Raw Deal (1948) User Reviews

Film Noir Classic

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 6 July 2014]

Gripping film noir with Dennis O'Keefe as Joe Sullivan, a man who escapes from prison with help from Pat, the woman (Claire Trevor) who's loved him and stuck by him for years. But Joe's fallen in love with a sympathetic caseworker (Marsha Hunt) and forces her to accompany him and Pat as they flee. Meanwhile, Raymond Burr plays the man responsible for Joe being in prison. He owes Joe money and sends a hit-man to make sure Joe doesn't try to collect.

A great movie from Anthony Mann. Wonderful script and cast. O'Keefe has arguably the best role of his career here. Trevor's perfect as always. A truly gifted actress who doesn't get as much respect as some of her contemporaries. Marsha Hunt does well with the weakest part in the film. She looks beautiful, which doesn't hurt. Raymond Burr's a sadistic and nasty villain. He has one scene that's pretty shocking for the time and makes the famous coffee-throwing scene from The Big Heat look like a kiss on the cheek. A classic film noir that all fans of the genre should see.

Beefy Beefsteak Movie Par Excellence

[secragt · 8/10 · 20 April 2004]

Enjoyable noir outing enlivened by a first rate cast, solid script and typically solid Alton camerawork. O'Keefe is right at home as Joe, the hotheaded lug with his own code and unlucky streak. Trevor is at her fatalistic best as the true blue moll who is meant for him but gets stepped over. Hunt is appealing and credible as the fresh-faced moralist who tries to change Joe but winds up changed, instead. Burr is an effective heavy, albeit a bit too wimpy at the end. Toomey, Bissell, and Ireland are all competent as well.

Alton uses multiple familiar Malibu locations to good advantage. The cinematography is excellent.

The script is particularly effective, building as Joe slowly discovers how he has been set up and deceived by basically everyone to some degree. Claire Trevor's struggle to come clean at the end is a moving and suspenseful section and the violent climax is curiously redeeming and satisfying. Noir fans should definitely give this one a look- not as famous as your typical Bogey or Mitchum entry, but just as iconic in its own way.

This Noir Has Something No Other Movie Has Ever Had:

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 8 June 2006]

Claire Trevor providing voice-over narration to the accompaniment of a Theramin! What an indelible effect this makes! In a way, it is not the usual sort of narration we find in film noir: Trevor is usually shown as her voice, with that spooky electronic instrument providing harmony, come through on the soundtrack. The standard for this was to have the protagonist (almost always a male) do this but without appearing as he spoke.

Trevor not only appears but indeed appears in a hat with a veil covering her face. This will stick in your memory for years after you've seen it! Trevor helps boyfriend Dennis O'Keefe break out of prison. But a good girl, Marsha Hunt, has also visited and shown interest in them. Which one will he chose: bad but loyal Trevor or goody-goody Hunt? These are both excellent actresses. Marsha Hunt underplays a little bit here. But she is superb.

The movie has a very solid, if somewhat standard plot. But all kinds of things are tossed into the mix -- all to the movie's benefit.

For example, when O'Keefe has settled into his first hide-out, a wife-murderer appears and demands to be given shelter. He's there for a few minutes of screen time but after that his story is dropped.

John Alton's cinematography is superb. Anthony Mann directed this Eagle Lion feature with expert hands. Some of the characters may be losers but the movie is a true winner.

Such gorgeous sets, lights, and camera...night noir moodiness

[secondtake · 26 July 2011]

Raw Deal (1948)

What a moody, dark, steamy, dangerous drama. The story is a little clunky at times, but with this much atmosphere, who cares? Between classic early Anthony Mann (the director) and classic early John Alton (the cinematographer), there is no doubt about wanting to get sucked in, dragged down, swept away, and wowed. It really is a beautiful, brooding movie.

The key theme is escape, as a convict is on the run and he takes two women with him, one his girlfriend who is sort of "bad" and one an admirer who is basically "good." The two don't get along of course, and in the process of fleeing from one situation to another (pretty much always at night) we see the man switch from one kind of woman to another. This man is Dennis O'Keefe, who is strong and almost better here because he isn't well known and there is no baggage from other movies and other roles. The women are played by Claire Trevor, who is terrific, and Marsha Hunt, who is not--though she holds her own. Other smaller parts are gritty and impressive, including Raymond Burr as a very bad man, always photographed from below so he seems sinister.

If the escape and the running were the whole movie, it would have been compact and effective, a tight little piece following these three on the road, hiding, and eventually fighting for their survival. There is one odd and highly improbable scene were they happen upon another criminal running from the police. It's good drama, but too coincidental, out in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Otherwise the parts are strong, the story well paced.

And the visuals just stunning. That's the biggest reason to watch. And get pulled away.

As a viewer I feel that I got a raw deal...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 26 February 2022]

... because I had heard its reputation as an excellent film noir, but the viewing experience was somewhat disappointing.

Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) took sole blame for a crime he committed with Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr). Coyle arranges the enabling of Sullivan's escape from prison, with Joe's girlfriend Pat Regan (Claire Trevor) waiting for him with a getaway car. But the prison guards managed to shoot the gas tank as the pair fled, and they have to ditch the car a few miles away when it runs out of gas. Joe and Pat commandeer a taxi and this is where the plot bogs down. He goes straight to the house of Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) the paralegal of his attorney, who has been visiting him on behalf of her boss about his case, and kidnaps her. Ann knows how to press all of his buttons, what makes him tick, and how to reach him. Why would Joe do such a goofy thing? He'd be smarter kidnapping some stranger off the street who is just completely afraid of him and therefore more compliant.

So the film bogs down in "torn between two women" territory. Joe owes Pat for sticking her neck out, but he is at least fascinated by Ann, the honest woman on the straight and narrow. The action does return in awhile, but it seemed like a long while.

What makes this film worth it are the performances. Especially Raymond Burr as a gangster with a completely out of control temper who thinks nothing of setting someone on fire for disrespecting him. Not until Joe Pesci's performance in Goodfellas over 40 years later will there be such a nasty character in a crime film.

Shadows Don't Wash Off

[robotman-2 · 10/10 · 31 May 2001]

Folks can go on and on about a visual style. The fact is, RAW DEAL exemplifies more than just an atmosphere. There's a catalyst for horrific violence driven by the desperation of the characters, their psychosis and their inability to escape from the choking shadows not only around them, but inside their heads. This movie, a cheap b-production with only one actor with stand-out talent, Claire Trevor, and a young powerful Raymond Burr, manages to seem authentic all the way through because it doesn't hold back on the violence or the threat of violence. There's a desperate prison escape, by hero O'Keefe, who's trying to get to Burr the crime boss, for whom he took a fall. Burr wants O'Keefe dead so he doesn't have to worry about O'Keefe ratting on him. O'Keefe uses two women he knows, his floozy Trevor and the good-girl counselor he really loves (she's cast in light and draws him like a moth) as cover. The movie then follows O'Keefe as he does a mini-FUGITIVE, like the television show, making love to his women and encountering a raging lunatic in the woods who doesn't have anything to do with him, but might get O'Keefe caught anyway by swarming police on the hunt for the maniac.

In this rough noir, you get a suicide by cop, a guy fighting not to get his face impaled on a set of wall antlers, a flaming friccasee thrown in a drunk woman's face, a nasty deception and the good girl getting tortured, and a bloody final encounter between psycho Burr and O'Keefe, with plenty of face-ripping and falling from burning buildings. That's not standard stuff, and if you can get into babe Trevor with light shimmering on her lips as she tries to figure out how to save her thug O'Keefe from the police, Burr, and the younger angel ready to steal him away, then you will enjoy hell out of this film.

A final breath

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 15 March 2011]

Pat (Claire Trevor) narrates the story of her involvement with boyfriend Joe (Dennis O'Keefe) from the night that he escapes from prison until she is arrested. The story follows them on the run with Ann (Marsha Hunt). Who does Joe really love? It is obvious to all concerned...

This film has a dramatic tension created by two women fighting over one man while they all try and make an escape together. The cast are fine with a particular mention to Claire Trevor and Marsha Hunt who inject the emotion into the story as O'Keefe seems completely devoid of any. Raymond Burr who plays "Rick" and John Ireland who plays "Fantail" make a couple of good bad guys and there is one disturbing scene where Burr's character throws a dish which is on fire onto his girlfriend's face - we didn't really need that. It certainly is a raw deal for everyone in this film.

There are some nicely filmed scenes, eg, when Pat and Joe are on the boat minutes from departing to a new country and we focus on Pat's profile until she finally breaks the tension by calling out Ann's name. Overall, it's an entertaining film even if the outcome is obvious.

The kid with a medal.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 12 March 2011]

Raw Deal is directed by Anthony Mann and adapted by Leopold Atlas & John C. Higgins from a suggested story by Arnold B. Armstrong & Audrey Ashley. It stars Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland & Raymond Burr. Paul Sawtell scores the music and John Alton is the cinematographer.

Convict Joe Sullivan (O'Keefe), incarcerated after taking a fall, breaks out of jail with the help of his girl, Pat Cameron (Trevor). But something is amiss, brutish mobster Rick Coyle (Burr) is influencing proceedings behind the scenes, he needs to because he owes Joe big time. Kidnapping Joe's social worker, Ann Martin (Hunt), Joe & Pat hit the road, it's a road that will lead to desperate consequences for many.

A raw fatalistic film noir that sees the ace pairing of director Mann and photographer Alton. They, along with O'Keefe, had made T-Men the year previously, itself a tough piece of film making. Raw Deal is the lesser known movie of the two, but that's not in any way indicative of the quality of Raw Deal, for it's most assuredly the real deal for sure. What unfolds over the 80 minutes running time is a plot full of characters destined for disappointments or even worse; rarely has the title for a film been as apt as it is here! Mann & Alton move the tight screenplay thru a shadowy world of half-lit images and high contrast brutality. Jittery cameras are supplemented by unbalanced angles, which in turn are boosted by Sawtell's music compositions. One of the best decisions made by Mann and Sawtell is that of the narration by Trevor, in itself unusual for a woman of noir to narrate, it's sorrowful and mournful in tone anyway, but with Sawtell scoring it with the theremin it plays out as part of a nightmarish dream-state.

O'Keefe was not the leading man type, but that's perfect for this film, he offers a credibility to a man whose life has taken a down turn, where his only comfort is being a thorn between two roses, but with that comes more problems as he seeks to only breathe the fresh air of freedom. Trevor (loyal and knowing moll) and Hunt (dainty with whiffs of goodness seeping from every pore) play off each other very well, offering up a sort of devil and angel on Joe's shoulders motif. Burr is shot from the waist up, giving his character even more emphasise as a hulking, sadistic brute, and rounding out the good performances is Ireland as a sly hit-man type who revels in getting a rise out of his paymaster. But no doubt about it, the real star of the show is Alton's photography, itself the critical character. Mann's film would have been great and got through on his direction and script anyway, but with Alton's camera it ends up being essential for the film noir faithful.

From the opening, where the credits show up on the background of prison bar shadows, to the no cop out-classic noir-ending, Raw Deal hits the mark. A film that's bleak and at times brutal, yet rich in emotional depth. A must see for like minded cinephiles. 9/10

More great noir from Anthony Mann...

[FelixtheCat · 7/10 · 26 May 2000]

Anthony Mann stylishly directs this jailbreak, film noir thriller. Dennis O'Keefe is the escapee who is taking the rap for his crime boss, Raymond Burr. Burr is responsible for springing him, but only with the hope that he gets killed in the attempt and is thus silenced. O'Keefe's dame is assuredly played by Claire Trevor, who helps him through the road blocks and dragnets, but is severely jealous once another woman enters the picture. John Alton's cinematography perfectly captures the noir-like atmosphere of San Francisco as does Trevor's voice-over narration accompanied by the haunting sound of a theremin playing.

What is film noir? An object lesson from Anthony Mann and John Alton

[bmacv · 10/10 · 17 June 2002]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Gunplay is for Westerns (of which Raw Deal's director, Anthony Mann, went on to direct several). Film noir prefers more baroque outbursts of malice, ideally illuminating, however briefly, the dark crevasses of human psychopathology. Crime kingpin Raymond Burr, shot from below to make his bulk loom even more frighteningly, nurses a fascination with fire. His chambers glow with candlelight, and he playfully singes the earlobes of his henchmen with a cigarette lighter. When, displeased with some news he's just heard, a party girl splashes him with some of her drink, he reacts with lightning-quick instinct, hurling a chafing dish of flaming Cherries Jubilee into her face - and, not so incidentally, ours. (This, by the way, five full years before Fritz Lang arranged for Gloria Grahame to get a kisserful of scalding coffee in The Big Heat.) Of course, in accord with Chekhov's dictum that a rifle produced in Act One must be discharged by Act Three, waiting in the wings there's a conflagration with Burr's name on it.

Raw Deal was the second of the collaborations between Mann and cinematographer John Alton, following T-Men. There's scarcely a frame in the film that Alton has not composed, lighted and shot with offhand brilliance, yet the film flows along without the fussy, embalmed look that comes from self-conscious artistry or uncertainty about what to do with it.

A subdued voice-over opens the movie - not the stentorian narration with which so many noirs are saddled (including T-Men) but an almost interior monologue spoken by a woman, Claire Trevor. (Never has she been better - not in Murder, My Sweet, nor Born To Kill, nor Key Largo, which snagged her an Oscar.) A savvy moll of a certain age, she knows time is running out on her, hence her obsession with clocks: wristwatches, clock faces in towers, wall clocks (at one crucial point Alton encloses her anxious face within a dial). She's been carrying a torch for Dennis O'Keefe, in stir after a double-cross by Burr. But a breakout has been arranged, with the codependent Trevor driving the getaway car, her purse holding two tickets to Panama on a freighter leaving in three days time.

But there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip. First, a jam forces them to include in their getaway plans a young social worker (Marsha Hunt) who has taken a professional interest in O'Keefe (much to Trevor's chagrin). Next, Burr has sent one of his deranged torpedoes (John Ireland) in pursuit. Third, O'Keefe is determined to have one last reckoning with Burr. Fourth, Ireland manages to abduct Hunt....

Half the movie takes place in San Francisco, mainly in fog-shrouded Corkscrew Alley. The great outdoors of the Northwest accounts for the rest - with a haunting nocturne in a pine forest, which city-gal Trevor remarks makes her feel `I dunno, both big and small at the same time.' But indoors or out, darkness reigns (and, thanks to Alton, the film's many and intricate shadows all but achieve co-starring stature). It's hard-core noir, to be sure, sinister and brutal, but shot through with a redemptive touch of poetry.

The Good & Bad Of Raw Deal

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 25 December 2005]

Director Anthony Mann and photography whiz John Alton combined for several film noirs in the late 1940s and this was one. Most of them had the same feel which meant great photography and an okay-but-nothing-spectacular story.

This one was different in that in had a female doing the narration. I wouldn't mind that but in this kind of hard-boiled film, a feminine voice such as Claire Trevor's didn't sound right. Now, if she an edge to her a la Marie Windsor or Ann Savage, fine, but Trevor's voice didn't fit. Trevor was a good noir actress, but using her for narration was questionable.

It did have an apt villain, however, in Raymond Burr. The burly Burr was brutal, which means he was effective. He looked mean and sounded mean, all the way up to his 1954 "Rear Window" performance before going good-guy with television's Perry Mason. Dennis O'Keefe, Marsha Hunt and John Ireland also star and do a fine job. There is a lot of tough dialog in here.

There are tons of nighttime shots, very dark scenes so make sure you view this on DVD because prior VHS prints of this made it difficult to view.

He Shoulda Stayed in the Can

[dogwater-1 · 8/10 · 22 August 2013]

Good, tough stuff from director Anthony Mann and a real film noir to use that battered term. Dennis O'Keefe is Joe Sullivan, small-time crook who has taken the fall for bigger-time crook Raymond Burr as Rick Coyle. Coyle sets up a breakout for Sullivan, figuring the chances are very good Sullivan will be killed in the escape, eliminating a nagging concern Coyle has that he may be a target for revenge when Sullivan gets out. Enter Claire Trevor (need I say more) as Sullivan's girl and voice/over narrator. Marsha Hunt is on hand to make sure we don't think all women are bad, and the unlikely trio hit the road stealing taxis,evading roadblocks,and hi-jacking gas station vehicles. It's moody, well-shot and moves along like a '48 Buick. This is the kind of movie that you're waiting for Whit Bissell to show up. He does. O'Keefe is always effective in this type of grim and grit and John Ireland is a hard-to-kill thug, a type that he excelled at. Burr is on target as a weaselly crime creep with an interest in flame. This one is worth anyone's time, particularly if you love the genre. The script isn't much, but these are pros who can bring it off. But the title should have been "Corkscrew Alley".

Good Film Noir

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 21 October 2014]

Joseph Emmett "Joe" Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) is in the State Prison for taken the blame for the gangster Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) that owes him US$ 50,000.00. Joe is visited by the young Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) that works at the law firm that is defending him and she tells that after three years, Joe will certainly be on probation. However his lover Pat Cameron (Claire Trevor) also visits him and tells that Rick has plotted an escape for him during the night. What they do not know is that the sadistic Rick wants to get rid off Joe and expects that Joe will be murdered or caught during the prison break.

Joe is well-succeeded in the escape and Pat drives the runaway car. However the car is shot in the tank by the police officers and they run out fuel. Joe brings Pat to Ann's house expecting to have a hideout for a couple of days, but Ann calls the police believing that she would help Joe. They escape in Ann's car and head to Crescent City, where Joe expects to meet Rick to receive his money and travel to South America with Pat. But Rick sends a hit-man to kill Joe while Pat feels that she is losing Joe to Ann that has fallen in love with him. Will Pat and Joe have the chance to travel together to South America?

"Raw Deal" is a film-noir with a triangle of love between an ambiguous criminal that wants to be a good man, his experienced lover and a naive young woman that also falls in love for him. Raymond Burr performs a scary gangster. The plot is full of action and has an unusual narration in off by Pat Cameron. The cinematography in black and white is very beautiful and the conclusion is dark. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Entre Dois Fogos" ("Between Two Fires")

Did Not Hold My Interest

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 19 August 2015]

Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He has taken the rap for Rick, who owes him $50 Grand. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, knowing that Joe will be caught escaping and be shot or locked away forever. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than he's supposed to, and we are posed with two very important questions: Is Joe really the cold and heartless criminal he appears to be, or is there a heart of gold under that gritty exterior? Typically I like gangster movies or film noir, but this one just did not hold my interest. At all. Strange, considering it came from Anthony Mann, who is no slouch. I cannot explain it.

Underrated, but sublime Film Noir!

[filmnoirman · 19 February 2002]

What a perfect film for insomniacs. This is wonderful to watch with the lights out. With that said, let's look at this underrated work by director Anthony Mann. First the obvious...John Alton is a genius. The lighting, or lack thereof, is visually striking. What this man could do with a $10 budget was simply amazing. Secondly, let's note the unusual commentary/narration by Academy Award winner(she won the award that same year for her role in "Key Largo"), Claire Trevor. I can count only a couple of film noir in which the voice-over is done by a doomed (in love)woman. Her sense of entrapment perfectly encapsulate's the mood of this film. Now, let's also note the odd use of a theremin for the bulk of the music used in this film. Check it out...very creepy. But one of the most overlooked components in this film has to be the hulking visage of Raymond Burr. This guy had to be in just about every film made between 1944 and 1960. In this particular film he is a sado-masochistic pyromaniac. In just about every scene he is torching somebody, whether it be by using his lighter, or throwing a flaming flambeaus at some poor unsuspecting party-going girl or by just burning down his own apartment. He's a nutcase...but a joy to watch on the screen.

Okay, so the story itself isn't the most original. But with everything else this film has going for it, I HIGHLY recommend anyone even slightly interested, to go buy it NOW! It's one of my absolute favorite film noir's. Oh...I almost forgot. Check out Marsha Hunt in this film. She's stunning.

Deal or raw deal

[Lejink · 7/10 · 11 March 2014]

An early Anthony Mann-directed movie before he hooked up with James Stewart for some fine Westerns in the early 50's, this is a fine noir thriller with a twist or three along the way. It contains the unusual device of a voice-over by a female rather than male character and yes, that "Twilight Zone"-type soundtrack does take a bit of getting used to, I kept expecting some flying saucer or other to fall out of the sky any minute.

Mind you the sky certainly falls in on main character escaped con Joe Cameron, played by Dennis O'Keefe, not only double-crossed into jail by his onetime partner played by Raymond Burr, but then deliberately sprung by the latter in the hope he'll get gunned down in the attempt. Of course that doesn't happen and so he finds himself on the run with two vying women in tow, the first, his long-standing, long-suffering girl-friend played by Claire Trevor, the second, his lawyer's clean-living secretary, Ann, played by Marsha Hunt whom he inveigles into his getaway against her will, but who falls for him anyway as things play out.

It all ends on a dark, misty night (naturally) with O'Keefe confronting Burr and a fiery, violent and naturally pessimistic ending, with nobody winning, in true noir style.

Gloomy and cynical as you'd expect, it's firstly a treat for the eyes, almost every scene shot in dull light, with unusual camera perspectives employed for the interiors and the device of shooting Burr from below to accentuate his bulk and menace. There's sharp dialogue too and some nice in-plotting, particularly Burr's relationship with his lippy almost insubordinate henchman Fantail, played by John Ireland. There are individual memorable scenes too, most notably Burr throwing a flambé straight at the camera to ruthlessly maim an innocent girl who accidentally bumps into him after he's received some bad news and his later demise, suitably in flames, backwards out of a window, but there are other gems strewn about too, for instance Trevor's face superimposed on an anxiously watched clock and her full-profile, veil-covered face when she answers a telephone in the foreground delivering, wouldn't you know it, some bad news.

The only mistake really is when another movie about a runaway wife-killer gate-crashes the narrative, but after that it settles down again onto its relentless course to its fiery finish. The acting is fine by all, O'Keefe's lack of star status helping his "ordinary Joe" persona, Trevor is very good as the self-deluding girlfriend and Burr too as the heavyweight gangster still twitchy about O'Keefe catching up with him.

This is a fine noir-thriller which can be enjoyed as sheer entertainment or as a fine study of the genre in microcosm.

Excellent Example of "Film-Noire"

[bsmith5552 · 8/10 · 5 August 2001]

"Raw Deal" was independent film made in 1948 by producer Edward Small. It is an excellent example of the "film-noire" genre that was popular in the forties and early 50s. It is filmed in black and white amidst the dark shadows and special lighting that characterized these films and in this case, most of the story takes place at night. It is skillfully directed by the soon to be famous Anthony Mann who went on to make a series of realistic and violent westerns with James Stewart in the fifties. Although the film runs a scant 78 minutes, it manages to tell its story and hold the viewer's interest throughout.

Dennis O'Keefe stars as a convict who's escape is engineered by the crime boss (Raymond Burr) who had set him up for the fall in the first place, with the hope that O'Keefe wiil be killed in the escape attempt. Of course, he does escape and sets out to seek his revenge. O'Keefe's anti-hero really has no redeeming qualities. At one point he is poised to shoot down a forest ranger in cold blood.

Claire Trevor is excellent as O'Keefe's long suffering moll who hopes to get him out of the country and eventually marry him. It is a role similar to the one for which she would win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Key Largo" the same year. Marsha Hunt is the third side to the triangle as the good girl who wants O'Keefe to give himself up.

Burr is particularly sadistic as the crime boss who fears for his life. At one point he throws a flaming pan onto a girl who has displeased him. John Ireland is along as Burr's hitman who gets into an exciting fight with O'Keefe in a darkened storeroom.

"Raw Deal" is a good movie that didn't get the praise it deserved.

More of a bad deal

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 22 February 2013]

Dennis O'Keefe stars in this crackerjack noir film directed by Anthony Mann. O'Keefe plays a man who took a rap for gangster kingpin Raymond Burr and now he's thinking he's gotten the bad end of a Raw Deal. He wants out of prison and Burr arranges an escape hoping he'll be killed in the attempted breakout.

If you recognize the plot think back to Angels With Dirty Faces where James Cagney takes the rap for Humphrey Bogart and George Bancroft and now wants back in on the rackets they've built up and the other two don't want to cut him in. As dark as that classic was, Raw Deal is a good deal darker as O'Keefe's world is getting smaller and smaller due to the bad choices he made in life.

With cops and Burr looking for him, Dennis also has himself involved with two women, steady streetwise Claire Trevor and the secretary of his lawyer Marsha Hunt. Both are carrying a big torch for O'Keefe, but Trevor is the jealous sort.

Watching Raw Deal reminded me of a Eugene O'Neill play Strange Interlude where the characters voice over narration tells you their real feelings. That device is used for O'Keefe, Trevor, and Hunt as they express their emotions in the narration. And like any classic O'Neill play there is an inevitability about these people especially O'Keefe.

Before Anthony Mann moved on to westerns and bigger budgets he did some good noir work in the Forties and Raw Deal is a fine example.

One of the best films noir ever made

[Bucky-20 · 10/10 · 22 January 2000]

From Claire Trevor's spacey, almost whispered voiceover, to the eerie moog soundtrack, to the foggy, shadowy scenography, Raw Deal is one of the most brilliantly conceived and masterfully crafted hardboiled movies ever made. Its early scenes are set in Washington state--i.e., Twin Peaks and X-Files country--and this setting establishes the spookiness that continues all through the rest of the film. Claire Trevor is especially good playing one of her washed-up floozy roles, and Raymond Burr is at his most diabolical as a pyromaniac crime boss. Fire and rain, shadow and fog, yearning and betrayal, deep loyalty and triple-crossing--as a mood piece this movie is unsurpassed. Once you've seen it, think about exactly who got the "raw deal" of the title--just one or two of the characters, or maybe all of them?

Don't look for logic, just look

[Robbmonster · 6/10 · 17 November 2018]

Pat (Claire Trevor) helps bust erstwhile boyfriend Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) out of prison. His way of thanking her is to take her to his P.O's home, kidnap her, and decide he would prefer to have her as his girl instead. Complications ensue.

The main selling points of this film are the great John Alton's cinematography, establishing a perfect noir mood that is matched by an eerie theramin-based score and moody, broken Trevor voiceover. The plot is a rather standard 'escapee on the run while also seeking revenge against those who wronged him' that is bolstered by some excellent performances, particularly from Claire Trevor as a woman attracted inexplicably to a man who will never return her feelings, but is happy enough to keep her around and keep using her as long as it suits him.

Despite the performances, the characters are weak. Trevor's Pat is the most sympathetic character (haven't we all been attracted to exactly the wrong person at some point in our lives?), but O'Keefe's Joe is a cypher - it is impossible to determine his motivation for doing almost anything he does, and as such is basically an unlikable protagonist. There is absolutely no reason for his sudden advances toward Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) outside of a desire to conquer, possess, and corrupt her, but even this is murky.

There is a also a sequence in which a fleeing murderer temporarily shacks up with out central trio and their benevolent helper, and when I say temporarily, I mean TEMPORARILY. This murderer (played by Whit Bissell) shows up, rants and raves for a couple of minutes, then leaves, having left no lasting impact on either story nor character.

Also worth mentioning is a rather sadistic performance by Raymond Burr as the target of Joe's revenge plans. This 'villain' is rather hands-off in terms of driving story, but the character is kept interesting through his very nature.

Main pros: excellent performance by Claire Trevor, classic noir atmosphere and cinematography.

Main cons: unlikable characters, illogical character/plot decisions.

Recommended if you can look past the strange character decisions and pointless plot excursions.

a classic tale of love gone awry, tough men in tight jams, and a lot of shadows, split light and fog

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 22 August 2007]

In one of Anthony Mann's great films, Raw Deal has the added jolt for what could be a basic B-movie thriller by having an underlying current being romantic jealousy, envy, and the tug of war between right and wrong, as well as possession. The point of view here isn't from the hard-boiled Joe (Dennis O'Keefe, one man you don't want to mess with, unless you can 'get under his skin') who's just escaped from prison to settle old scores, but from his old lady Pat (Claire Trevor), a dame with years behind her waiting and waiting, and after being patient for so long (as she tells us in a constantly eerie, mournful voice-over, almost something one might expect from The Magnificent Ambersons) she busts him out. But while in there he met a 'friend' Ann, wholesomely played by Marsha Hunt, an admirer of his past good deeds- as a child- and is taken along on the escape trip thanks to her getaway car. At first Pat just brushes aside Ann's pleading and prodding to Joe as merely naive. But her good side pushes Pat away from Joe, and a little closer to Ann despite the danger of a guy with a lot to lose holding a gun and with a score to settle via gangster Rick (Raymond Burr, playing well as a dirty fat heel).

The music set behind her, which doesn't change all that much, sounds as if it's out of a chilling dream, where the fatalism has rocketed through the roof and there's not much she can do about it. Yet Mann and director of photography capture so many beautiful and stark moments, pivotal ones as part of the artistic peak of film-noir, especially in the scene on the boat as Joe rattles on about the good things to come. And we see Pat with a little like streaked across her guilt-ridden face at knowing Ann is in dire straits, with the clock also in light, and everything else in black, and soon after an accentuation of her eyes as narration details her hatred of just the idea of Ann now forever burrowing herself into Joe's consciousness. Things like this add to how taut Mann operates Raw Deal, like the ironic scene at Joe's friend's farm where a frantic killer comes knocking for help, all the lights off inside, but the tension very strange (almost contrived, though not quite). Even small details like the back-lighting in some scenes, as when we see Joe talking to Pat and Ann through the divider in prison with the bars streaked slightly behind him. And what would a wallop of a noir be without some low-angle shots of Burr in his office or chucking flames at a girl who scuffed his jacket?

The mood is near perfect, the character actors are all up to snuff (Hunt actually delves a little into how she's changed forever by the trip, by the firing of a gun that carries more implications than a less ambitious film would allow), and in a fairly short running time there's a substantial amount of craft to go alongside a crackerjack story where conventions are given added weight by attitude and a predilection to imagery that might not make it in some noirs (the climax with Joe and Rick, the flames of hell right around them in the office). One of the best films of 1948.

good noir, almost a stereotype

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 10 February 2014]

"Raw Deal" from 1958 is directed by Anthony Mann and stars Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, Raymond Burr, and John Ireland.

The film is narrated by Pat (Trevor), who is the girlfriend of escaped convict Joe (O'Keefe). Joe took the rap for a mob boss, Rick Coyle (Burr) who is supposed to pay him $50,000. Pat helps him escape, but their car breaks down, and the two head for the apartment of a social worker (Hunt) who has visited him in prison. Ann is horrified to see Joe and nearly calls the police. He and Pat take her hostage, with Joe not admitting that he is very attracted to Ann. Pat picks up on it, and is jealous.

Meanwhile, Rick sends his henchman (John Ireland) and others out to make sure Joe is murdered so he won't have to see him.

This is a very good noir and a stereotypical one. The narration and dialogue as spoken by Claire Trevor has the sound of something you'd see on In Living Color and the old Carol Burnett Show. Now, in a noir, they fit the style beautifully - later, of course, this type of dialogue was used for comedy. Tough dialogue like: "It's the daily fight that everyone has. To get food and an education, to land a job and keep it. And some self-respect. 'Safe'? I never asked for anything safe. All I want is... just a little decency, that's all!" Perfect.

Anthony Mann's excellent direction moves this film right along and builds suspense. It's a violent film, yet most of the violence is in our imagination. Mann kept moving up the director ladder, but in his early days directed some terrific noirs.

The cast is excellent, with Trevor's aging floosie, desperately in love with Joe, a standout. Hunt is lovely in a sincere performance as a naive woman. I saw her a couple of years ago at Paramount's 100th anniversary and at 95, she looks wonderful and was delightful. Raymond Burr is mean as dirt, and Ireland is an effective associate. O'Keefe wasn't an exciting actor, though he holds his own in this. Though he's the lead, it's not the showiest role. He was attractive and at his best in light comedy, though he evidently loved this type of film and did a few that were successful.

Very good noir with interesting photography and a real edge to it.

Mandatory for noir fans

[rosarypliers · 9/10 · 15 September 2013]

Raw Deal (1948) is simply a great noir. The plot is nothing extraordinary, but interesting nonetheless. Jailbreak, love triangle, not-so happy ending. (As usual, my reviews are full of spoilers, be warned…) Raw Deal does not bother with details that would make it unnecessarily long. It does not specify what kind of crime got Joe (O'Keefe) in jail, and how exactly he makes his escape. It is just implied that his escape was somehow assisted by fellow gangster Rick Coyle (Burr) who owes him 50 grand for taking sole responsibility for whatever the felony was they committed together. We are briefly introduced to Rick and his henchman Fantail (Ireland) and Spider (Conway). Rick struts around in his lair in a robe that seems to have "gay, gay, gay" written all over it, and he has a disturbing interest in fire. His favorite toy is a cigarette lighter, and there's many candles burning in his headquarters on Corkscrew Alley, which is also the street where both Joe and his moll Pat (Trevor, also the narrator) grew up. Rick is convinced that Joe will be killed during his escape, so he can keep the 50.000 bucks for himself. But Joe and Pat do make it. However, the prison snipers punctured the getaway car's gas tank, so first hijack a taxi and later pay a nightly visit to Ann (Hunt), the young woman who had been visiting Joe in prison, and who seems to believe that underneath the hardened criminal there's a good soul in hiding. Joe kisses her awake, and hours later the three of them squeeze into Ann's car and continue their escape. Pat notices that Joe is attracted to Ann, and she gets very jealous of her. On Corkscrew Alley, it is Rick's birthday, and his mood is neither improved by his bad luck at card games, nor by the news that Joe made it through the police dragnet and seems to be in the clear. When a girl who fancies him (Chili "polka dot girl" Williams) accidentally spills her drink on his threads, he throws a fiery desert into her face. Rick sends out Fantail (I love that name, by the way) to a scheduled meeting with Joe in a taxidermist's shop near the ocean…to finish him off. Joe goes with Ann, leaving Pat, who sprained her ankle (probably deliberately, so Joe will carry her in his arms) back. And he walks straight into the trap. The crooked taxidermist, aptly named Grimshaw, disarms Joe, but Joe does not give up easily. He struggles with both Grimshaw and Fantail, and they use the the taxidermist's props: knives, metal rods, even a deer's antlers, in their fight. When it looks like Joe is going to be killed, Ann picks up Joe's gun and shoots Fantail. Then she runs down the beach, sobbing. Joe tries to console her, first by telling her that Fantail survived, and when it that doesn't really work, he tells her she did it to save him. Ann passionately declares her love for Joe. Joe, however, looks glum. Joe does not believe in a common future with Ann, and he sends her home…but near a gas station she is captured by Fantail, who actually did survive. Meanwhile, Joe and Pat are at a hotel, packing their suitcases, they plan to flee to South America. The phone rings, Pat picks it up, and Spider tells her that Rick has Ann, and that he will do some very bad things to her if Joe doesn't show up. Pat lies to Joe, telling him it was the desk clerk. Joe and Pat are aboard a steamer, and Joe tells a steward he wants to get married at sea. Pat is initially happy, but she soon realizes that Joe does not love her, he loves Ann, and she will only be a proxy for her. And then she blurts out the truth about the phone call. Joe does not hesitate a minute. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS, STOP READING NOW!!!

Joe turns up on Corkscrew Alley, he does away with Spider and Fantail and confronts Rick at the dinner table. Joe really seems to have mellowed out, he hesitates when Rick, tells him: "You know I never carry a gun." Except he does…he shoots Joe without retrieving the gun from his pocket, through the folds of the clothes. Joe, shoots back, the two engage in a nasty fight that causes the curtains to catch on fire. Joe pushes Rick into the flames and out of the window. Rick gives two nice screams before hitting the ground. Joe manages to get out of the burning building with Ann, but he is mortally wounded. He dies in Ann's arms, while Pat watches, handcuffed. There's no happy ending for anybody in this movie, which only adds to its appeal. It has both soft (but never sappy) and violent moments, and great acting by everybody. I liked especially Burr and Ireland, who play really vicious thugs, but O'Keefe and the two ladies are also great. Great camera work, too.

Very good Noir, but with one little flaw

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 22 January 2007]

I love Film Noir and this might just be my favorite genre. And I was very impressed by this film because I find I usually prefer Noir films with lesser-known actors because this often gives the films greater realism than those made by the big-named stars. This one featured Dennis O'Keefe and John Ireland--two exceptional Noir actors who never could have been stars in other films due to their ugly mugs! This, and the nifty dialog really made this an enjoyable film. Plus, in a supporting role, Raymond Burr is a horrible sadist and one of the better antagonists in Noir history--I was shocked and amazed to watch him throw a lit chaffing dish full of alcohol on a lady just because she laughed!! And, when O'Keefe slapped Claire Trevor across the face, I knew this was a Noir film with little sentiment (a hallmark of better Noir).

Unfortunately, while the film had so many elements I liked, there was one clichéd role that seriously detracted from the gritty realism and that was the character played by Marsha Hunt. Although she believed in O'Keefe's innocence, she was an unwilling accessory to his escape from prison. Throughout much of the film, she is held at gunpoint or other threats of violence to get her to stay with O'Keefe and Trevor. Because of this, she naturally hates and resents them. So, when out of the blue, she falls for him and is willing to kill for him later in the film, it just makes no sense at all! Aside from this slip-up (and it's a big one), it's still a dandy film and is well worth your time.

Rather ordinary B crime drama.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 6 June 2006]

I know it was directed by Anthony Mann, who was to go on to do some really interesting things over the next decade, but this is for the most part a routine flick.

Basically, Dennis O'Keefe breaks out of the slams with the help of his moll, Claire Trevor. He took the fall for somebody else, Raymond Burr, and wants to get settle the deal between them. Along the way he kidnaps the well-meaning attorney Marsha Hunt. I understand Hunt got into some kind of trouble with the House Unamerican Activities for engaging in some kind of Unamerican activities. Probably some nefarious subversion like promoting the cause of more public restrooms. It's obvious right away that she was a real Commie. You can tell by the glint in her eyes.

Where was I? Sometimes I get carried away by my passions. Oh, yes. Anyway, the low budget shows and the acting is pretty much mediocre. The best performance is by Claire Trevor. than whom nobody ever played a used woman with a yen for the wrong guy better. But the photography and lighting are up to noir snuff. The latter is especially carefully done. Note the scene in which Trevor is parked outside the prison, waiting for O'Keefe to make his escape. There is darkness all around except for the big windows overlooking the prison walls. It's like the eerie castle with the light in one window at the beginning of Citizen Kane. Note too that she's parked on a highway and when a car zooms past in the opposite direction her panicked face blazes with light until the screen is almost bleached out. There are plenty of shadows. Fishnets. Antlers on walls. Lots of visual texture.

Everything else is unremarkable. Not bad, just not innovative. And the story itself isn't especially engaging. The power that O'Keefe's character has over women is puzzling. His face looks as if it had been made of dough, ready to be baked. And he's bitter for reasons never explained. He has no sense of humor. He's not overly masculine. He's rough and clipped in his speech, like Lawrence Tierney was at the time. Maybe it's his pheromones? Marsha Hunt is pretty cute, with a ski-slope nose that might have been designed by somebody using one of those plastic cut-out French curves used in high school plane geometry classes.

Anyway, it IS Anthony Mann and a historical curiosity that doesn't often turn up on TV. Worth catching for that reason, but not for much else.