1. The Trox's elderly dog Willy stayed upstairs with the Troxstar and Marla last night and it was difficult for him to get up and down the stairs, but he was a champ and did so with human help. He was ready to do his morning business at 5:30 this morning, so we all got up. I fixed coffee, we had some excellent early morning conversation, and the Troxes pondered travel routes. The Troxstar and Marla ate some granola and yogurt and hit the road before eight o'clock on their way to Havre, MT. Later in the day, the Troxstar texted me that they arrived in Havre and were tired. I would be, too, after such an early start to the day.
2. In other big news of the day, Debbie joined musical forces this evening with Peter Wilde, Laura Kemp, Katie Henry, Jeremy Wegner, and Tanya Bunson at the 3 Legged Crane in Oakridge, OR. I've heard two short videos and I've seen a handful of pictures. It sure looks like it was a good night. I love the music Debbie and her friends make and I have great memories connected with the 3 Legged Crane (formerly the Brewers Union, Local 180). Man. I would have loved to have been in the house.
3. I had quite a stunning experience late this afternoon with Luna clinging to me in the Vizio room at Vizio University. I rented another film noir movie, one that I've read and heard much mention of over the last couple of weeks or so. In a Lonely Place (1950) features Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, Bogart as a Hollywood screenwriter and Grahame as a rarely hired actor who has recently broken up with a wealthy lover.
On the face of it, the story centers around solving the murder of a woman who worked as a hat clerk at a restaurant frequented by Dixon Steele, Bogart's character. The woman, named Mildred Atkinson (played by Martha Stewart -- not the Living Martha Stewart), agrees to come to Dixon Steele's apartment to tell him the story of a book he's been hired to turn into a screen play. He doesn't want to read it, and she had just finished it. Steele cuts short her storytelling visit out of boredom and gives her money to catch a ride home at a nearby taxi stand. Soon afterward, Mildred Atkinson is found dead, having been strangled and dumped from a car.
Police immediately suspect Dixon Steele of the murder, but the Gloria Grahame character (Laurel Gray) provides Steele with an alibi, and, in so doing, spark of attraction ignites between her and Steele.
I won't say how this murder case works out, but I will say that the movie develops into a study of Dixon Steele and Laurel Gray, both complex characters superbly played by Bogart and Grahame. In keeping with the shadowy look of the movie, In a Lonely Place examines the dark recesses of both Dixon Steele's and Laurel Gray's psyches, their insecurities, fears, wells of anger, suspicions, even paranoia. As his name suggests, Steele is, to a degree, a hardened character, a character of limited emotional breadth or depth. And, like the color gray, Laurel Gray is, at times ambiguous, difficult to read, caught between the darkness of her world and her yearnings for light.
It's a brilliant movie, sharply written, superbly photographed, and astutely acted. Personally, I've never seen Bogart play a role with so much complexity. I enjoyed the great range of his performance. This movie introduced me to Gloria Grahame and her work in this movie staggered me. Her work is subtle, intelligent, alive to the demands of each moment of the story, and affecting. I can see why the film experts I've read and listened to admire her so fully.
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