Highly regarded in some circles – I wasn’t wild about it but it’s an engrossing thriller/melodrama. Humphrey Bogart is very good as a screenwriter who may or may not be a serial killer – it fits in with his persona, being believable as a person who is literate, attractive enough to have all these women after him but with a trigger temper. (Fans of Nick Ray will probably be aware this character was very close to that of Ray himself - talented, handsome and attractive but self-destructive.)
The audience surrogate is Gloria Grahame, an actor I’ve never been wild about – I guess she’s okay, her acting is fine, I just wish she was played by Lauren Bacall. It really is her story since it's mostly from her POV. The view of Hollywood is believable, with its dingy dives, small-time glamour girls, drunken old time actors, beaches at night time, deserted streets, etc.
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