Raw Deal

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acsdoug D All the elements of a good noir are here: trench coats, gun play, pretty dames. It's hard to pin down why, but this one just failed to keep my interest. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/14/25 Full Review Steve D It has been done 10000 times before. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/01/24 Full Review Y R The most unbelievable part of the movie is when his girlfriend is running in the sand in high heels Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/24 Full Review Sarah C Great film noir with all the cinematic shadows and fog, bad guy who's a good guy and broken love vs passion. No regular suspects but new faces of good actors. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/05/24 Full Review Matthew B The occasional narration by Pat Regan sets the fatalistic tone for Anthony Mann's moody film noir, Raw Deal. Pat is played by Claire Trevor, an actress who often has a throb in her voice as if she is approaching hysteria. Pat's narration is more restrained, but it is accompanied by wailing music in the background that creates a sense of dread and despair. Her words convey a sense of bitter hopelessness. This is a woman who knows that it will not end well, and that she will not get what she wants. Unlike many film noirs, Mann focuses more on the women than the men. It is Pat who gets to narrate, even though she is not present in all scenes. She is the more important character. She is the movie's bad girl, yet not a femme fatale – just a woman who is loyal to her criminal lover. Perhaps it is Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) who is the movie's homme fatale. As in many noir films he is torn between two women who represent good and bad choices, but Pat is not bad, and Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) is not entirely good. Yet the film focuses less on how Joe's choices affect his life, and more on how they affect the two women who love him. Raw Deal was made early in Mann's career when he had to get by on a low budget. As with many film noirs of the period, the limited props and sets were disguised by minimalist lighting. This was achieved with some extraordinarily beautiful cinematography. The cameras employ deep focus effects, and the chiaroscuro lighting creates an atmosphere that a colourised version of the film could never hope to capture. The typical visual effect here is to cast shadows of vertical or horizontal lines over the background. The credits show shadows like bars over stone, presumably the prison in which Joe is languishing. Later there will be the shadow of the blinds in Ann's apartment, the wires of the telegraph poles, and the net-like décor in a taxidermist shop, where a stuffed bear seems to rear up at visitors. In a sense Joe never escapes from prison. This is also true of Pat. She is first seen in the prison waiting to see Joe. "Waiting…waiting… All my life it seems as if I've been waiting for Joe," she later intones. She is dressed in black, and looks more like a widow than a lover (Later in the film she wears a veil). An external shot shows the prison located in a dark city that lies under a louring cloud. I am sure we can guess how it will turn out. Still what was the best choice for Joe? Pat is not the conventional film noir heroine. She is not seeking to corrupt Joe, or drag him into crime. Nonetheless to live with her is to be part of the criminal world. Her love for him will not redeem him. Ann can reform Joe, but this will leave him weaker in the face of his enemies, and perhaps lead to his death. Should he choose the unconditional love of Pat? Or should he allow himself to be changed for the better, whatever the cost? Which woman is best for him? Anthony Mann was one of the most capable film directors of the 1940s and 1950s, but he is not felt to have achieved greatness. His film noirs of the 1940s are admired, but not counted among the best works in that genre. His westerns of the 1950s are very satisfying, but not as groundbreaking as those by John Ford, Sam Peckinpah or Sergio Leone. There are no masterpieces in Mann's filmography. Nonetheless Mann is a more watchable director than his betters, and Raw Deal is more than just a minor film noir. Mann tells the story with his usual intuitive grasp for pace and timing, and he creates some exciting scenes along the way. I wrote a longer appreciation of Raw Deal on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2022/04/29/raw-deal-1948/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/05/23 Full Review Audience Member This 1948 film noir is a clinic in noir cinematography by John Alton. This was director Anthony Mann's breakthrough picture. I love the performances by female leads Claire Trevor and Marsha Hunt, didn't care for the male lead, Dennis O'Keefe, and disliked the music by Paul Sawtell who appeared to have his genres wrong when he did Trevor's theme. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Raw Deal

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