RAW DEAL (1948) B/W 79m dir: Anthony Mann
w/Dennis O'Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland,
Raymond Burr, Curt Conway, Chili Williams, Richard Fraser, Whitner
Bissell, Cliff Clark
From The Movie Guide: "A hard-hitting gangster film
with lots of action, good dialog, and fine performances by all,
especially Trevor as a gun moll. O'Keefe is serving time for a crime
of which he was innocent. His one-time associates arranged a frame,
and O'Keefe is determined to get even with them when he breaks out of
jail. With the aid of Trevor, his lover and pal, O'Keefe flees prison
and is on his way to wreak revenge. While inside he was visited by
Hunt, a social worker; he decides that she would be a good hostage in
case the cops close in, so he kidnaps her. The three begin a trip to
get Burr and his gang, the men responsible for O'Keefe's stint in
prison. It isn't long before O'Keefe begins to fall for Hunt, much to
the jealous consternation of Trevor, who has risked her life and her
freedom for O'Keefe. Hunt, a heretofore legal and solid citizen,
finds all this very exciting, and when O'Keefe has a battle with
Ireland, one of the thugs, and loses, O'Keefe pleads with Hunt to
save him, which she does by shooting Ireland in the back. Now she's a
full part of the underworld. ... A film noir picture in the
best tradition, with fast-paced direction by Mann and superior
photography by [John] Alton. Whit Bissell (still known at the
time as 'Whitner') does a small role as a hood."
From Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American
Style edited by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward: "Anthony
Mann transcended the typically brutal environment in the gangster
film and created an interesting paradox of sex and violence in Raw
Deal. Joe Sullivan [O'Keefe] exists as a homme
fatal, seducing Ann Martin [Hunt] into a world filled
with violent action and murder, enticing her with a promise of sexual
fulfillment that goes beyond the realm of normal relationships. She
surrenders completely to Joe, committing murder as the ultimate
expression of her love. Along with this apparent twist of classic
noir archetypes, Raw Deal creates an atmosphere in
grotesquerie and fetishism that reveals the sordid nature of the noir
world. Complementing the mood and tone inherent in the film, John
Alton's photography suggests a half-lit world magnified by the strong
use of shadows and cluttered composition. The ironic narration
provided by Pat [Trevor], develops the romantic undercurrent
evident in many noir films. It remains for the true noir film to
debase any sense of pity or love that may be present, replacing it
with a tough, cynical nature."
Below is a handout prepared for a lecture on Mann and Film
Noir:
Mann's 4 periods: Jeanine
Basinger:
1942-47: beginnings:
- MOONLIGHT IN HAVANA
- THE GREAT FLAMARION
- TWO O'CLOCK COURAGE
- THE BAMBOO BLONDE
1947-50: film noir:
- T-MEN
- RAW DEAL
- BORDER INCIDENT
- SIDE STREET
1950-60: westerns:
1960-65: epics:
beginnings: 1st movie: DR. BROADWAY: 4
formal devices employed:
- swish pans: unsettling effect on viewer
- backgrounds used for specific meaning: define emotional
& narrative state of hero: used to underscore meaning of
dialogue; linked to internal feelings
- benign objects used violently: innocent objects turned
into instruments of murder: steam bath, chafing dish, scissors,
etc.
- composition: frame contains: story, character, &
emotional effect on viewer: composition chosen over cutting: Mann
wanted to unify all meaning w/in frame: backgrounds (see above);
composition & lighting: involve viewer in character's
emotions
- also: idea of hero who is emotionally linked to
villain
other early films contain:
- character whose present is shaped by a secret from the
past
- nightmare landscape of pain
- trapped characters
- vicious villains
- Mann attempting to create specific narrative meaning with
form
noir period: achieved formal mastery:
composition:
- position of character & background: lead us to
understanding of narrative situation: internal psychological
state
- thematic concerns evolved:
- violence & psychosis: became important
for their own sake (not just stylistic)
- hero:
- linked to someone else in narrative
- has something to hide: jail, crime, etc.
- surrounded by crazy, violent characters: their worlds:
outside law, seedy, brutal
- position in story: dictates emotions for viewer
- dialogue: downplayed: instead: simple stories:
pictorial
- political-moral issues: localized in hero's personal
world
John Alton: cinematographer: Mann's work
took on subtleties of light & shadow
Mann's use of film noir
1. reduction of light:
- light above removed; light from behind used: world deeply
darkened with lengthy shadows
- world becomes unreal: full of danger
2. extreme contrasts between black & white
images:
- visual equivalent of theme of hero/villain
- physical contrasts: but characters morally not black or
white
3. space
- spatial distortions: using space to define an area one way:
then, unexpected redefinition of space: example: cozy room becomes
a trap (or vice versa)
- definitions & redefinitions of interiors: closely related
to both narrative & character development: viewer put in place
of emotional insecurity
- outdoors: same possibilities explored: idea: externalizing an
interior conflict by placing character in actual outdoor location
& adjusting space around him/her
4. editing: secondary to composition in
importance:
- editing patterns used to emphasize jarring juxtapositions:
night/day; safety/danger
- cutting often back & forth between close ups & long
shots: alienation/helplessness
5. camera movement: little used: but
careful, deliberate use of 2 types:
- a. short tracks: forward or backwards: mid-take: they stress
treachery in noir world
- b. long backward tracks: used in front of running man: viewer
can see his desperate face & what is pursuing him
- when long, fluid takes do occur: they provide temporary
release from captors: not joy
6. composition: unbalanced, unsettling:
- low ceilings, tight framing: claustrophobic
- main events presented within 1 shot when possible
- concentration of dramatic meaning within frame: deep
focus:
- wide angle lens: enlarges depth of field, distorts size:
used to stress inhumanity of dangerous objects
- objects in clear focus in foreground: visual clarity of
action in background preserved: objects assume power over
people
7. paranoia: no safety anywhere; no one can
be counted on
8. violence: very violent films for the
period
9. fate: individual overwhelmed by forces
bigger than him/her; no flashbacks
10. lust & greed: true love an
illusion: can't overcome forces of evil
11. the urban world: every film Mann made
between 1947-50 set here
RAW DEAL:
1. & 2. LIGHTING:
- bars : Corkscrew Alley
- Rick: fire: lighter under Spider's ear: candles
- Pat in car outside prison: lights from car: B/W contrast
- prison break: bright lights vs. dark shadows
- Ann's place: whiteness of bedclothes / darkness of Joe's
shadow as he climbs in window
- Venetian blind shadows: variant of bars
- taxidermist's: nets hanging down: shadows of shadows
- hotel: bathroom in b/g: light bright behind Pat & Joe in
main room: darker where they're spending most time
- outside of Rick's: fog: lighting
- flames: engulfing Rick & Joe
3. SPACE:
- spatial distortions: ceiling above Ann when she shoots
Fantail; sky later
- definition & redefinition of interiors:
- inside hideaway: dogs & cops coming: pleasant living
room becomes sinister when lights turned out
- taxidermist's: back room: bear looming over Joe: Fantail
enters frame
4. EDITING:
- jarring juxtapositions
- cops draws circle on map: entrapment; dissolve to: open
sky: trees, electrical wires, fresh air
- indoors/outdoors
- city/rural
- Pat/Ann
- cops' office: light shining thru window; dissolve to: dark
trees: campsite
- cutting between:
- Pat vs. door porthole (bright circle: becomes
clock)
- & Joe vs. window
- GG Bridge: cutting between entrapment & freedom
(illusionary)
- cutting bet. c/u & l/s: cops: circle: dissolve to
open sky
5. CAMERA MOVEMENT:
- short tracks: forward /backwards
- long backward tracks:
- camera moves down over dark trees to campsite
- camera often adjusting to follow action
6. COMPOSITION:
- low ceilings:
- room Joe & Pat are in at hideaway: ceiling traps
them
- Ann shoots Fantail: ceiling above her fills half of screen:
- she runs along beach: sky fills half frame: like
ceiling: no escape
- tight framing:
- prison: Joe & Pat have grate in front, not Ann
- shots thru windows: entrapment: taxi outside
- hideaway: looking thru window at escaped murderer
- taxidermist's: heads mounted on wall: all around
- single shot: scenes w/ cops: all 1 shot
- deep focus:
- heisting car at gas station: pulling out: car coming
towards camera: truck bet. car & camera
- taxidermist's: Fantail behind Joe w/gun: both facing
camera: faces clear
- Ann running thru nets down long walk to beach: depth
- hotel: telephone in f/g: Joe & Pat at bathroom door:
phone rings: Pat to f/g: veil