Film Noir Review: Manhandled (1949)

“I have never known an innate sage
but that didn’t outsmart itself.”

Sterling Hayden never quite fitted. Primed for stardom at the height of the studio system, he was dubbed “The Beautiful Blonde Viking God” by Paramount Pictures and has appeared in multi-star dramas Virginia And Bahama Passage (both 1941). The selling point didn’t stick. It was the audience that refused to accept the “Viking God,” mind you, it was Hayden himself. Feeling like a swindler, he decided to restore his personal standard of authenticity by fighting in World War II.

Hayden had been gone for a whopping six years, and when he returned to the States he had a new take on Hollywood. “I am committed to making this country a better country,” he told the press. “And I think the cinema is the right place for that.” Hayden kept his word. In the 1950s he starred in a number of noir films that rank among the most celebrated and influential of all time: The Asphalt Jungle (1950), crime wave (1954), and The killing (1956) to name a few. These films were narrative and stylistic triumphs, but more importantly, they enabled Hayden to create a screen persona that was authentically himself: thoughtful, gruff, and deceptively smart. The “Viking God” was a mortal all along. Albeit a very intimidating one.

The transition from matinee idol to genre icon didn’t happen overnight. Hayden had spent a number of years in the wilderness struggling to find a sense of what kind of actor he should be, which defined the 1949s abused such an interesting watch. It was only his third film out of military service, and it perfectly bridges the line between the actor he was and the actor he would become.

Hayden is actually the third place finisher abused, behind Dan Duryea and Dorothy Lamour. The latter two were at the peak of their official appeal and accordingly dominate the first act of the film. Merl Kramer (Lamour) is a psychiatrist’s secretary who overhears a patient talking about uxoricides. She finds it interesting enough to tell her friend, private investigator Karl Benson (Duryea), without knowing that Karl is desperate enough to do something about it. Karl repels the patient’s wife and steals her jewels, assuming he can trick the patient. If that doesn’t work, he can pawn the whole thing on Merl.

It’s a novel premise that quickly becomes confusing. Who actually committed the murder is unclear for most of the film, although we do know that Karl is hiding the jewels. There’s also the discovery that Merl faked her credentials to get the secretary job, which temporarily questions her motives but quickly backtracks when it is revealed that Karl faked the credentials and sold her the idea that they are legitimate.

Enter Joe Cooper (Hayden). He arrives at the scene before the police, but still takes off his pajamas. He’s technically an insurance investigator tasked with recovering the stolen jewelry, but he works at the crime scene with such conviction that he elbows the police out of his way. Lt. Dawson (Art Smith), the man in charge, has to tell Cooper to dismantle it. It’s a wonderful introduction to the character, instantly making him a hero who is thorough without being stuffy.

Hayden is much looser than he would be in the above classics crime wave And The killing. In these films, he projects contempt to such an extent that it’s hard to imagine either character ever being happy. The cop he plays in crime wave tries to quit smoking, and the tense energy is palpable as he turns to ex-cons for information. In abused, however the actor is amused by what is happening around him and takes the opportunity to show off his detection skills in front of his fellow cops. It’s fun to watch because he seems to be having fun.

Eventually, Cooper and Dawson team up, leading to a broad but effective scene in which the two men agree to take a pharmaceutical concoction of tranquilizers. They’ve determined that the alibi the patient gave them might have been drugged, so they test the concoction themselves. The only problem is that Cooper took the right combination and Dawson took the wrong one, meaning the latter desperately struggling to stay awake as they follow a lead. This kind of comedy can go awry in a film noir, but the chemistry between the actors and its application within the larger story makes it work surprisingly well.

abused is not a lost classic as it loses steam towards the backend, but it offers plenty of room to shine its three stars. Duryea does it better than pretty much anyone, and Lamour, while largely alien to the film noir landscape, does a fine job playing a hardened victim. Still, it’s Hayden who steals the show here. He oozes energy in every scene, most of which start with him haphazardly taking off his pajamas.

He proves he still has some romantic skills during the nightclub sequence with Lamour’s character, and he manages to anger Duryea’s corrupt detective despite only crossing paths a handful of times. The film is a fun watch in its own right, but it plays even better as a harbinger of the legendary run that Hayden would embark on the following year.

TRIVIA: Dorothy Lamour recalls working with the actor who played the insurance detective in her autobiography. She mistakenly refers to the actor as George Reeves when it was actually Sterling Hayden.

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All articles from Danilo’s Film Noir Review can be found here.

Danilo Castro is the senior editor of NOIR CITY Magazine and a contributing writer for Classic Movie Hub. You can follow Danilo on Twitter @DaniloSCastro.