Raw Deal (1948)

A Story Of Corkscrew Alley

In this low-budget 1948 film noir, several characters grew up in poverty in an area of San Francisco called Corkscrew Alley and go on to a life of crime. Joe (Dennis O'Keefe) is a convict who has taken a fall for a mobster, Rick, (Raymond Burr) who has gone on to a life of wealth and luxury, padding around his large home in a silk robe. Pat (Claire Trevor) is Joe's long-term and long-suffering lady friend and also part of Rick's organization. Pat works as an agent of Rick to help spring Joe from jail. Joe and Pat hope to collect $50,000 that Rick has promised to Joe for taking the rap for the crime.

Pat's and Joe's dreams are upended by another woman, Ann, (Marsha Hunt), who worked with Joe's defense attorney and has fallen for her client. Ann unwillingly becomes involved in Joe's escape. As the three, Joe, Pat, and Ann, flee the police, Joe's affections change, leaving Pat with the "Raw Deal". While not coming from Corkscrew Alley, Ann has had a life of poverty and toughness of her own but has managed to get an education and work on the side of the law.

I hadn't seen "Raw Deal" before and was taken with it. It is a short, sleazy, and gritty melodrama. Anthony Mann directed the film which features the noir cinematography of John Alton. Alton's camera and noir vision are it work in the prison scenes, the urban streets, the roads, the isolated rural areas and beaches, and the docks in which the action takes place. The photographs are dark, forbidding and angular. The musical score by Paul Sawfell builds up the suspense of the story.

The film reminded me of the novels of David Goodis in which a loner and a loser is involved with two women, a good girl and a bad girl. In this film, the hard-bitten, unfortunate Pat narrates the film in voice-over, an unusual role for a woman in a noir film. The film is full of violence and sadism in the character of Rick and includes several brutal fight scenes. The film manages to capture the viewer's sympathy for the three main characters.

"Raw Deal" is listed as no. 25 in Eddie Muller's list of the 25 best film noirs. Muller is known as the "czar of noir" and I have learned a great deal from his commentary on noir film, and on this film. If anything, I thought Muller's rating a little low. This film was unknown to me and a sleeper, and I was glad to see it. "Raw Deal" and its story of the poverty and trouble emanating from Corkscrew Alley, will appeal to lovers of film noir.

Robin Friedman