Movie Review: Raw Deal (1948) directed by Anthony Mann
Pat Regan’s (Claire Trevor) man is in jail. Joe Sullivan (Dennis O’Keefe) took a fall for Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) for robbery. Rick owes Joe $50,000 as his cut for taking the rap. Joe could make parole in two, or more likely three years if he keeps his head down and behaves, but he’s already stir-crazy and has been squawking about it. So Rick has arranged for Joe to be able to break prison, and have Pat as the driver for the escape. Pat is at the prison to tell Joe the plan, but her precious visiting minutes are being used up by another woman. Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt), the legal assistant on Joe’s case, sees something in the man that makes her think there’s good in him somewhere, and she’s urging him to stick it out for parole.
What none of them know is that Rick’s actual plan is for Joe to be shot during the escape, or the manhunt if he actually manages to get out. Rick has zero intention of actually paying Joe the money, and will do anything necessary to get Joe killed, even if he has to use his own goons Spider (Curt Conway) and Fantail (John Ireland). Joe and Pat manage to get away from the prison itself, but the car has been damaged, so Joe gets the bright idea of muscling Ann into helping with the escape. She’s none too happy about this, and neither is Pat as she realizes that Joe and Ann have some attraction to each other.
This film noir is pretty heavy on the “noir.” Each of the main trio is faced with ethical choices during the course of the story, and they do not always choose wisely. (Rick, on the other hand, chose evil a long time ago and is comfortable with this.) There are constant problems for the escape, some obvious (of course if your car is being shot at, it will get damaged) and others out of the blue. (At one point, the trio crosses paths with an entirely separate manhunt for a murderer.)
Pat narrates the film, revealing her thoughts and emotions to the accompaniment of eerie Theremin music. This shifts the focus a bit; while Joe is the center of action, Pat is the emotional center. Neither of them is exactly a good person, but the viewer starts pulling for them to get away, or at least not die.
I watched a freshly cleaned-up print from Classic Flix, which was nice and sharp. It allowed me to get a good view of the visual “house of cards” metaphor used a couple of times.
The suspense builds nicely; until the climax, it’s never certain if Joe will commit murder or not.
Content note: Joe forcibly kisses Ann against her will a couple of times; men and women get slapped, and there’s some violent action. Rick is outright abusive towards his current love interest in a scene that shocks even some of his criminal compatriots. Several characters smoke, even when it’s dangerous for them in the short term, and alcohol is consumed.
Please note that the Arnold Schwarzenegger film of the same title is not a remake of this one.
Overall: A good example of film noir and well worth seeing for fans of that subgenre.
Let’s enjoy a little theremin music!
