MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Bolesroor Man goes to a psychiatrist because he has dreams about murdering his wife with a perfume bottle. Then his wife is murdered. With a perfume bottle. Was it him? I ain't saying boo.This is a decent suspense movie carried by the greasy charm of Dan Duryea, who makes his sociopathic character (almost) sympathetic. Note to police officers: whenever a suspect in a murder investigation offers to help you solve the crime, it's pretty much a sure bet that he's the man you're looking for.Enjoy this breezy noir and steer clear of husbands holding perfume bottles. (Incidentally, you know what would be a great name for a perfume? Manhandled.) GRADE: B-

PhilAFN Considering the cast and story, it's unfortunate that director Lewis Foster could not end up with a real film noir. Dan Duryea is up to par playing a sleazy double-crosser but Sterling Hayden is wasted as an insurance investigator who spends most of his time standing around or tagging along with the cops. The always reliable Alan Napier is a highlight of the film playing the stoic, self-righteous jilted husband.The attempts at humor along the way relegate the film to the realm of a 1930's murder mystery, not a serious noir. There certainly was a lost opportunity for something better. Nevertheless, any film with Duryea and Hayden is worth a watch.

bkoganbing One thing about Manhandled there are no shortage of suspects for the murder of Irene Hervey. About three quarters of the way through the murderer is revealed. It's what happens after that which gives Manhandled a rather unusual twist.What's really odd about the film is that other than being a leading man and someone for Dorothy Lamour to take an interest in, Sterling Hayden has very little to do with the solving of the case. Hayden plays an insurance investigator whose company sends him in to help the police solve the case and recover the stolen jewels. But usually in these films it's the private investigators who show up the slow witted cops. That's not what happens here, lead detective Art Smith is very much on the job, more so than the audience is lead to believe all through the film.I'm thinking that Paramount and Sterling Hayden were about to come to an unfriendly parting and Paramount did not want to exhibit Hayden in any kind of good light. He did two films before his war service and this was the third of three afterwards. Still Hayden did do well with what little to do he was given.Manhandled is made by the host of character actors in the film playing some interesting parts. There's Alan Napier, Hervery's husband who has been having recurring dreams about killing his wife. There's Harold Vermilyea the psychiatrist Napier was seeing about said dreams and who Dorothy Lamour works for. There's Dan Duryea who is a private detective who's been seeing Lamour. Finally there's Philip Reed who Hervey's been seeing on the side.So when Hervey is murdered the suspects are a plenty. I will say this that the actual culprit is someone who thinks fast on their feet. But it turns out the cops have not been as dumb as the culprit suspects.Paramount as a studio did not do much in the way of noir. But when they did do it, the results were pretty good like Manhandled.

jotix100 Alton Bennet, an unhappily married writer, is getting horrible nightmares about a crime he is about to commit. Bothered with his sleeplessness, he goes to get help from a psychiatrist. What he doesn't suspect is that he has engaged an unscrupulous professional who wants to capitalize on what he has learned during the sessions with the unsuspecting patient. Like confession, for catholics, there is a secret bond between patient and analyst that is sacred. Violating that trust proves to be the wrong thing to do, as one will learn later on.The action centers around a shady character, Karl Benson, who has an interest in acting up on what he learns from the psychiatrist's secretary whom he helped get a job with the conniving Dr. Redman. Both Benson and Redman are after the expensive jewels of the writer's wife. Benson is a scheming scum bag who will do everything possible to get to keep the loot, betraying, and implicating the woman who innocently tells him of what transpired in the office.Lewis Foster directed this seldom seen movie. Dan Duryea, who played a lot of seedy characters during his career, fares the best in the cast. A young Dorothy Lamour is seen as a woman who has fled her home and an abusive husband. Sterling Hayden appears as the representative of the insurance company. Art Smith is excellent as the detective in charge of the investigation."Manhandled" is a somewhat dated curiosity worth seeing because of the work of Dan Duryea.