Dennis O'Keefe (Joe), Claire Trevor (Pat), Marsha Hunt (Ann), Raymond Burr (Rick), John Ireland (Fantail), Whit Bissell. Directed by Anthony Mann.
When the dark stars of noir aligned, and the genre's most gifted screenwriters, cinematographers, and directors pooled their respective skills - creating formidable cinematic dream teams - glittering gems like 1948's under appreciated 'Raw Deal' were often the result. Replete with some of the cycle's most darkly gorgeous and painstakingly designed compositions - courtesy of master John Alton - the film is a semi-hallucinatory plunge into the murky depths of an escaped convicts nightmarish final days - his tortured psyche reflected in the story's shadowy, danger-charged locations.
As much the tale of a faithful moll's emotional suffering as it is a standard revenge yarn, the powerful narrative drive kicks in almost immediately, when within her tense inner monologue Pat (Trevor) reveals that she will assist in the scheduled jailbreak that will prematurely free her man Joe (O'Keefe). A sacrificial lamb for his sadistic racketeer-boss Rick (a chilling Burr), Joe is told that upon arriving at a post-break meeting spot he'll be rewarded 50k - with which he will begin a new life in Panama with Pat. But to the scheming Rick, Joe is actually a loose end that must be snipped.
Fresh-faced legal assistant Ann Martin (Hunt), who took a keen interest in Joe's case - and possibly Joe himself - is understandably startled when she awakens in the middle of the night to find the convict leaning over her prone figure. Their getaway car disabled by prison guards bullets, Joe and Pat need Ann's wheels to meet up with Rick's #2, Fantail (Ireland), and abduct the reluctant accomplice to make sure she stays quiet. To Pat's chagrin, Joe's reasons for bringing Ann may be twofold.
The slow-burning-fuse of a plot underway, Mann employs Alton to regularly integrate his signature museum-worthy shots, which intensify the sense of dread and inescapable imprisonment. Telephone lines shot from low angles divide and constrict open skies, while dark pine trees loom like massive cell-bars. Though 'free', Joe is shackled to both his shady past, and mine-field of a future - his love triangle-on-wheels only muddying up matters more.
The Pat/Joe/Ann dynamic is an exquisitely composed plot element, and one of the several things that elevate 'Raw Deal' above the mix. Pat is clearly a doting and supportive gal-pal, but no amount of unconditional love can dampen the sparks traded between Joe and his not-so-secret admirer. Representing both a fresh start and a link to 'clean' society, Ann is also presented as more feminine - less of a 'buddy'. Referring to the androgynously named Pat as his 'partner' at one point, we are present for the shift in Joe's interest, and feel the sting of Pat's heartache. But an escaped con on a tight schedule doesn't need to play out a soap opera while he's on a collision course with the likes of Rick Coyle. A sadist with a fondness for flames, Coyle is one of noirs heavyweight antagonists, and the character's presence is felt even when he's not on screen. Barrel-chested and satin-robed, Rick is shown only in his luxurious lair – someone who people must come to, report to. Shot from below, he's like a bear poised to strike (a visual joke actually used in one scene), and with his main man Fantail regularly and recklessly needling him, the possibility of Rick striking is all-too-likely. A fetishistic sociopath, he will not be challenged. He orders Joe killed - never wanting to pay him off or see him again - but Joe is resourceful and determined. With the help of his lady friends, the expendable and romantically-torn thug overcomes both the lawful and the lawless to reach and confront his erstwhile boss - and does so in a typically bleak but unusually satisfying finale.
Agreed. Anthony Mann’s Raw Deal is one of the finer noir flicks, but seems to hide in the shadows of obscurity.
The flick kicks off with minutes of howling prison-yard whistles, screaming freight trains, blasting train whistles, blaring prison sirens, cracking gun-shots, screeching get-away tires, and wailing police sirens. It's a noisy jungle of breakout escape from prison. You know you're in for a raw deal just listening.
When the chaos of prison escape lets up, we're shoved into the doomed love triangle. Tension grips and shakes hard and fast. Good, bad, and evil sit side-by side in the get-away car.
The characters drive to no-wheresville. They've been dealt a bad hand. But, their choices are just lousy too. Claire Trevor's character goes from hard to soft, and pays for it. Marsha Hunt's character goes from good to bad. O'Keefe's character uses the two dames when he needs them, as the scene requires. Raymond Burr's pyrotechnics is just plain raw. He don't treat his dames right.
They all take the wrong turn at the existential crossroads of Main and Nada streets.
Cinematographer John Alton’s UFA shadows are everywhere. Spooky Theremin music punctuates Claire Trevor’s haunting inner dialogue and angst.
And towards the end of the flick, there is dreamlike scene of a kid on roller skates skating past a killer standing in a foggy alley. It's surrealism bathed in expressionism laced with deadly amounts of existentialism.
Raw Deal is one my favorite noirs.
Me too, Rick. Seems like yesterday when Kino released the vhs trio of 'Raw Deal', 'He Walked By Night', and 'T-Men'.
I fondly remember racing home to check out 'Raw' for the first time. I had seen the others, but 'Raw' had been one
of a dozen or so holy grails for us noirheads...
Love this noir too. I wonder who has copyrights on this film today. I have it on dvd in the now discontinued Gangsters Guns and Floozies Collection (Classic Media, manufactured by Sony Wonder a division of Sony BMG). The pq on this dvd is poor.
Dax, seek out the VCI Entertainment edition - it's pretty solid.Originally Posted by dax
Thanks for the tip.
[QUOTE=bogie;1820]Poster
http://www.impawards.com/1948/raw_deal.html
Keep an eye out for Ray Teal(Bit)
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