LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Joan Bennett: Fritz Lang
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Joan Bennett starred in over 70 motion pictures during her long career. Of them, she is probably best remembered today as Amy, the youngest March sister, in "Little Women" (1933) with Katharine Hepburn; as the mother of the bride in "Father of the Bride" (1950) with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor; and the 4 thrillers and film noir classics she made with the great German director Fritz Lang, "Man Hunt" (1941), "The Woman in the Window" (1944), "Scarlet Street" (1945) and "Secret Beyond the Door" (1947).
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Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett star in director Fritz Lang's compelling drama concerning a lonely middle-aged bank cashier whose life is tragically changed when he becomes involved with a predatory, manipulating woman. 103 min. Plays All Regions.
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Joan continued this film noir trend in Jean Renoir'sThe Woman on the Beach (1947) where she was a faithless wife deceiving a blind husband. She teamed with Fritz Lang once again in Secret Beyond The Door (1948) a film somewhat reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca where Joan played a bride terrified of her husband, and like Rebecca the central character of the film is the female star. Joan Bennett carries the film all the way through.
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Bennett had a lively personal life, taking the first of three husbands at age 16, becoming a mother at 17 and a divorcee at 18. Scandal struck in 1951 when husband Wanger shot her agent, Jennings Lang, in a jealous fit and served a short jail term. The couple was reunited upon Wanger's release and remained married until his death in 1968.
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In these two films, as well as others such as Jean Renoir's The Woman on the Beach, Bennett was able to appear beautifully innocent and vulnerable on the surface, while hiding a stony evilness on the inside. Lang, and others, have expressed great admiration for Bennett's contributions to her films of this period, and some critics have called her the epitome of the film noir heroine.
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Audiences approved of this change, and Bennett thrived throughout the next decade in a wide variety of dark roles befitting her brunette status. She was especially effective in a series of melodramas directed by Fritz Lang: Man Hunt (1941), The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlet Street (1945), and The Secret Beyond the Door (1948).
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