Manhandled (1949) User Reviews

The Suspects Are A Plenty

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 22 August 2009]

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.

Manhandled (1949)

[MartinTeller · 8/10 · 3 January 2012]

A woman gets murdered and her jewels are missing... with a heaping handful of likely suspects, the cops and the insurance investigator have their work cut out for them. The crackerjack script is skillful at doling out information in a series of intriguing twists and turns, with a lot of clever details. It's also laced with some humor, some of it doesn't work but a lot of it does. Dan Duryea does what he does best as the sleazy parasite of a private dick, Sterling Hayden plays it a little shabbier than usual as the insurance man, and Art Smith has an enjoyable turn as the homicide detective. Dorothy Lamour falls a little short but it's not a very meaty role. There's a lot of nice little bits of business and a cynical, seedy edge that occasionally cuts through the more light-hearted nature of the film. A fun little movie.

Dan Duryea at his sleazy best!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 30 March 2018]

Despite Dorothy Lamour receiving star billing in "Manhandled", clearly the star of this one is Dan Duryea...a guy who really excelled at playing sleazy and malevolent characters. However, Lamour was a bigger stat at the time and Duryea mostly played strong supporting characters...so she got this billing. But for Lamour, there isn't much for her to do but be a victim...and hope that she isn't going to prison in this film.

When the story begins, a psychiatrist is having his secretary (Lamour) transcribe a very disturbed patient (Alan Napier) and his twisted fantasy of killing his wife. Well, pretty soon after this, the wife is murdered...and the rest of the film about the cops finding out the culprit. Karl Benson (Duryea) seems to be doing his best to frame her for the murder....but why?? And can the real story come out by the thrilling finale?

I loved a lot about this film but mostly what I loved was how gritty and nasty the film was...a great example of a noir classic. Duryea is at his best...so good you barely notice Sterling Hayden (a great noir actor)! See Duryea in the alleyway scene...where he plows a guy into a brick wall with his car! And, see Duryea slug Lamour's character...twice!! All in all, a nifty film...one that isn't particularly famous in the genre...but should be.

Borderline noir is skillful enough, but largely wastes the best of its cast

[bmacv · 7/10 · 16 November 2002]

A stuffy novelist (Alan Napier) suffers recurring nightmares that he bludgeons his rich jewel-horse of a wife (Irene Hervey) to death – with a `quart' bottle of cologne. That's bad enough, but what's worse is that he confides his dreams to a shrink (Harold Vermilyea). Didn't he know that it was the 1940s, when psychiatry was little more than a hotbed of scheming quacks? So when his wife inevitably winds up dead (and her diamonds stolen), he becomes the prime suspect, even though she had been out clubbing with another man (Philip Reed).

That's the uptown side of Manhandled; there's a seedier angle as well. The psychiatrist's transcriptionist (Dorothy Lamour) not only sits in on his sessions but later climbs the stairs to her Manhattan walk-up and spills the beans to her neighbor Dan Duryea, an ex-cop now doing repo jobs and divorce frame-ups. So much for codes of confidentiality. But when a signet ring she found while vacuuming her sofa and then pawned brings the police to her door, along with insurance investigator Sterling Hayden, it starts to look bad. It doesn't help that she just blew in from Los Angeles with forged letters of reference....

Manhandled unfurls an elaborate, and none too plausible, mystery plot competently enough, even with a few skillful touches (in its final quarter, it takes a sharp turn toward noir, and better late than never). Director Lewis Foster, however, failed to optimize the solid cast he was handed: Hayden's part never comes into clear focus and Lamour plays little more than a bland patsy. Duryea dominates, with his familiar two-faced persona as the cheery suck-up who likes to slap women around; Art Smith, as the comic relief of the police detective, becomes, after Duryea, the movie's most memorable character. It's not a bad movie, despite a couple of clunky flashbacks. But in better hands, it could have become one of the better noirs. As it stands, it merits that dark and honorable designation only by the skin of its teeth.

Coulda been a contender

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 31 August 2009]

"Manhandled" is a decent 1949 film with a terrific cast that could have been really excellent. Unfortunately, it suffers from a lack of focus from director Lewis Foster. Dorothy Lamour plays the secretary to a psychiatrist (Harold Vermilyea) who is treating an author (Alan Napier). The man has a recurring dream that he kills his wife (Irene Hervey) with a large perfume bottle. The doctor thinks he needs money and might be after his wife's jewels, worth somewhere in the range of $100,000.

Lamour, whose character's name is Merl Kramer, tells a detective in her apartment building (Dan Duryea) about the strange case. Any of us who have ever seen Dan Duryea in a film know that this is a mistake on her part. As could have been predicted, the wife of the author winds up dead, the jewels stolen, and one of the pieces winds up in Merl's couch. She pawns it and finds herself in deep trouble.

As you might be able to tell from the above description, the director isn't the only problem here. The script doesn't hold up to the most casual of scrutiny. Granted Merl doesn't tell the Duryea character the name of her boss' client, but she certainly would know what goes on in the office is confidential. The big perfume bottle as the murder weapon is pretty lame. The worst aspect for me is the diagnosis of the psychiatrist. A man and his wife are living under the same roof, but they're estranged. She's seeing somebody else, in fact, and the psychiatrist comes to the conclusion that the author wants his wife's jewels. That's some stretch.

It's always sad to see what happened to some of the glamorous female film stars - Lamour here is all of 34 and relegated to smaller films. Her character has a mysterious past which we never really learn about, another script hole. Sterling Hayden plays an insurance investigator and does a good job. Art Smith is the police detective and very funny.

Kind of a mish-mash, and a convoluted plot that could have emerged as a neat twist in other hands, but some good scenes nonetheless.

Disappointing

[dougdoepke · 24 August 2009]

The shot of an ecstatic Duryea running down a terrified Vermilyea in the narrow, darkened alley way is a great slice of noir. Too bad the tension comes so late because, despite the promising title and noir icon Duryea, the narrative holds together about as well as an O J Simpson alibi. Looks like three different scriptwriters came up with three different results, so you may need a chart to track all the threads meandering through the plot. What the screenplay lacks is focus. There really is no central character holding developments together. Hayden's the headliner, yet his role as insurance investigator remains oddly inessential. Instead, lowly Art Smith gets the law-and-order screen time and in fact most of the movie time. Now, I like actor Smith as much as the next guy, especially in sly roles (Ride the Pink Horse {1947}); still, his comic relief here is not only misplaced, but too often sounds like it's being done by the numbers. (And whoever is it that thought a cop car without brakes is funny!)

On a more positive note, Alan Napier gets a delicious turn as the snooty novelist husband, but unfortunately soon drops out of sight, and I'm really sorry Irene Hervey's sexy wife bites the dust early on. She's a lively and interesting presence, making her spats with Napier a movie high point. And that's another source of trouble. Everyone disappears from the narrative for significant periods, such that a nudge is sometimes needed to remember who they are, even the largely wasted Lamour. All this might be okay if the plot or direction generated some suspense, but they don't, at least in my little book. In fact, if it weren't for the great Duryea doing another of his patented oily operator roles, the movie would be much more forgettable than it already is. From the title, I certainly expected better.

Nightmares

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 26 April 2008]

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.

Kitten and Chaos.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 22 July 2015]

Manhandled is directed by Lewis R. Foster and adapted to screenplay by Foster and Whitman Chambers from the novel "The Man Who Stole A Dream" written by L. S. Goldsmith. It stars Dorothy Lamour, Dan Duryea, Sterling Hayden, Irene Hervey and Art Smith. Music is by Darrell Calker and cinematography by Ernest Laszlo.

I'm going to kill you, Ruth. I have to.

Manhandled is one of those late 40s crime mysteries that feature film noir legends and film noir narrative tints, thus why it finds itself under the film noir banner. This is more a curse than a blessing. For it's not a particularly great film, where the presence of Hayden and Duryea - and Laszlo on photography - just about keeps things bubbling away to make it watchable till the end. It has been said that the narrative is too tricksy for its own good, yet that isn't apparent since the story is very easy to follow. The twists come and go at regular intervals, but always with narrative clarity.

The main thrust of the plot finds Lamour being set up as the killer of Mrs. Alton Bennet (Hervey), with Bennet's jewels the reason for the crime. But there are a few other candidates in the frame, all of which are written to be believable suspects. The cops investigating are waspish of tongue, with Smith as dry as the Sahara, and Hayden is playing an insurance investigator who is along for the ride doing exactly the same job that the coppers are doing!

Duryea is the star attraction, playing a homme fatale type who chews gum a lot, calls his girlfriend Kitten and clearly is as untrustworthy as it gets (classic Duryea portrayal really!). Hayden doesn't show up until half an hour in, but he's a welcome arrival even if he isn't given much to get his teeth into. While Lamour pouts and ponders whilst gaining sympathy, which ultimately makes us wish she had of done more film noir type films.

There's some nice metaphorical touches, such as Duryea encamped in his apartment watching a vermin species consistently running on its wheel, and Laszlo's photography goes up a notch in the latter half of film - Lamour's apartment becomes foreboding and all the hall staircase sequences take on a greater oppressive meaning. A dream sequence is chilling, and there's one particular violent scene that is unforgettable. Unfortunately some of the comedy, whilst funny at times (drugs scenes are chucklesome), takes the pic out of its dramatic comfort zone.

Hayden and Duryea fans are safe in the knowledge that this is one to see, but it still winds up as a wasted opportunity to be something far more tougher and poignant. 6/10

The delightful and dastardly Dan Duryea...

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 10 April 2021]

... makes this film. Paramount made another film with the exact same name 25 years before, but it was a Gloria Swanson film very much of its time, and this is a film very much of its time - the film noir cycle. And the title is a bit bewildering since "manhandling" really has nothing to do with the plot.

The film opens with psychiatrist Dr. Redman listening to his patient, Alton Bennett (Alan Napier) , talking about a troubling recurring dream he has in which he murders his wealthy and wayward wife, Ruth (Irene Harvey). The doctor advises Bennett to sleep in the guest bedroom for a few nights if he is afraid of what he might do. He then tells his secretary, Merl (Dorothy Lamour), to return that night because he wants to tell Mrs. Bennett all about what her husband just said. Patient-doctor confidentiality isn't what it used to be apparently.

The most catching of Mrs. Bennett's possessions are a bunch of jewels that she owns that are worth and insured for one hundred thousand dollars. After the doctor tells Mrs. Bennett about her husband's dream, she blows it off basically telling the doctor that her husband is harmless. But the next day she is found murdered in her apartment and the jewels are missing.

There are plenty of suspects besides the husband. For one, the secretary Merl has some kind of secret past, and she has only been working for the doctor for four weeks. Her downstairs neighbor, a PI and ex-cop (Duryea) seems up to no good, and Ruth Bennett told her latest boyfriend about the husband's threat and he seems surprised and fascinated when she also tells him that the jewels are authentic - he thought they were fake. Who knows what other people Ruth might have told about the jewels or who these people that we know about might have told.

There are plenty of twists in this one, and who actually did it is a surprise, but it is a bit of a mystery that Duryea is third billed since he is the person you notice, whose character jumps off the screen at you. Lamour and even Sterling Hayden, whose big break will come the following year in Asphalt Jungle, and are both billed above Duryea, seem a bit two dimensional in this. It is really a plot driven noir.

Paramount didn't do very many noirs, but the ones they did do were done extremely well. Maybe this one isn't as well known as "Sorry Wrong Number" because there are no really big names in it. I'd recommend it.

Could have been real noir

[PhilAFN · 6/10 · 24 August 2009]

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.

Only a so-so example of film noir.

[Gypsy1962 · 4/10 · 15 June 2001]

Overall, I was fairly disappointed in Manhandled. The best part about it was Dan Duryea, who played his usual oily self and is always a pleasure to watch. The plot of the film was satisfactory as well, involving a rich woman's coveted jewels, her murder, and a melange of would-be killers. But Dorothy Lamour is miscast as the leading lady and adds little to the production, and a running gag between a police detective and his partner is not only tiresome but also out of place. The film did offer several notable elements of film noir, however, including the opening sequence, in which a man dreams that he bludgeons his wife to death with a perfume bottle, and a later scene in which a duplicitous doctor is run over -- repeatedly -- by a car. Still, I'd probably place this one way down on my list of film noir must-sees.

A fantastic crime is committed on the basis of a dream.

[clanciai · 8/10 · 21 April 2018]

It's unusual to see Dorothy Lamour in a serious role as a victim with a fatherless child, outcast at the mercy of deceivers and crooks. Dan Duryea is more abominable than ever, his name on the list is enough to prepare you for a grim session of hatred of his person, while the other characters are actually rather comical, especially Art Smith as detective Dawson. It's really the comic traits that save the film. Sterling Hayden is always good and here as an insurance agent, while the murder case is intriguing enough.

A well off author keeps dreaming about killing his awful wife, his dreams are so disturbing that he goes to a psychiatrist, who advises him to take enough sleeping pills to be knocked off. In his dreams he beats her to death with a perfume bottle while she is taking off her multi fortune jewels, and while he is knocked off his wife is actually murdered in that very way and her jewels stolen. The only certain thing about the murder is that her husband didn't do it since he was knocked off.

It's an interesting intrigue that keeps your interest growing until things get off hand towards the end, when Dan Duryea runs off the rails and makes a mess of his own perfect set-up. It's not a great noir or thriller, but it certainly is odd and original and worth seeing at least once, mainly for the police comedy. The music is very good.

Killer handling

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 16 July 2020]

Really loved the idea for the story, and 'Manhandled' is exactly my kind of film as a fan of crime, mystery and thriller in all media. Sterling Hayden was always watchable when he was in good roles. Likewise with Dorothy Lamour. It was interesting too seeing a pre-Alfred (from 'Batman') Alan Napier. Other than the story and my love for the genres, my main reason for seeing 'Manhandled' was for Dan Duryea in a role he could play at the back of his hand with no problem.

'Manhandled', after watching it, is worth a look. If you love Duryea and in the type of role he plays here, you won't be disappointed. If one wants a story that consistently grabs the attention and is consistently easy to follow, dependent on personal tastes 'Manhandled' may underwhelm, like it did with me. Is it a bad film? Of course not. There is plenty going for it and it is above average. It just had a lot of potential to be great.

Beginning with the good things, 'Manhandled' is shot and designed with a gritty and classy atmosphere that never lets up. It's a very good looking film without looking too clean or unneccessarily lavish. The music is suitably ominous when used. The script is generally tight and intriguing.

There is some nice tension in the storytelling, especially towards the end when things do become exciting, and did like that the atmosphere was uncompromising and had a seediness about it at times. Napier is a delight in his role and Art Smith is amusing in his. Hayden does quite well and in command with what he is given to work with and his character is not very well fleshed out. Stealing the film is a genuinely sinister Duryea, his face alone unsettles you.

Lamour is a lot less good however in my view. Her role is practically a nothing cipher and Lamour is very bland in it. The direction is competent enough if undistinguished and could have generated a lot more tension and crispness, some of the middle felt on the pedestrian side.

Although the story has moments, it tended to be too convoluted as a result of too much going on and too many characters. The flashbacks do intrigue in parts but generally slow the pace down and further confuses the story rather than making it clearer.

Concluding, above average but not much more. 6/10

Manhandler!

[Bolesroor · 6/10 · 5 September 2013]

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-

SEEKERS OF FILM-NOIR ARE IN FOR A DISAPPOINTMENT...GOOD MOVIE MISLABELED

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 7 September 2021]

There seems to be Many a Movie Appearing as Film-Noir, that are Suspect.

With Today's Understanding of the Genre (but is nebulous to a point) that Manifested Spontaneously and Unconsciously in the 1940's.

It's Not "Bait and Switch" because of the Aforementioned "Unconscious" Spontaneity.

Therefore it Wasn't a Con. That's was just the Reality of Movie-Making at the Time.

Part of the Fascination, at First the French Film Critics and Later Everybody, was the Fact that Film-Noir was from the Id.

Nobody at the Time said "Let's make a Film-Noir"

It just Arrived Unannounced.

A Reflection of Life that was Usually Not Available in Pre-War Hollywood in Main-Stream Movies.

So this is a "Murder Mystery" that Contains Scenes that were Noir Tropes to be sure, but the Tone Shifts are Unwelcome in a Perfect Film-Noir World.

The Comedy Relief, for the most part, is an Important Disqualification in the Genre.

There are other Problems within the Film.

The Writer-Director Stone Won an Oscar for His Script Contributions for "Mr Smith Goes To Washington" (1939).

At this Point in His Career He had been Making Movies for Over 20 Years.

He Crossed-Over to Television quite a lot in the Remainder.

One has to Guess Why He Chose to Photograph Dorthy Lamour in such an Ordinary "Pose" as to Render One of Her Most Attractive and Enduring Qualities to a Virtual Non-Existence.

He Showed Dan Duryea at His Sublime and Sleazy Best.

The Open and Close are the Best of This.

A Good Entertainment, just Not Inclusive in Sacred Film-Noir Territory.

Don't have kittens, kitten.....

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 29 January 2022]

A well-constructed film noir; if the beginning in the shrink's office may remind you of the Freudian thrillers of the early forties such as " secret beyond the door" or "spellbound" ,with the recurrent dream of a husband (he kills the woman he hates), the rest of the plot takes a divergent road ; although the writers spill the beans perhaps too soon ,it's essentially a whodunit ; many clues are given to the viewer: the forged credentials, the file in the shrink's office, and many others.

Dan duryea is ideally cast as the private eye who pretends to help Dorothy Lamour ,recalling his character in "black angel" in which June Vincent almost became his victim ; Miss Lamour is eye candy ,and Sterling Hayden an energic cop who resists to the sleeping pills and becomes her attentive escort when everybody's against her as her would be friend denies having given her 1,000 dollars deposit on her bank account.

Noir with a too-twisty plot and extraneous "humour"

[lucyrfisher · 7/10 · 3 February 2023]

Writer Alton Bennett tells his psychiatrist about his recurring dream of killing his wife with a perfume bottle. It seems obvious that he is setting up a murder with "somnambulism" as an alibi. He would then inherit his wife's priceless (valued at $100,000) jewels. He is short of money - perhaps his novels aren't doing so well. He supports the wife and a large house with staff - or is she paying for it all?

The staff have a scene of their own where they establish themselves as more than just a pair of hands taking a coat or handing a cup of coffee.

Whatever Bennett's plans, his wife is found dead - clouted with the perfume bottle - and her jewels gone. Then it all gets rather complicated. Others have set the scene with Dorothy Lamour and Dan Duryea in the apartment house, and Sterling Hayden as the insurance investigator. The last two "help" the police - hovering as Lamour is interrogated in the middle of a busy office. What's going on?

The police are buffoons, contributing a lot of unfunny byplay which doesn't belong in a film noir. But it's great to see Duryea going through his ratbag performance one more time. He's usually the one found dead in an alley - not this time. But that was where he made a mistake...

Not a Noir but a Parody

[psych-shawn · 9/10 · 21 April 2018]

If you're expecting a true film noir, "Manhandled" might disappoint you. If you view it as a parody, you should really enjoy it.

In the middle of the complicated plot with double and triple crosses galore, confusing flashbacks and stylized violence, the police detective and his assistant have a running gag about the brakes on their squad car.

Dan Duryea steals the show as an over-the-top wiseguy who out-thinks himself in a needlessly complicated theft and attempted frame. Dorothy Lamour is gorgeous as always, and plays the opposite of a femme fatale. Alan Napier plays a "sophisticated" Englishman who confesses to dreaming about killing his wife with just the right level of snobbishness and ennui. And a very young Sterling Hayden plays the romantic interest for Lamour.

"Manhandled" is not just a parody of noir films but also sophisticated detectives like the "Thin Man" series.

Dan Duryea makes it worth the watch.

[sjanders-86430 · 10/10 · 24 January 2021]

Dorothy Lamour is not capable of acting the noir lead. Sterling Hayden the insurance investigator should have been given the entire job of catching the killer; he's peripheral here. Napier's dream of killing his wife becomes a reality when secretary to the shrink shares his dream with Duryea. Duryea just acts out the dream and steals the jewels. It could have been noir, but the injected jokes rule that out; jokes never occur in noir. The unrelenting determinism of noir is lacking with too many twists and turns in the plot. Most of all the miscasted Lamour and the joking detectives take this film down but not out thanks to Duryea.

Odd, tonally uneven but strangely engaging pseudo-noir worth watching for Dan Duryea's villain - an increasingly menacing greaseball character

[declancooley · 6/10 · 1 May 2024]

Lonely and unassuming psychiatrist's assistant Ms. Kramer (Dorothy Lamour) overhears a dream being told that inadvertently gives an idea to her neighbour (and would-be lover) Karl Benson (Dan Duryea) who lives in the same building, working as a repo man and PI. This is an unusual not-quite-noir in that (a) there are three different detectives working on the case: one is a wise-cracking and comical police detective, one a maverick insurance investigator (Sterling Hayden - in a small role) and the third, a suspect himself, Karl the repo guy, (Dan Duryea) whose second job as PI comes in useful for his diabolical maneuverings, (b) the tone regularly switches between menacing violence and comedy scenes quite unabashedly which gives it that slight whiff of a parody and (c) the plot is fairly baroque (but not in a overly contrived manner) and leads to many flashbacks, and a wonderfully cruel twist of irony by the end. Lamour plays a more complex character than is apparent at first glance and does get her chance to strongly emote in more than one scene; however, both her and Hayden are underused and underdeveloped as there is quite a large cast of suspects to pay attention to - each of whom might hold a piece of the puzzle that could solve the mystery of the central crime. This is really Duryea's film whose character goes from intrusive slimeball to seriously psychopathically dangerous manipulator (esp. In one pivotal and memorable scene), and who by the end, turns out to have been too clever for his own good. Recommended. 6.5/10.

Definitely a neglected Noir

[rockymark-30974 · 8/10 · 17 July 2021]

This is a neglected noir. It's possible that the film failed on its initial release due to its complicated, yet always logical, plot. Audiences of the time were probably more used to simpler, less intricate, plots. Yet the film has much in common with The Maltese Falcon. The acting is superb, though one wishes that Duryea's performance was so obviously evil. A Raymond Burr could have given more complexity to the character, as in his Rear Window role.

The other characters and actors are superb as are the directorial touches. The criterion of a good director is the details, not the obvious plot. Hawks is a superb example of this. Then there's Shakespeare! Not that this film comes anywhere close, but the principle is the same.

In stage and cinematic terms it's called "business." There's a lot of "business" going on in the film. There's one scene that I'm not sure about. The head cop has to sign a document and puts his signature on several pages of what looks like a carbon document.

I would have given this film 9 stars or even 10 except for the flaw in the plotting. SPOILER ALERT: To me it doesn't make sense why the doctor doesn't kill Duryea after Duryea points him out as the murderer. Instead he locks him in the closet as he absconds with the jewels. This development, of course, allows for the ironic ending where Duryea cannot pin the murder on the doctor, but it doesn't make sense. If the doctor already killed one person for the jewels what did he have to lose by killing another person, esp after that person pointed him out as the murderer? It's pointless to have him alive knowing that he could go to the police with what he knows or at least suspects.

Otherwise it's a noir that really will engross the viewer from the very opening dream sequence to the ping-pong of suspects, each of whom seems obvious as the film transpires. Even the husband who took 4 sleeping pills, it turns out, could have been the murderer.

This is a highly recommended, and under-rated noir, though I LITERALLY predicted the final line that Sterling Hayden says to Dorothy Lamour. Who couldn't predict it?

Good noir thriller from an adventure film specialist

[searchanddestroy-1 · 1 May 2024]

Lewis R Foster was never known for being a noir, crime drama film maker; he only made a few of them: this one MANHANDLED, ARMORED CAR and CRASHOUT. And they were all rather effective, as Edward Ludwig - another adventure specialist, as Lewis Foster - with THE LAST GANGSTER. And what a pleasure to see Dan Duryea in such a role, not far the movies, noir intrigues, which he played in SCARLET STREET, BLACK ANGEL, WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, LARCENY.... This is not an action packed film, not a gangster movie, but who cares? It is definitely worth the watch. Rather rare to purchase. Lewis Foster is a director who deserves to be discovered again, with his movies shown.