The Man in the Net

The Man in the Net
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Curtiz
Screenplay byReginald Rose
Based onnovel by Patrick Quentin
Produced byWalter Mirisch
Alan Ladd
StarringAlan Ladd
Carolyn Jones
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byRichard V. Heermance
Music byHans J. Salter
Production
companies
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release dates
  • May 29, 1959 (1959-05-29) (Sweden)
  • June 10, 1959 (1959-06-10) (United States)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Man in the Net is a 1959 American film noir mystery film starring Alan Ladd and Carolyn Jones, and directed by Michael Curtiz.[1] The supporting cast features Diane Brewster.

Plot

Ex-commercial artist John Hamilton (Alan Ladd) and wife Linda (Carolyn Jones) have left New York and moved to Stoneville, Connecticut, in the New England countryside. John spends his time sketching the town's children, for whom he is a close friend, but his ambitions to be a fine artist are at this point frustrated by a failed art show and bad reviews. Meanwhile Linda longs to return to the city, where John has been offered a lucrative job at his old firm. It transpires that John is against this idea, as the bustle of the city had exacerbated Linda's mental illness and fuelled her alcoholism.

John returns home after a day's sketching to find Steve Ritter (Charles McGraw), a local policeman, in his house with Linda upstairs changing clothes. John is cold towards Steve and after Linda appears, Steve leaves. The couple argue. Linda then insists they attend a birthday party at the home of Brad (John Lupton) and Vickie Carey (Diane Brewster), where the guests include another married couple, Roz (Betty Lou Holland) and Gordon Moreland (Tom Helmore), as well as the wealthy father of Brad Carey. At the last minute, Linda decides she doesn't wish to go, and pushes John to attend alone. John feels an outsider with most of the guests, but he attends, using the excuse Linda suggested to explain her absence, a migraine. Later a scene is created when Linda appears at the party with a black eye and claims John did this and invented the migraine excuse. At home, in anger, she tells John she's been having an extramarital affair with Steve Ritter.

John agrees to go to New York to have a drink with his old boss, a meeting arranged by his wife behind his back, but is resolute that he will decline the job offer. When he returns, Linda is nowhere to be found. A suitcase belonging to her is spotted by a city dump. Unable to find John's wife, police and neighbors suspect him of murder. Villagers stone his house. Ritter arrives to arrest him. John flees and is given refuge by the children, who know of a secret cave.

Evidence is found linking Linda to another man. A tape recording is left as bait, and John, who suspects someone else, is surprised when Brad turns up looking for the tape. It reveals he's the one Linda had the affair with, but John soon discovers that it was Mr. Carey who actually killed Linda to cover up for his cowardly son.

Cast

Production

Newspaper clipping about the artists who provided the paintings for the film, June 1958

The film was based on a 1956 novel by Hugh Wheeler, writing as Patrick Quentin (a pseudonym that Wheeler and three other authors also used in collaborative efforts).[2] Film rights were bought the following year by the Mirisch Company, who had a deal with United Artists.[3] Alan Ladd was signed to star in January 1958.[4] Reginald Rose, who had just written Man of the West for the Mirisches, signed to write the screenplay.[5] Michael Curtiz directed.

Filming started 23 June.[6][7] The film was mostly shot in Hollywood at the Goldwyn Studios with some location shooting at Raceland in Framingham, Massachusetts. Many of the outdoor scenes were shot in Thompson, Connecticut, on the town common where a set was built (gas station) and at the Ballard Farm. Also, the exterior of "The Chimney House", a location that figures prominently in the story is Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut.[8][9]

The paintings done by Ladd's character were painted by Frank Stovall, as well as two of Carolyn Jones by Harold M. Kramer and others by Hilyard Brown.[10][11][12][13]

Reception

When the film was released, Richard W. Neson, film critic for The New York Times, wrote "More interesting is the dialogue by Mr. Rose and his preoccupation with injustice. The lines show a keen love for kids and an honest regard for the need to interject reality into a yarn that is tediously familiar once it settles down into its melodramatic formula. Miss Jones plays the wife with controlled fanaticism. Mr. Ladd, on the other hand, performs in his usual, cool style, which under the hectic circumstances mutes his personality to the point of unreality."[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Man in the Net at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
  2. ^ ANTHONY BOUCHER (Nov 18, 1956). "Reports on Criminals at Large". New York Times. p. 298.
  3. ^ "MIRISCH TO FILM 'MAN IN THE NET': Firm Buys Mystery Novel for Production in 1958-- Zinnemann Signs Writer Actor Leaves Warners Of Local Origin". New York Times. Dec 21, 1957. p. 22.
  4. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (Jan 25, 1958). "SCREEN DIRECTORS TO FIGHT TV SALE: Will Join Actors, Writers in Opposing Republic's Plans -- Shelley Winters Cast". New York Times. p. 14.
  5. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (Feb 27, 1958). "ULLMAN WESTERN PLANNED AS FILM: Story Based on Masterson's Life Listed by Mirisch -- Rose Writing Script". New York Times. p. 23.
  6. ^ "Hollywood Production Pulse". Variety. 6 August 1958. p. 20.
  7. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (May 3, 1958). "MATURE, U. A. PLAN FILM OF CIVIL WAR: Actor Will Produce and Star in Andersonville Drama -- Warners Buys Novei". New York Times. p. 11.
  8. ^ Tremblay, Bob (February 9, 2009). "Mr. Know-It-All: Driving Mr. Macomber". Metrowest Daily News.
  9. ^ HOWARD THOMPSON (June 29, 1958). "VIEW FROM A LOCAL VANTAGE POINT: Focus On New England -- Rumer Godden Book Sought -- Starlet". New York Times. p. X7.
  10. ^ IMDB Profile, Frank Stovall "The Man in the Net" Art Department Credit
  11. ^ ARTIST STOVALL UNDERGOES KNIFE.. Newspaper Clipping, June 1958
  12. ^ Early California Antiques Online Shop Post, January 13, 2013 Studio Prop Portrait in Oils of Carolyn Jones credited to Frank Stovall c.1958
  13. ^ THOMAS M. PRYOR (June 30, 1958). "CARY GRANT PLANS A BUSY SCHEDULE: Starring Role in Hitchcock Film Among 3 Projects -- Business Boosters to Meet". New York Times. p. 24.
  14. ^ Neson, Richard W. The New York Times, film review, June 11, 1959. Last accessed: December 11, 2007.
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