Manhandled is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starring Dorothy Lamour, Sterling Hayden and Dan Duryea. It is based on the 1945 novel The Man Who Stole a Dream by L. S. Goldsmith. Plot Struggling writer Alton Bennet explains to psychiatrist Dr. Redman how he has nightmares about murdering his wealthy wife, Ruth, who owns very valuable jewels. Redman's private secretary, Merl Kramer, casually mentions Bennet's problems to her boyfriend, a private eye, Karl Benson. Merl also mentions that Ruth Bennet is scheduled to drop into Dr. Redman's office that evening for a special session concerning her husband. Benson gets ideas about the jewels, steals Merl's keys and gets duplicates made. Later, he waits outside Redman's office until Ruth arrives, then writes down the Bennets' address from information posted in the car. Benson is next seen showing his pawnbroker acquaintance, Charlie, jewels and asking him to value them. Charlie mentions there is a "murder rap hanging over this junk" and pays out only for a couple of small pieces, advising Benson to get rid of the rest. Benson runs into Merl and asks her to deposit the money into her bank account, suggesting he has earned it from a recent job and does not want to be tempted to spend it all. He hides the jewels in the water cooler in his office/apartment. Ruth Bennet is found murdered, precisely in the manner her husband has been dreaming. Along with Detective Dawson, Insurance Investigator Joe Cooper is on the case. While interviewing Redman, it is revealed that the transcripts concerning Bennet's conversations about his nightmare are missing. Redman is seen to have a bandaged bump on his head, which he claims happened when he slipped the previous evening while walking in the park. It comes to light that Merl's references for her job with Redman were forged, which raises Dawson's suspicions about whether the woman is an upstanding person. He and Cooper question her and she tells them that she got the references and the job with Redman through a friend, Karl Benson. Benson plays down his relationship with Merl and suggests he can help Dawson and Cooper with the Bennet case, for a share of the eventual insurance payout. He then goes to talk with Merl, and secretly plants one of the dead woman's rings under her sofa cushion. When Merl finds it,