''Raw Deal'' is a 1948 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

and starring

Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

and Marsha Hunt. It was shot by

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

John Alton John Alton (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), born Johann Jacob Altmann, in Sopron, Kingdom of Hungary, was an American cinematographer of Hungarian-German origin. Alton photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period and won ...

with sets designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Edward L. Ilou.. An

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

production by

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

, it was distributed by

Eagle-Lion Films Eagle-Lion Films was a British-American film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to distribute British productions in the United States. In 1947, it acquired Robert R. Young's PRC Pictures, a small American production company, ...

Plot

Prison convict Joe Sullivan (

) has "taken the fall" for an unspecified crime. His share for committing the crime was to be $50,000. Joe breaks out of jail with the help of his girl Pat (

). The escape has been facilitated by their former accomplice Rick Coyle (

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

), a sadistic mobster, who expects Joe to be killed during his escape and so avoid having to pay Joe his $50,000. When against all expectations the break-out succeeds, Rick decides that he must have Joe killed. Pat and Joe's getaway car is damaged and Joe decides that they will hide out at his legal caseworker Ann's ( Marsha Hunt) apartment. Ann had been visiting Joe in prison because she was trying to reform him and also because she was developing feelings for him. When the police close in on Ann's apartment she tries to convince Joe to give himself up. Instead Joe forces Ann to escape with him and Pat. Pat sees the attraction between Joe and Ann and doesn't know what to do about it. Joe finds himself between two women who love him. The three of them continue to evade the police until one of Rick's men finds them. Rick's man (

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomina ...

) and Joe get into a fight and Ann saves Joe by shooting Rick's man in the back. After acting in Joe's defense this way, Ann realizes how much she is in love with him. Out of loyalty to Pat, Joe sets Ann free and prepares to flee the country with Pat. In Joe and Pat's hotel room, Pat takes a phone call warning them that Rick has seized Ann and will harm her unless Joe and Pat come out of hiding. Pat does not want Joe to go back to Ann, so lies about the call, saying it was from the hotel desk clerk asking about their checkout time. After boarding a ship, Joe attempts to convince Pat that they can start a new life in South America together. He even proposes marriage to her. A guilt-stricken Pat now confesses to Joe that Ann has been abducted by Rick. Joe races to save Ann from her captor. Under the cover of a thick fog, Joe manages to get past Rick's henchmen and sneaks into Rick's room. A gunfight erupts with Rick and Joe shooting each other and inadvertently starting a fire. Joe and Rick, both wounded, fight hand-to-hand with Joe finally pushing Rick through an upper story window to his death. Mortally wounded and lying in the street, Joe dies in Ann's arms as Pat looks on. Seeing the resigned contentment in Joe's face, Pat comments in voice-over that: "This is right for Joe. This is what he wanted."

Cast

as Joe Sullivan *

as Pat Regan * Marsha Hunt as Ann Martin *

as Fantail *

as Rick Coyle *

Curt Conway Curt Conway (May 4, 1915 – April 10, 1974) was an American actor. He was sometimes billed as Curtis Conway or Kurt Conway. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Conway appeared in a number of Broadway plays, had small parts in films. such as ''Hud'' ...

as Spider * Chili Williams as Marcy * Richard Fraser as Fields *

Whit Bissell Whitner Nutting Bissell (October 25, 1909 – March 5, 1996) was an American character actor. Early life Born in New York City, Bissell was the son of surgeon Dr. J. Dougal Bissell and Helen Nutting Bissell. He was educated at the Allen-S ...

as Murderer *

Cliff Clark Cliff Clark (June 10, 1889 – February 8, 1953) was an American actor. He entered the film business in 1937 after a substantial stage career and appeared in over 200 Hollywood films. In the last years of his life, he also played in a numb ...

as Gates * Richard Irving as Brock * Harry Tyler as Oscar *

Ilka Grüning Ilka Grüning (born Ilka Henriette Grunzweig; 4 September 1876 – 11 November 1964) was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to fle ...

as Fran - Oscar's Housekeeper *

Tom Fadden Tom Fadden (January 6, 1895 – April 14, 1980) was an American actor. He performed on the legitimate stage, vaudeville, in films and on television during his long career. Early life Fadden was born in Bayard, Iowa, on January 6, 1895; his fathe ...

as Grimshaw *

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

as Police Commanding Officer * Robert B. Williams as San Francisco Detective Sergeant *

Carey Loftin William Carey Loftin (January 31, 1914 – March 4, 1997, a.k.a. Cary Loftin, Carry Loftin, Carey Lofton, Gary Loftin, William Carey Loftin) was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is ...

as Motorcycle Cop *

Gregg Barton Gregg Barton (Born Harold Wilson Barker, June 5, 1912 – November 28, 2000) was an American actor, who played various roles in feature films and television series. Career Born in Oswego, New York, Barton is possibly best remembered for having ...

as Car Owner * Bill Kennedy as Drunk *

Beverly Wills Beverly Wills (June 7, 1933 – October 24, 1963) was an American television and film actress. Biography She was born in 1933 as Beverly Josephine Williams in Los Angeles to actress and comedian Joan Davis and actor and writer Si Wills. Will ...

as Girl

Reception

Box-office

The film was a success at the box office and was profitable.Tino Balio, ''United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 31

Critical reception

When the film was released, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

panned it. "But this, of course, is a movie—and a pretty low-grade one, at that—in which sensations of fright and excitement are more diligently pursued than common sense...Except for the usual moral—to wit, that crime does not pay—the only thing proved by this picture is that you shouldn't switch sweethearts in mid-lam." In ''Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir'', David N. Meyer wrote: "It's the richest cinematography in noir outside of Orson Welles' ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

''."

In popular culture

The title characters in

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

's 1969 post-apocalyptic novella ''

A Boy and His Dog ''A Boy and His Dog'' is a cycle of narratives by author Harlan Ellison. The cycle tells the story of an amoral boy (Vic) and his telepathic dog (Blood), who work together as a team to survive in the post-apocalyptic world after a nuclear wa ...

'' watch ''Raw Deal'', which is said to be 76 years old (setting the Ellison story in the year 2024).

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1948 films 1940s crime thriller films American black-and-white films American chase films American crime thriller films American prison films Eagle-Lion Films films 1940s English-language films Film noir Films directed by Anthony Mann Films produced by Edward Small Films set in California Films shot in California Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1940s American films