This movie is directed by the acclaimed Michael Curtiz. THE MAN in the NET is a suspense driven drama starring Alan Ladd as John Hamilton, an accomplished commercial artist that leaves the hustle and bustle of New York and relocates in a small community in Connecticut. His wife Linda(Carolyn Jones)is not so happy with this move. He has concerns about her alcoholism, but she misses the night life and her social functions, along with John's salary potential.At a party, a drunken Linda claims that her husband is a wife beater to try and spoil her husband's reputation. When John is tricked into going back to New York for a job interview, he returns finding his wife gone. The local police finds her luggage near a garbage dump and immediately John is suspected of killing his wife.Rounding out the cast: Diane Brewster, John Lupton, Tom Helmore and Charles McGraw.

After seeing the excellent "13 West Street" (1962), with Alan Ladd, I had high hopes for "The Man in the Net". Another B&W film from his later years might be similar, I thought. I was very disappointed. This movie had, I thought, MORE going in: like, famed Director Michael Curtiz, and co-star Carolyn Jones. They were not at their best.As others have noticed, Ms. Jones does a totally-out-of-the-blue Bette Davis impression. I would have spotted her as a boozy floozy right off the bat, but even her BEST friend has no clue??? Mr. Ladd, great in "13 West Street" and one of the only things worth watching in "The Carpetbaggers"(1964), is not very good. The story is very weak. How is it that all the townspeople are stupid and their children so smart? Despite the weakness of the premise, there are some interestingly played scenes; the film does have a structure, which is easy and somewhat satisfying to follow, despite the implausibility. **** The Man in the Net (1959) Michael Curtiz ~ Alan Ladd, Carolyn Jones, Diane Brewster

While this was a far cry from Alan Ladd's best films (such as THIS GUN FOR HIRE and THE GLASS KEY), it is better than most of the films Ladd was making towards the tail end of his career. By this point, most of his performances lacked energy or any sort of spark--partly due to poorer scripts and partly due to Ladd's advancing addiction. Ironically, a major plot element of this movie is Ladd's wife's alcoholism! Carolyn Jones (yes, that's Morticia from the Addams Family) plays the exceptionally flaky wife who is both chemically dependent and appears to have many features of a Borderline Personaliy--a personality that craves excitement, addiction and self-destruction. Psychologically speaking, this makes the movie very exciting to therapists, though the average person might think that she overplayed her part--though she captured the volatility of these types of individuals well and Borderline Personalities ARE seemingly impossible to believe due to their shallowness and volatility.It's obvious that Ladd can't stand his wife, but he stays with her because he married her and he tries to be a good husband. His wife, on the other hand, has little commitment to him and eventually her wicked and dangerous ways result in her murder. Unfortunately, Ladd is blamed, as few know her for what she really is--as Ladd protected her and hid her escapades from everyone else. Unfortunately, he did such a great job that EVERYONE thinks he's the murderer and he spends most of the film trying to prove his innocence and avoid a lynch mob! His assistants in this endeavor are local kids who like him and can't believe he'd hurt his wife. This is a stretch to believe, but it does create some interesting story elements. Overall, the film is pretty exciting and different and well worth a look--particularly if you are a fan of Alan Ladd.

There's a nice New England feel in the Connecticut opening scenes of THE MAN IN THE NET and director Michael Curtiz makes striking visual use of the B&W camera in artfully photographing a country farmhouse with its rustic interiors full of paintings supposedly done by local artist ALAN LADD.Ladd's wife, CAROLYN JONES, doesn't share his passion for the arts, staging quite a scene with neighbors when she breaks into a birthday party with a shiner and accuses her husband of mistreating her during one of their arguments. It provides a nice set-up for someone to eventually murder her, making Ladd look like the main suspect.Alan Ladd, only 46 at the time, seems almost lifeless and delivers a completely stiff performance that has him befriending neighborhood kids in such a fashion that they become willing to help him avoid detection when the villagers turn on him. This aspect of the story simply rings false, as does the rest of the plot which is too pat and contrived to seem plausible. The children are not exactly adept at delivering most of their lines.DIANE FOSTER does a nice job as a decent neighborhood woman who helps Ladd prove his innocence and CHARLES McGRAW, JOHN LUPTON and TOM HELMORE are fine as other suspects in the supporting cast.But for a man accused of a crime he didn't commit, Ladd has all the facial animation of a department store mannequin.Trivia note: The bit about the slashed paintings reminds me of the Ronald Colman/Ida Lupino flick THE LIGHT THAT FAILED, but Jones' emoting in the party scene is on the level of Bette Davis at her histrionic overkill.