Andrew Solt

(1916 - 1990)

Among Mr. Solt's credits was "In a Lonely Place," a much-praised 1950 film noir directed by Nicholas Ray. It centered on a cynical screenwriter (Humphrey Bogart) who eludes a murder charge but loses his lover (Gloria Grahame) through his violent temper. The script was hailed as "almost as flinty as the actor himself" in The New York Times by Thomas M. Pryor, who wrote that "because Mr. Solt did not compromise to fabricate a happy ending, the climax packs both surprise and a punch." Mr. Solt's screenplays included comedies like "Without Reservations" (1946), melodramas such as "Whirlpool" (1949) and "Thunder on the Hill" (1951), the 1949 version of "Little Women" and "For the First Time" (1959), the last film made by Mario Lanza. Mr. Solt, a native of Budapest, also wrote many plays for television anthologies.