22 - Nightmare Alley (1947)
#36 - My #16 - Gun Crazy (1950)
#44 - My #19 - Criss Cross (1949)
#54 - My #12 - D.O.A. (1950)
#58 - My #23 - The Breaking Point (1950)
#61 - My #21 - Act of Violence (1949)
#67 - My #18 - The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

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I just realised a HUGE omission from my list that is coming up, and I have my head buried in my hands.....

1. Sunset Boulevard
2. The Maltese Falcon
3. The Third Man
4. Double Indemnity
5. Touch of Evil