Entre Dois Fogos

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.

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.

Joe Sullivan is in jail having taken the rap for criminal Rick, who owes him $50,000 for it. Knowing he is looking to escape, Rick greases some wheels to help Joe's girlfriend Pat to organize an escape – all with the knowledge that once he is out he will be certainly caught in the resulting police dragnet and either killed or sent back to prison for even longer; either way he'll be out of Rick's hair.

I have watched a few noirs recently and the last couple in particular were a lot slower than I would have liked, so part of the appeal of Raw Deal was the short running time, which suggested that it wouldn't be taking too long over anything. This didn't mean it would be good of course, but it was a sign I wouldn't have the problems I'd had with the last few. As it turned out, although not as engaging as I had hoped, this is a solidly enjoyable crime thriller with a tough edge and a good pace to it that means the toughness has an urgency to it. The plot does have love interest within it but rather than be the distraction it can be, it provides a duality to the character of Joe since the two women he is traveling with sort of represent either side of his character and the battle between them.

O'Keefe does a good job in the lead, tough but not inhuman and is likable. Burr is not quite as good as the villain but I think this is more to do with me than him since I always struggle to see him outside of the Perry Mason roles. Both Hunt and Trevor play their roles well and there is a nice tension between them throughout the film. Direction is good – it is fluid and makes the most of each scene, never once being stagey or stiff as some of the recent films from the period I have seen have been.

Overall Raw Deal is not a brilliant film but it is a very effective one. It is short, punchy and has an enjoyably tough edge to all of it. The duality of the lead character is well played out and the violence is nicely stated.

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.

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.