There are at least three other movies titled Raw Deal; one of which stars a bodybuilder who became Governor of California.

1948’s Raw Deal is the real deal. It’s a candidate for the greatest film noir ever made. It contains one of Human Claire Trevor’s finest performances. Say no more.

Raw Deal was made on a shoestring by very talented people, so it never looks cheap. Director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton made sure of that.

I don’t want to give away the story, Kitty Claire Trevor hates spoilers and I must defer to her and her namesake:

Now that I’ve dazzled you with the Two Claires, it’s Grading Time: 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A. It’s a stone-cold classic.

It’s art time: a poster and a lobby card. Color imagery for one of the ultimate black and white movies.

Ready to get trailer trashy?

It’s Noir Czar time. Here’s Eddie Muller’s intro and outro for a recent showing of Raw Deal: