Raw Deal a Decent B-Movie

 

Raw Deal (1948)

Directed by Anthony Mann

Eagle-Lion Films, 79 minutes, Not-rated.

★★★

 

 

 

 

Film noir is best known for its lighting, not dazzling production values. That is certainly the case of the 1948 film Raw Deal directed by Anthony Mann. The cinematography from John Alton is often stunning, even when externals of the picture appear chintzy. Moreover, it’s a pretty decent story that invites us to overlook cinematic drawbacks.

 

Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) is a minor hooligan working for a major one. As is often the case in such arrangements, when things go wrong it’s the low-level guys like Joe that take the rap. Joe agrees to take the fall and go to prison in exchange for a promise from syndicate head Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr ) of $50,000 when he is released. Joe begins to get stir crazy and conspires with his girlfriend Pat Reagan (Claire Trevor) to go over the wire. Coyle even helps with the planning of the breakout, though his secret motive is the hope that Joe will be killed in the effort and he won’t have to pay out.

 

The jailbreak is semi-successful, only semi because the getaway car is damaged during the escape. This forces Joe to hideout at the home of Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt), his legal caseworker. She decides to help Joe because she is attracted to him and as days go by, she finds herself falling in love with him. Meanwhile, Coyle orders a hit on Joe and orders his

goons to do the job. They are searching for Joe as, of course, are the police.

 

When the cops close in, Ann fears for Joe’s safety and pleads with him to surrender. Instead, she finds herself on the lam with Joe and Pat. In such cases–a love triangle, an escaped criminal, pursuing assassins, and a sociopathic mob boss–things have a very high probability of going wrong. In this sense, the script of Raw Deal is cut from the same cloth as other film noir movies. Nevertheless it's an interesting film that features a kidnapping, a double cross when the femme fatale reveals herself, an attempt to flee the country, and the proverbial Big Confrontation finale. As I have reminded readers before, don't root for any of the lawbreakers because under the Hollywood code of the day, you couldn't depict a criminal profiting from his inequity. The delight of all film noirs, including Raw Deal, is watching how things play out.  

 

Raw Deal is not a piece of brilliant filmmaking and is generally considered a B-movie. Anthony Mann is best known for the Westerns that he made in the 1950s, though The Glenn Miller Story (1954) was probably his best directorial effort. He did have the sense to allow John Alton to practice his craft and paint the screen in light and shadows, which he did brilliantly. Raw Deal works because of Alton and the cast, especially O’Keefe, Trevor, Hunt, and Burr. The first three were then riding high on the screen popularity list, and Burr would soon win television fame for his leads in both Perry Mason and Ironside.

 

In its day, the movie got mediocre reviews. Of course, back then film noir pictures were quite common so it faced stiff competition. Today, it holds up well because of the synergy between its principals. B-movies like Raw Deal get that label because you don't see a lot of money on the screen. To reiterate, though, if the lighting is right and the script sufficiently gritty, you don’t need an opulent backdrop.

 

Think of Raw Deal as a cheap deal. In my view, it’s definitely worth the investment of watching. What they heck, it’s only 79 minutes long. If you’re like me, you can certainly waste more time doing something less worthy.

 

Rob Weir