RAW DEAL BEST THRILLER, 1948 - 5 stars EXCELLENT PAIRING OF DIRECTOR MANN AND ACTOR O’KEEFE Not all Film Noir is sinister, negative, or about gangsters. Some of it is about detectives and undercover cops, and is very heroic. What I like best about it are the low-key lighting effects and extreme camera angles, the grittiness and heightened drama and action, as well as the effects designed to create a mood of mystery, like fog. How could you not create a great suspense thriller in a setting like that? For this genre, one of the finest directors was Anthony Mann, and one of the most interesting actors was Dennis O’Keefe. Their pairing in T-MEN and RAW DEAL delivers two of the best examples of Film Noir, though not nearly as well known as films like The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity. Mann was a top-notch director who went on to direct Jimmy Stewart in such westerns as Winchester ’73, Bend of the River, The Far Country, and The Man From Laramie; as well as sand and sandal epics, like El Cid and Fall of the Roman Empire. O'Keefe was a top-notch actor who did a decade of extra work at the beginning of the sound era, before he was discovered and recommended as a leading man by Clark Gable. After that he starred in a variety of comedies and dramas in the 40’s and 50’s. He also worked for the fledgling medium of television, making guest appearances on such shows as Robert Montgomery Presents, Studio One, and Lux Video Theatre; as well as starring in his own TV show in 1959. He's a very likable actor, even when he plays a convict. In T-MEN, O’Keefe and a fellow treasury detective go undercover and risk their lives to break up a counterfeiting ring. In RAW DEAL, O’Keefe plays a wrongly convicted felon who escapes from prison looking for revenge, kidnaps his lawyer’s secretary who has been visiting him in prison, and is ultimately redeemed by her from his course of self-destruction. There is actually a double-redemption in RAW DEAL that gives it a nice twist. One other note about the cinematography: John Alton gives a visual look to these two films that can only be described as powerful. In RAW DEAL, the scene on the boat with the clock in the background will never be forgotten by anyone who has seen it. The scenes in the steam baths in T-MEN, and the fight scene in the backroom of the beachside shop in RAW DEAL are also memorable. Waitsel Smith, March 24, 2006 Text © 2006 Waitsel Smith. All Rights Reserved.

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