Mark and Aaron are joined by Matt Gasteier to explore Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place (1950) and evaluate Humphrey Bogart’s body of work. We go into how Ray’s life informed the cinema, why he wasn’t celebrated during his time and subsequently appreciated later. We also go through Bogart’s entire career, from getting his lucky break to becoming a superstar.

About the film:

When a gifted but washed-up screenwriter with a hair-trigger temper—Humphrey Bogart, in a revelatory, vulnerable performance—becomes the prime suspect in a brutal Tinseltown murder, the only person who can supply an alibi for him is a seductive neighbor (Gloria Grahame) with her own troubled past. The emotionally charged In a Lonely Place, freely adapted from a Dorothy B. Hughes thriller, is a brilliant, turbulent mix of suspenseful noir and devastating melodrama, fueled by powerhouse performances. An uncompromising tale of two people desperate to love yet struggling with their demons and each other, this is one of the greatest films of the 1950s, and a benchmark in the career of the classic Hollywood auteur Nicholas Ray.

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Episode Links & Notes

Special Guest: Matt Gasteier from Criterion on the Brain and Criterion by Spine. You can follow him on Twitter.

0:00 – Welcome and New Music!

2:25 – Welcome Matt!

6:20 – Matt’s Criterion Connection

14:40 – In a Lonely Place

1:06 – Humphrey Bogart

• Silent Film Music with Ben Model episode


• The Criterion Chronology


• Matt’s Essay about Bigger than Life


• Aaron’s Essay about Bigger than Life


• You Must Remember This – Bogie and Bacall

Episode Credits

• Mark Hurne: Twitter | Letterboxd


• Aaron West: Twitter | Blog | Letterboxd


• Criterion Close-Up: Facebook | Twitter | Email


• Music from Ben Model: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Next time on the podcast: North of the Border