Raw Deal ***½ (1948, Dennis O’Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland, Raymond Burr) – Classic Movie Review 5,276

Anthony Mann’s rousing 1948 film noir crime drama Raw Deal stars Dennis O’Keefe as a convict who breaks out of prison with help from his girlfriend (Claire Trevor) and is hounded both by the police and a treacherous former accomplice (Raymond Burr).

Director Anthony Mann’s rousing little 1948 film noir crime drama Raw Deal tells a complex, tough tale about a loving woman called Pat Cameron (Claire Trevor) who helps her innocent boyfriend Joe Sullivan (Dennis O’Keefe) to flee from prison. Her plan is to flee with him by boat to South America and start a new happy life. His plan is to punish Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr), the evil one-time associate who got him to take the rap for him for $50,000 and has now doubled-crossed him with an escape plan fixed to fail.

Rick expects that Joe will be killed during his escape so Rick won’t need to pay him his $50,000. But the breakout succeeds, Rick decides that he must have Joe killed, and puts his man Fantail (John Ireland) on the job.

As a love triangle develops, Marsha Hunt plays Ann Martin, Rick’s prim but sympathetic legal caseworker, who was visiting Joe in prison to reform him but started developing feelings for him.

After Pat and Joe’s getaway car is damaged, Joe decides they will hide out in Ann’s apartment. Joe forces Ann to escape the police with him and Pat. But Pat sees their attraction and Joe is torn between two women who love him, as well as his need for revenge and the $50,000. 

Leopold Atlas and John C Higgins’s hard-boiled screenplay (based on a story by Arnold B Armstrong and Audrey Ashley), the well-hard performances, cinematographer John Alton’s brilliantly atmospheric photography, the well-used Malibu locations and Mann’s taut direction are all first-rate film noir collector’s items.

Raymond Burr as Rick Coyle, John Ireland as Fantail, Curt Conway as Spider, all have a grand old time as the villains. Burr relishes his role as the monstrous heavy Rick, obsessed with fire, and not afraid to use it sadistically. Rick is however rightly afraid of Joe Sullivan and Joe’s relentless need for revenge, which Rick judges correctly is stronger than Joe’s love for either Pat or Ann. 

Born to play the femme fatale, Claire Trevor is instead unusually cast as the loyal and loving Pat Cameron. She does it well, sympathetically building a sad and pathetic tragic figure (with the help of voiceover) despite her apparent toughness. Marsha Hunt is ideally cast as Ann Martin, another sad and pathetic tragic figure, rather fragile and needy despite her apparent toughness.  The two women have a lot to do, but the love triangle is weakly drawn in places, and slightly draggy, with some weak dialogue. Maybe the writers’ heart, or skill, wasn’t in it, because the dialogue is strong elsewhere. Maybe this kind of overblown romantic dialogue is impossible to write convincingly. The love triangle is the least interesting part of the story, though it gives the film its fresh angle.

More of Raymond Burr as Rick Coyle, John Ireland as Fantail, Curt Conway as Spider, and their eccentricities, would be a more entertaining movie. It all hinges on Dennis O’Keefe and his skills as an actor. He looks right for the role, crumble and world-weary but determined, a fighter. Never a big star, he was always a useful one.

There’s an interesting subplot involving Whit Bissell as Murderer, and the police manhunt for him that intersects with the police manhunt for Joe Sullivan. This goes so well that it could have more developed.

Finally, though, despite all the other tasty ingredients, it is John Alton’s brilliant cinematography that turns this into a first-rate film noir.

Also in the cast are John Ireland as Fantail, Curt Conway as Spider, Chili Williams, Regis Toomey, Whit Bissell, Cliff Clark, Ray Teal, David Clarke, Ilka Gruning, Mike Lally, Tom Fadden, Harry Tyler, Beverly Wills, Carey Loftin, James Magill and Richard Irving.

It is written by Leopold Atlas and John C Higgins, based on a story by Arnold B Armstrong and Audrey Ashley.

It has no relation to the 1986 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of the same title, Raw Deal.

The sets are designed by art director Edward L Ilou.

An independent production by Edward Small, it is distributed by Eagle-Lion Films, released on 26 May 1948 in the US.

Film noir was in vogue and the film was a financial success.

The cast are Dennis O’Keefe as Joe Sullivan, Claire Trevor as Pat Regan, Marsha Hunt as Ann Martin, John Ireland as Fantail, Raymond Burr as Rick Coyle, Curt Conway as Spider, Chili Williams as Marcy, Richard Fraser as Fields, Whit Bissell as Murderer, Cliff Clark as Gates, Richard Irving as Brock, Harry Tyler as Oscar, Ilka Grüning as Oscar’s Housekeeper Fran, Tom Fadden as Grimshaw, Ray Teal as Police Commanding Officer, Robert B Williams as San Francisco Detective Sergeant, Carey Loftin as Motorcycle Cop, Gregg Barton as Car Owner, Bill Kennedy as Drunk, Beverly Wills as Girl, David Clarke, Mike Lally, Harry Tyler, Carey Loftin, James Magill and Richard Irving.

Raw Deal is directed by Anthony Mann, runs 78 minutes, is made by Edward Small Productions, is released by Eagle-Lion Films, is written by Leopold Atlas and John C Higgins, based on a story by Arnold B Armstrong and Audrey Ashley, is shot by John Alton, is produced by Edward Small, is scored by Paul Sawtell, and designed by Edward L Ilou.

Mann is also remembered for Desperate (1947), Railroaded! (1947), T-Men, Border Incident, and He Walked by Night.

Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022)

Marsha Hunt notably appeared Born to the West (1937), Pride and Prejudice (1940), Kid Glove Killer (1942), Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943), The Human Comedy (1943), Raw Deal (1948), The Happy Time (1952), and Johnny Got His Gun (1971).

She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s McCarthy era. She was active in fighting world hunger, aided homeless shelters, supported same-sex marriage, raised awareness of climate change, and promoted peace in Third World countries.

Hunt died in her Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, home from natural causes on September 7, 2022, aged 104.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,276

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