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Description

The guys discuss the classic film noir adaptation, IN A LONELY PLACE, based on the 1947 noir fiction novel by Dorothy B. Hughes.

In post World War II Los Angeles, Dix Steele is a former service member who roams the city at night, maybe or maybe not strangling women who cross his path. After reconnecting with his friend from the army, Brub, who is now a police detective, Dix offers to help him solve the case of a serial killer—risking revelations he may want to hide. Eventually, Dix’s neighbor, an actress named Laurel Gray and Brub's wife Sylvia become suspicious of Dix and they aid the forces of justice to close in on the killer without him being aware of it. Themes of gender relations, male loneliness in the wake of World War, and boozy cocktails feature prominently. 

The film adaptation was directed by Nicholas Ray and written by Andrew P. Solt and Edmund H. North. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame and Frank Lovejoy. The film is considered to be one of the major influences on the film noir genre, with a major performance from its main star.

Topics of discussion include the feminist approach to noir fiction, the limitations effects of the Hayes Code, California post-WWII and its affect on the characterization of Dix Steele, and whether or not Humphrey Bogart is actually 5’8”.

(0:00) Intro, fast facts, trivia

(13:46) A reading from the novel

(15:42) Studio pitch & novel breakdown

(35:05) A word from our sponsor

(35:44) Learn you something, differences from the book

(1:26:03) Coming up next, and outro

Coming up next: OIL! by Upton Sinclair which was adapted into the Paul Thomas Anderson film, There Will be Blood.

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