SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

clanciai 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.

Shawn Spencer 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.

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.

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.