Marché de brutes

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.

Joseph Emmett "Joe" Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) is in the State Prison for taken the blame for the gangster Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) that owes him US$ 50,000.00. Joe is visited by the young Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) that works at the law firm that is defending him and she tells that after three years, Joe will certainly be on probation. However his lover Pat Cameron (Claire Trevor) also visits him and tells that Rick has plotted an escape for him during the night. What they do not know is that the sadistic Rick wants to get rid off Joe and expects that Joe will be murdered or caught during the prison break.

Joe is well-succeeded in the escape and Pat drives the runaway car. However the car is shot in the tank by the police officers and they run out fuel. Joe brings Pat to Ann's house expecting to have a hideout for a couple of days, but Ann calls the police believing that she would help Joe. They escape in Ann's car and head to Crescent City, where Joe expects to meet Rick to receive his money and travel to South America with Pat. But Rick sends a hit-man to kill Joe while Pat feels that she is losing Joe to Ann that has fallen in love with him. Will Pat and Joe have the chance to travel together to South America?

"Raw Deal" is a film-noir with a triangle of love between an ambiguous criminal that wants to be a good man, his experienced lover and a naive young woman that also falls in love for him. Raymond Burr performs a scary gangster. The plot is full of action and has an unusual narration in off by Pat Cameron. The cinematography in black and white is very beautiful and the conclusion is dark. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Entre Dois Fogos" ("Between Two Fires")

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.

Claire Trevor providing voice-over narration to the accompaniment of a Theramin! What an indelible effect this makes! In a way, it is not the usual sort of narration we find in film noir: Trevor is usually shown as her voice, with that spooky electronic instrument providing harmony, come through on the soundtrack. The standard for this was to have the protagonist (almost always a male) do this but without appearing as he spoke.

Trevor not only appears but indeed appears in a hat with a veil covering her face. This will stick in your memory for years after you've seen it! Trevor helps boyfriend Dennis O'Keefe break out of prison. But a good girl, Marsha Hunt, has also visited and shown interest in them. Which one will he chose: bad but loyal Trevor or goody-goody Hunt? These are both excellent actresses. Marsha Hunt underplays a little bit here. But she is superb.

The movie has a very solid, if somewhat standard plot. But all kinds of things are tossed into the mix -- all to the movie's benefit.

For example, when O'Keefe has settled into his first hide-out, a wife-murderer appears and demands to be given shelter. He's there for a few minutes of screen time but after that his story is dropped.

John Alton's cinematography is superb. Anthony Mann directed this Eagle Lion feature with expert hands. Some of the characters may be losers but the movie is a true winner.