#5 RAW DEAL
"Not Pat, Patsy's the name. The little dumb bunny who'd wait ten, twenty, maybe thirty years who'd sit and cry all day and wait...If Ann had asked I bet you'd do it....What is she to you that I'm not...and I can't even mention her name."
From 1947 to 1949 Arthur Mann directed Desperate, Railroaded, T-Men, Raw Deal, He Walked By Night, Border Incident and Side Street. He worked in tandem with the great cinematographer John Alton in Devil's Doorway, Border Incident and Reign of Terror along with the aforementioned T-Men, Raw Deal and He Walked By Night. He and Alton go together like bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly. Raw Deal is the epitome of their collaborative efforts.
The film has action, romance, double-crosses, dastardly villains, and sympathetic characters who lend themselves to empathy and moral ambiguity. There are great performances by the leads whose characters straddle a fine line between lawlessness and nobility. Raw Deal has sub-plots that complement and do not distract from the main story and it's accomplished in under eighty minutes! Raw Deal hits another key noir trope and that is the love triangle. Usually disguised or down-played as a sub-plot it is just as often the main theme of the movie.
I'm not one for 'best of lists'. Any 'best of list' either by a professional critic or a film aficionado is highly subjective. I compiled my personal list of favorite/best noirs by combining my criterion as well as research done through multiple viewings, a large amount of reading academic and cinematic sites and personal blogs by 'amateurs'. Some of my criteria are: A noir must be seen as a development or continuation of the mystery/crime story that goes as far back as the tales of Edgar Allan Poe if not then it doesn’t matter how many other aspects it has.
Classic Film Noir which can be found here and a good, not necessarily top shelf noir, takes us into a world where we end up after taking the wrong exit and exacerbating the situation by making wrong turns, or missing our subway stop late at night and realizing it only upon reaching the street. The denizens of noir are people we’d cross the street to avoid or count our fingers after a handshake. Within the parameters of my criteria The Maltese Falcon and Murder, My Sweet are barely noir. The Maltese Falcon particularly has few of the common tropes used to categorize the genre and when it comes to antagonists private eyes seldom come out with the short end of the stick. Raw Deal contains as many if not the most noir tropes as any film in my top twenty six.
High on my list is redemption; finalized or attempted. The protagonist finally realizes he’s gone wrong and tries to lessen the damage he’s done. It’s nice if he succeeds, noir if he doesn’t. Some examples are: Out Of the Past, On Dangerous Ground, Scarlet Street and
Act of Violence.
There should be moments in a film noir that delve deep into our sensitivities and touch the soul as film noir should display all sides of the human equation, not just the criminal, or the depraved. Raw Deal oozes with soul.
The film has action, romance, double-crosses, dastardly villains, and sympathetic characters who lend themselves to empathy and moral ambiguity. There are great performances by the leads whose characters straddle a fine line between lawlessness and nobility. Raw Deal has sub-plots that complement and do not distract from the main story and it's accomplished in under eighty minutes! Raw Deal hits another key noir trope and that is the love triangle. Usually disguised or down-played as a sub-plot it is just as often the main theme of the movie.
I'm not one for 'best of lists'. Any 'best of list' either by a professional critic or a film aficionado is highly subjective. I compiled my personal list of favorite/best noirs by combining my criterion as well as research done through multiple viewings, a large amount of reading academic and cinematic sites and personal blogs by 'amateurs'. Some of my criteria are: A noir must be seen as a development or continuation of the mystery/crime story that goes as far back as the tales of Edgar Allan Poe if not then it doesn’t matter how many other aspects it has.
Classic Film Noir which can be found here and a good, not necessarily top shelf noir, takes us into a world where we end up after taking the wrong exit and exacerbating the situation by making wrong turns, or missing our subway stop late at night and realizing it only upon reaching the street. The denizens of noir are people we’d cross the street to avoid or count our fingers after a handshake. Within the parameters of my criteria The Maltese Falcon and Murder, My Sweet are barely noir. The Maltese Falcon particularly has few of the common tropes used to categorize the genre and when it comes to antagonists private eyes seldom come out with the short end of the stick. Raw Deal contains as many if not the most noir tropes as any film in my top twenty six.
High on my list is redemption; finalized or attempted. The protagonist finally realizes he’s gone wrong and tries to lessen the damage he’s done. It’s nice if he succeeds, noir if he doesn’t. Some examples are: Out Of the Past, On Dangerous Ground, Scarlet Street and
Act of Violence.
There should be moments in a film noir that delve deep into our sensitivities and touch the soul as film noir should display all sides of the human equation, not just the criminal, or the depraved. Raw Deal oozes with soul.
Most good B movies, don't have the luxury of convoluted plots and should be straight-forward and easy to follow. If the choice in a low budget film B film, noir or not, is between character development or action then action should win out. Raw Deal is an exception as Director Anthony Mann gives us both.
Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) took a rap for mobster Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) for a promised fifty thousand dollars. Coyle reneged on the deal. He's greased a few palms to ensure Sullivan breaks out of his jail cell and as he's escaping the paid off guards will kill him. Coyle has figured the odds and they tell him that Joe has a minute chance of making it over the wall. Sounds like Rick's got a winner, huh?
Sullivan's accomplice and get away driver is his long faithful girl friend from the neighborhood, Pat Regan (Claire Trevor). Narration is one of the most most cited characteristic of film-noir and Raw Deal is the only noir I'm familiar with where the voice over is done by a woman. Pat's narrative starts at the beginning of the movie.
"This is the day. This is the day. The last time
I drive up to these gates...to see behind bars the man I love."
On the day of the breakout his caseworker Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) pays a visit. Ann remembers Joe when as a young boy he saved a family from a burning house. Ann has closely followed his case and wonders about the transformation of a young heroic boy into a criminal. She cites her interest as professional but it's clear from the outset it's much more than that.
Pat Regan's (Clair Trevor) jealousy and mistrust of Ann is also evident from the beginning of the film. She casts a wary eye at Ann as she leaves the visiting room. She mentions this to Joe. "A girl can't trust a guy even when locked up in the pen....She practically sat on your lap all through the trial," He waves it off and laughs but there is little levity in Pat's demeanor. Pat is guarded about Joe's faithfulness and with reason. When Ann brought up that he'd be eligible for parole in three years he asked her: "Would you wait for me? I didn't mean you particularly, any dame?" She hesitates, stammers, "I don't know. That would depend." She gives Joe her address. As she leaves he tells her not to wear that perfume again as it doesn't help a guy's good behavior. Ann looks flattered by the comments.
That evening Pat waits for Joe to make it over the wall. She thinks: "All of my life it seems I've been waiting for Joe." Joe miraculously makes it over and they flee. Neither are aware that the entire break out was orchestrated by Coyle but it was to end with Joe killed not for him to escape.
Throughout the movie each character must confront their own the internal and external conflicts. Director Mann like a juggler keeps all the balls up in the air and then keeps on adding to them without dragging the movie down and without rushing anything. B movies were faced with the constraints of time, money, star power as well as the Hayes Code. With Anthony Mann at the helm they are not cul-de-sacs or dead ends but instead mere speed bumps, and Mann's Raw Deal effortlessly glides over them.
Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) took a rap for mobster Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) for a promised fifty thousand dollars. Coyle reneged on the deal. He's greased a few palms to ensure Sullivan breaks out of his jail cell and as he's escaping the paid off guards will kill him. Coyle has figured the odds and they tell him that Joe has a minute chance of making it over the wall. Sounds like Rick's got a winner, huh?
Sullivan's accomplice and get away driver is his long faithful girl friend from the neighborhood, Pat Regan (Claire Trevor). Narration is one of the most most cited characteristic of film-noir and Raw Deal is the only noir I'm familiar with where the voice over is done by a woman. Pat's narrative starts at the beginning of the movie.
"This is the day. This is the day. The last time
I drive up to these gates...to see behind bars the man I love."
On the day of the breakout his caseworker Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) pays a visit. Ann remembers Joe when as a young boy he saved a family from a burning house. Ann has closely followed his case and wonders about the transformation of a young heroic boy into a criminal. She cites her interest as professional but it's clear from the outset it's much more than that.
Pat Regan's (Clair Trevor) jealousy and mistrust of Ann is also evident from the beginning of the film. She casts a wary eye at Ann as she leaves the visiting room. She mentions this to Joe. "A girl can't trust a guy even when locked up in the pen....She practically sat on your lap all through the trial," He waves it off and laughs but there is little levity in Pat's demeanor. Pat is guarded about Joe's faithfulness and with reason. When Ann brought up that he'd be eligible for parole in three years he asked her: "Would you wait for me? I didn't mean you particularly, any dame?" She hesitates, stammers, "I don't know. That would depend." She gives Joe her address. As she leaves he tells her not to wear that perfume again as it doesn't help a guy's good behavior. Ann looks flattered by the comments.
That evening Pat waits for Joe to make it over the wall. She thinks: "All of my life it seems I've been waiting for Joe." Joe miraculously makes it over and they flee. Neither are aware that the entire break out was orchestrated by Coyle but it was to end with Joe killed not for him to escape.
Throughout the movie each character must confront their own the internal and external conflicts. Director Mann like a juggler keeps all the balls up in the air and then keeps on adding to them without dragging the movie down and without rushing anything. B movies were faced with the constraints of time, money, star power as well as the Hayes Code. With Anthony Mann at the helm they are not cul-de-sacs or dead ends but instead mere speed bumps, and Mann's Raw Deal effortlessly glides over them.
Joe and Ann high tail it for Frisco where she's arranged passage on a cargo ship to Panama that leaves in two days. They're not even out of town when the car sputters and comes to a stop. The guards missed hitting Joe but not the car and it has been leaking gas.
It would have taken seconds to show the car riddled with bullets. Mann chose to wait. Had he let us immediately know our attention would have been divided between their escape and when and how far they would get before the car ran out of gas. It also presents a seamless way of reintroducing Ann into the story. They ditch the car, hijack a taxi and drive to Ann's apartment. Maybe I'm making too much of the scene with car, however there are some directors who warrant the time to have their scenes scrutinized and for them nothing is done by happenstance. This set of circumstances brings to the fore the plot of the romantic triangle hinted at in the beginning.
This also incorporates another major trope of film noir and that is fate. It was fate that had Ann giving Joe her address, the car running out of gas when it did and bringing Ann Martin back into the picture dramatically changing the lives of the three leads.
Ann is asleep when Joe enters her apartment through a window. He leans over her and covers her mouth when she wakes. Joe intends to hide out in Ann's apartment for a day or two. Pat doesn't like it. The supposed animus between Joe and Ann hasn't fooled Pat one bit even when he threatens to bash Ann's head should she try to call the police. Joe commanders Ann's car and all three sit in the front seat (try doing that today, hey?) with Ann in the middle. Pat narrates: "She's sitting next to Joe where I should be sitting, where I would be if she weren't here." Ann tells Pat if she loved him she'd tell him to give himself up. "I want whatever he wants," she says, "If he wants out I'm with him all the way..." Joe pulls off the road when he sees a police road block ahead and stops at a gas station he tells Pat:
"Keep you eye on Miss Law and Order here.
She might go soprano on us. Got your gun?...Use it if you have to."
"It'll be a pleasure. Could be fun."
He ingeniously ditches Ann's car and takes off with the station owner's car.
It would have taken seconds to show the car riddled with bullets. Mann chose to wait. Had he let us immediately know our attention would have been divided between their escape and when and how far they would get before the car ran out of gas. It also presents a seamless way of reintroducing Ann into the story. They ditch the car, hijack a taxi and drive to Ann's apartment. Maybe I'm making too much of the scene with car, however there are some directors who warrant the time to have their scenes scrutinized and for them nothing is done by happenstance. This set of circumstances brings to the fore the plot of the romantic triangle hinted at in the beginning.
This also incorporates another major trope of film noir and that is fate. It was fate that had Ann giving Joe her address, the car running out of gas when it did and bringing Ann Martin back into the picture dramatically changing the lives of the three leads.
Ann is asleep when Joe enters her apartment through a window. He leans over her and covers her mouth when she wakes. Joe intends to hide out in Ann's apartment for a day or two. Pat doesn't like it. The supposed animus between Joe and Ann hasn't fooled Pat one bit even when he threatens to bash Ann's head should she try to call the police. Joe commanders Ann's car and all three sit in the front seat (try doing that today, hey?) with Ann in the middle. Pat narrates: "She's sitting next to Joe where I should be sitting, where I would be if she weren't here." Ann tells Pat if she loved him she'd tell him to give himself up. "I want whatever he wants," she says, "If he wants out I'm with him all the way..." Joe pulls off the road when he sees a police road block ahead and stops at a gas station he tells Pat:
"Keep you eye on Miss Law and Order here.
She might go soprano on us. Got your gun?...Use it if you have to."
"It'll be a pleasure. Could be fun."
He ingeniously ditches Ann's car and takes off with the station owner's car.
As the cop checks them out Joe has his gun at the ready. Joe has been doing his best to convince Ann that he's no longer the heroic kid who went wrong. That Joe was based on her preconceived feelings and infatuation based on a selfless heroic incident years ago. He's done what he could to dissuade her of those naïve conceptions. He's told her not to wear her perfume, lay on her and covered her mouth, threatened her with violence should she call for help. It's at the checkpoint where she first understands the man he has become. She tells him that he would have shot the cop. "Would I?" he answers. She says nothing.
They camp out for the night. In one of the most iconic shots of noir Alton frames a Forest Ranger astride his horse watching from a ridge. He rides down to investigate. Joe hides behind a tree with gun drawn. Ann assures the Ranger everything is fine and he leaves. Raw Deal follows the three leads as they come to judge and re-evaluate their own lives. When the Ranger leaves Joe tells Ann, "Thanks." Ms. Hunt's character has been calm and collected. Ann is not prone to outbursts or over-dramatizations. It's with that same demeanor that she effectively cuts him to the bone.
"Thanks? I didn't do it for you, I did it for the kid. You'd have shot him down. I saw that look on your face. You're a murderer. I may have romanticized you before but you're something from under a rock."
Her measured voice replete with damning words strikes a chord with Joe. Raw Deal has several revelatory scenes that add to a film rife with ambiguity among the three leads. Another such scene becomes evident a little while later when Whit Bissell seeks shelter after shooting his wife. Joe knows a buddy who can fix them up with a car and put them up for the night. They drive to the safe house.
A Sheriff (the ubiquitous Ray Teal) calls in to headquarters and lets them know they have the fugitive cornered and it's only a matter of time before he's caught. I don't know about you but I thought he was referring to Joe. They're in the hunt for a man (Whit Bissell) who in a fit of rage murdered his wife. He shows up at their safe house in a state of panic and begs to be let in. Ann says he can't be left outside. Joe agrees over-riding Pat's fear that he's only going to bring the cops. Bissel is guilt stricken. He's never broken the law he says and it was only in a fit of anger he killed his wife. We think of the Swede waiting to be killed because, as he said, "I did something once." So too did Bissell do something once. Burdened by his grief he repeats, "I got it coming, I got it coming." He runs from the house to confront the police and is gunned down. The Sherriff succinctly and coarsely phones in his report: "It was a little rough, but he had it coming."
"That could have been you." Ann tells Joe. Joe is quiet. He knows she's right, and people would say that whatever happened to him he had it coming. Prior to that episode is a brief exchange between Ann and Joe that illustrates a difference between film noir and its predecessor the gangster film. Joe finally chooses to tell Ann what happened to that young hero. He recites a few set of stories and circumstances that could easily apply to most people of that generation. He caps off his tales of woe thusly:
"What would you know about anything? You probably
had your bread buttered on both sides...safe; the day you were born."
They camp out for the night. In one of the most iconic shots of noir Alton frames a Forest Ranger astride his horse watching from a ridge. He rides down to investigate. Joe hides behind a tree with gun drawn. Ann assures the Ranger everything is fine and he leaves. Raw Deal follows the three leads as they come to judge and re-evaluate their own lives. When the Ranger leaves Joe tells Ann, "Thanks." Ms. Hunt's character has been calm and collected. Ann is not prone to outbursts or over-dramatizations. It's with that same demeanor that she effectively cuts him to the bone.
"Thanks? I didn't do it for you, I did it for the kid. You'd have shot him down. I saw that look on your face. You're a murderer. I may have romanticized you before but you're something from under a rock."
Her measured voice replete with damning words strikes a chord with Joe. Raw Deal has several revelatory scenes that add to a film rife with ambiguity among the three leads. Another such scene becomes evident a little while later when Whit Bissell seeks shelter after shooting his wife. Joe knows a buddy who can fix them up with a car and put them up for the night. They drive to the safe house.
A Sheriff (the ubiquitous Ray Teal) calls in to headquarters and lets them know they have the fugitive cornered and it's only a matter of time before he's caught. I don't know about you but I thought he was referring to Joe. They're in the hunt for a man (Whit Bissell) who in a fit of rage murdered his wife. He shows up at their safe house in a state of panic and begs to be let in. Ann says he can't be left outside. Joe agrees over-riding Pat's fear that he's only going to bring the cops. Bissel is guilt stricken. He's never broken the law he says and it was only in a fit of anger he killed his wife. We think of the Swede waiting to be killed because, as he said, "I did something once." So too did Bissell do something once. Burdened by his grief he repeats, "I got it coming, I got it coming." He runs from the house to confront the police and is gunned down. The Sherriff succinctly and coarsely phones in his report: "It was a little rough, but he had it coming."
"That could have been you." Ann tells Joe. Joe is quiet. He knows she's right, and people would say that whatever happened to him he had it coming. Prior to that episode is a brief exchange between Ann and Joe that illustrates a difference between film noir and its predecessor the gangster film. Joe finally chooses to tell Ann what happened to that young hero. He recites a few set of stories and circumstances that could easily apply to most people of that generation. He caps off his tales of woe thusly:
"What would you know about anything? You probably
had your bread buttered on both sides...safe; the day you were born."
In a familiar socially consciousness retort she tells her own life story; working father, poor upbringing and struggling to make ends meet. Ann might think her blue collar family background might make Joe think that the two are basically the same. It's her white collar job however and her current middle class life that sees Joe as separating them. This runs contrary to what we're used to in the vast majority of noirs. Usually the male and female leads are from the same socio/economic background or share the same values, or lack thereof. Witness Lawrence Tierney telling Claire Trevor they're both from the same gutter in Born To Kill. Ms. Trevor as Mrs. Gayle telling Marlowe (Dick Powell) they're both a couple of mugs in Murder, My Sweet. Gloria Grahame and her 'sisters under the mink' remark to Jeanette Nolan in The Big Heat.
A key feature in film noir is its understated and restrained performances of its lead actors. There may be one moment when a lead, male or female, borders on the dramatic but for the greater part noirs are bereft of histrionics. The nature of noir is to accept shattered dreams, broken hopes, and bad breaks. It's an anomaly when things go right and when they do its brevity dispels any aspiration for a better life. Misfortune, dashed hopes and shattered dreams are to be expected. There is nothing to get really upset about. The end of The Killing may be the epitome of that. Sterling Hayden's dream had just been cast in the wind because of an errant poodle and a cheap suitcase. When his girl suggests he should run he replies, "Ahhh. what's the difference?"
A key feature in film noir is its understated and restrained performances of its lead actors. There may be one moment when a lead, male or female, borders on the dramatic but for the greater part noirs are bereft of histrionics. The nature of noir is to accept shattered dreams, broken hopes, and bad breaks. It's an anomaly when things go right and when they do its brevity dispels any aspiration for a better life. Misfortune, dashed hopes and shattered dreams are to be expected. There is nothing to get really upset about. The end of The Killing may be the epitome of that. Sterling Hayden's dream had just been cast in the wind because of an errant poodle and a cheap suitcase. When his girl suggests he should run he replies, "Ahhh. what's the difference?"
What would a classic Classic Film Noir be without a formidable adversary? Raw Deal has one of noir's best: Raymond Burr.
No actor had a more successful career in movies and television than Raymond Burr. For over fifty years he was never out of the work and never fell into that, 'whatever happened to....' category. I first saw him, as did many Boomers, as the compassionate, sincerely distressed reporter who broadcast to the world the devastating power of Godzilla.
He is best known for his roles as Perry Mason and later Ironside. But Mr. Burr started out as a bona fide bad guy in film noir. He wasn't really a physical threat. The dirty work was left for his minions. Rather he projected a barely hid layer of perversity that sheathed a barely disguisable sadistic nature. He was particularly vile in Pitfall as a lecherous creep who stalks a vulnerable Lizabeth Scott. There is one scene where he ogles and figuratively undresses Ms. Scott who must model one dress after another for him.
His chief minion in Raw Deal is Fantail played by John Ireland. Fantail, when not waiting for orders from the chief, spends his time trying to build a house of cards and getting off an occasional snide remark directed at Burr. At the risk of reading too much into the film there may be a gay sub-text between the two. I get the impression Fantail knows something about Coyle that he'd rather be kept on the down low. On one hand Fantail (as for its meaning do your own research) jumps at his every command, on the other hand he displays a less than respectful attitude one might expect from a crime boss's henchman. He enjoys seeing Coyle sweat when he tells him Joe's escaped. In retaliation Burr knocks over Fantail's house of cards; a not too subtle message that he can destroy Fantail just as easily.
No actor had a more successful career in movies and television than Raymond Burr. For over fifty years he was never out of the work and never fell into that, 'whatever happened to....' category. I first saw him, as did many Boomers, as the compassionate, sincerely distressed reporter who broadcast to the world the devastating power of Godzilla.
He is best known for his roles as Perry Mason and later Ironside. But Mr. Burr started out as a bona fide bad guy in film noir. He wasn't really a physical threat. The dirty work was left for his minions. Rather he projected a barely hid layer of perversity that sheathed a barely disguisable sadistic nature. He was particularly vile in Pitfall as a lecherous creep who stalks a vulnerable Lizabeth Scott. There is one scene where he ogles and figuratively undresses Ms. Scott who must model one dress after another for him.
His chief minion in Raw Deal is Fantail played by John Ireland. Fantail, when not waiting for orders from the chief, spends his time trying to build a house of cards and getting off an occasional snide remark directed at Burr. At the risk of reading too much into the film there may be a gay sub-text between the two. I get the impression Fantail knows something about Coyle that he'd rather be kept on the down low. On one hand Fantail (as for its meaning do your own research) jumps at his every command, on the other hand he displays a less than respectful attitude one might expect from a crime boss's henchman. He enjoys seeing Coyle sweat when he tells him Joe's escaped. In retaliation Burr knocks over Fantail's house of cards; a not too subtle message that he can destroy Fantail just as easily.
In this tale of ill fated romance and personal sacrifice Raw Deal has several moments when each character will question their feelings about each other but themselves as well.
Joe's been told to go to a gas station and Rick will have the money owed to him. Pat who had twisted an ankle at the safe house waits for them at a motel. This scene has perhaps the only instance of humor in this very earnest, solemn movie. Fantail attempts to build a house of cards as he waits to ambush Joe. When the semi-completed house invariably collapses he laments: "I could never get any higher than two stories,. The minion owner of the station asks in all earnestness. "Why don't you build a bungalow?"
Joe plans to free Ann when he gets the money and then he and Pat can catch a ship to Mexico. Joe goes into the station and walks into the ambush. All three begin to fight. The geezer puts up a better than expected fight. Fantail is about to shoot Joe but before he can pull the trigger Ann picks up a gun and shoots him. She runs out crying thinking she has killed him a man. Joe reassures her that she didn't'.
"But, I might have. I could have killed."
"Think about it this way. You saved my life, even if I'm not worth it."
"But yes you are."
Joe's been told to go to a gas station and Rick will have the money owed to him. Pat who had twisted an ankle at the safe house waits for them at a motel. This scene has perhaps the only instance of humor in this very earnest, solemn movie. Fantail attempts to build a house of cards as he waits to ambush Joe. When the semi-completed house invariably collapses he laments: "I could never get any higher than two stories,. The minion owner of the station asks in all earnestness. "Why don't you build a bungalow?"
Joe plans to free Ann when he gets the money and then he and Pat can catch a ship to Mexico. Joe goes into the station and walks into the ambush. All three begin to fight. The geezer puts up a better than expected fight. Fantail is about to shoot Joe but before he can pull the trigger Ann picks up a gun and shoots him. She runs out crying thinking she has killed him a man. Joe reassures her that she didn't'.
"But, I might have. I could have killed."
"Think about it this way. You saved my life, even if I'm not worth it."
"But yes you are."
For all of the words and for everything she's done "Yes, you are." resonates the most with Joe. His look when hearing that showed the lack of esteem, the hurt, the disappointment he must have felt in his life. That look said so much more than the 'woe is me' speech he gave Ann at the safe house. He knows, as does Ann, he is becoming the same person who had risked his life to save people from a burning house. And Ann? Joe would have killed to keep his freedom, she would have killed to save the man she loved. It's all a matter of how much an individual wants to keep alive what is most important in his/her life. They drive off in different directions. She to freedom, he to Pat.
Throughout the entire movie Pat and Joe were never alone. Now with Ann out of the way she has him all to herself. Or does she? The next two scenes show that Ann has been on her mind as much as has Joe. They stay at a hotel before leaving for the ship. Joe insists on getting the money owed to him by Rick. Pat is vehemently against it. "Joe, this is your one chance to break free. Don't blow it away on him. He's not worth it." He tells her "...there's a little matter of fifty G's" "What do I care about the 50G's," Pat tells him, "You're alive and that's all I care about." He tells Pat he has to go.
"Not Pat, Patsy's the name. The little dumb bunny who'd wait ten, twenty, maybe thirty years who'd sit and cry all day and wait."
And then comes out what's been on her mind from the moment she saw Ann leave the prison visiting room. "If Ann had asked I bet you'd do it."
"Keep her name out of it."
"What is she to you that I'm not...and I can't even mention her name."
It's a simple line; "I can't even mention her name," yet in her response we see why we, the audience can be so enrapt with actors and we see the brilliance, the craftsmanship of an excellent actress and it is hard to think of many in the same category of Ms. Trevor. It is at that moment when the doubts and fears she had when she first saw Ann leave the visiting room; with Ann sitting next to Joe, the scene at the campfire, with the fugitive have all been realized. She can no longer fool herself, or even pretend to fool herself. Joe slaps her hard and Alton closes on Pat's face and there is a single, large tear in her eye. She leaves but tells him he's on his own and can do what he wants. After she leaves he reconsiders and forgets about Rick and they leave for the boat. It should be noted that the only light in this long scene was from a naked light bulb faintly glowing from an open bathroom door.
There is a scene in Key Largo where the lush played by Ms. Trevor is made to sing for a drink. It is scene of stark humiliation. We pity her for not knowing that she is too far gone to see how low she has sunk. "I can't even mention her name," is as subtly heart-wrenching. Most people can identify being fooled by someone we loved, to be used by that someone and in Pat's case it may have been only a means for him to escape from jail. She is a woman who loved someone more deeply than many would think and she's on the verge of losing it all. In a moment of pity perhaps O'Keefe promises not to go to Rick's. She's over-joyed, but there's no hiding the fact he is not happy at all.
Throughout the entire movie Pat and Joe were never alone. Now with Ann out of the way she has him all to herself. Or does she? The next two scenes show that Ann has been on her mind as much as has Joe. They stay at a hotel before leaving for the ship. Joe insists on getting the money owed to him by Rick. Pat is vehemently against it. "Joe, this is your one chance to break free. Don't blow it away on him. He's not worth it." He tells her "...there's a little matter of fifty G's" "What do I care about the 50G's," Pat tells him, "You're alive and that's all I care about." He tells Pat he has to go.
"Not Pat, Patsy's the name. The little dumb bunny who'd wait ten, twenty, maybe thirty years who'd sit and cry all day and wait."
And then comes out what's been on her mind from the moment she saw Ann leave the prison visiting room. "If Ann had asked I bet you'd do it."
"Keep her name out of it."
"What is she to you that I'm not...and I can't even mention her name."
It's a simple line; "I can't even mention her name," yet in her response we see why we, the audience can be so enrapt with actors and we see the brilliance, the craftsmanship of an excellent actress and it is hard to think of many in the same category of Ms. Trevor. It is at that moment when the doubts and fears she had when she first saw Ann leave the visiting room; with Ann sitting next to Joe, the scene at the campfire, with the fugitive have all been realized. She can no longer fool herself, or even pretend to fool herself. Joe slaps her hard and Alton closes on Pat's face and there is a single, large tear in her eye. She leaves but tells him he's on his own and can do what he wants. After she leaves he reconsiders and forgets about Rick and they leave for the boat. It should be noted that the only light in this long scene was from a naked light bulb faintly glowing from an open bathroom door.
There is a scene in Key Largo where the lush played by Ms. Trevor is made to sing for a drink. It is scene of stark humiliation. We pity her for not knowing that she is too far gone to see how low she has sunk. "I can't even mention her name," is as subtly heart-wrenching. Most people can identify being fooled by someone we loved, to be used by that someone and in Pat's case it may have been only a means for him to escape from jail. She is a woman who loved someone more deeply than many would think and she's on the verge of losing it all. In a moment of pity perhaps O'Keefe promises not to go to Rick's. She's over-joyed, but there's no hiding the fact he is not happy at all.
This leads up to one of the most classic scenes in noir. While Joe shaves to prepare for the Captain to marry them, Pat gets a phone call. A Rick minion tells her Ann is at Rick's house and if Joe doesn't show up in fifteen minutes she'll be killed. Pat watches the clock tick closer to the time when Ann will be out of the way and Pat can finally have Joe to herself. We see her reflection in the clock. The clocks some more. Then she softly says, "Ann, Ann," then loudly to Joe, "Ann!" Pat tells Joe about Ann and he rushes out. Pat could physically have Joe but would she have him emotionally and psychologically? Ann would always be on his mind. She had said that it's Joe's happiness that is tantamount, and she wants the best the best for him above even her own self-interest.
Joe dispatches Rick's henchmen including Fantail. He and Rick fight, a fire breaks out and after killing Rick he saves Ann. But Joe has been shot and is mortally wounded. Pat arrives escorted by the police in time to see Ann comfort him. The almost unbearable noirness of this movie is not done. As Pat watches Joe take his final breaths he dies not in the arms of Pat but in the arms of Ann.
Joe dispatches Rick's henchmen including Fantail. He and Rick fight, a fire breaks out and after killing Rick he saves Ann. But Joe has been shot and is mortally wounded. Pat arrives escorted by the police in time to see Ann comfort him. The almost unbearable noirness of this movie is not done. As Pat watches Joe take his final breaths he dies not in the arms of Pat but in the arms of Ann.
One of the joys of doing these reviews is coming across something new. The movie seems to be focused on the romantic triangle and their interaction with each other. (handled brilliantly I would add) But the movie was actually about Pat Regan. We can empathize and sympathize as she wears her heart on her sleeve for her love of Joe from the onset of the movie until the very last scene. And we can trace his slipping away from her little by little with her unable to do anything about it. And at the end when it should be her to hold his hand, to touch him comfort him as he dies it's not Pat but rather Ann who is with him.
And therein is an over-looked facet of noir; the soul of noir. There is no melodrama, no flowery music, just another of the many stories on Corkscrew Alley and Raw Deal has been one of them.
And therein is an over-looked facet of noir; the soul of noir. There is no melodrama, no flowery music, just another of the many stories on Corkscrew Alley and Raw Deal has been one of them.