A SIMMERING 'RAW DEAL' IS COOKED TO PERFECTION

From left, Pat Cameron (Claire Trevor), Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt) and Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) in 'Raw Deal' (1948).
Be forewarned, there are many SPOILERS contained below.

In film noir, it's unusual for the femme fatale to act as narrator. But in "Raw Deal," the dilemmas of conscience are seen through the eyes of the morally challenged Pat Cameron (Claire Trevor), who cares only about saving herself and her convict boyfriend Joe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe).

Pat narrates the action in voiceover, as other-worldly music warbles in the background. When social  worker Ann Martin (Marsha Hunt), a straight arrow, enters the picture, Pat starts to feel that do-gooder Ann is crowding her out of the picture.

Joe skips out of prison — he wants a breath of fresh air — and circumstances bring Joe, Pat and Ann together. The trio goes on the lam and it doesn't take long for the smoldering love triangle to catch fire.

But it's not strictly a love story. There's a fair amount of action sprinkled about. Director Anthony Mann handles the film's violence artfully. Several fistfights and shootouts happen in dark, shadowy or foggy places, and we don't really see who is getting the better of whom. It's a device that ramps up the tension, and probably saved this bare-bones production some money in its stunts budget.

Each of the three main characters faces a moral dilemma or two. When another outlaw appears on the scene and begs for shelter, Joe must decide whether or not to hide the unlucky perp and put himself in jeopardy. Predictably, Pat wants to lock the schnook out, but Joe, against his better judgment, let's him in.

Going Native
Meanwhile, Ann, kidnapped by Joe and Pat, gets a strong case of Stockholm syndrome and goes from good girl to gaga for Joe.

When Pat receives the call that head bad guy Rick Coyle (Raymond Burr) captured Ann, and that he's going to do her in if Joe doesn't turn himself in to the gang boss, Pat flunks the morality test when she dummies up and doesn't spill the news to Joe, who would certainly come to Ann's rescue.

As the clock ticks and the couple gets ready to head for South America, Pat gets a pang of conscience. She fesses up and tells Joe that Ann's in trouble.

Joe to the Rescue
Joe confronts Rick at gunpoint, but Rick outdraws Joe and they wound each other. They struggle and the apartment accidentally catches fire. As the story wraps up we're treated to one of the film's least convincing process shots.

Joe, reunited with Ann, takes a tumble as a befuddled Pat looks on helplessly. 

Joe finally gets the breath of fresh air he wanted so badly when he was in the jug, but won't have the pleasure of savoring it. Pat finally sees happiness in Joe's face, but it's too late.

While Ann makes the leap from rigid, upstanding citizen to one who bends her principles for the man she secretly loves, Pat is redeemed when she decides to act in a morally sound manner, even if it means making a supreme sacrifice. 

With its bittersweet ending, we see that even in this tale of the doomed, a ray or two of sunlight can penetrate the dark clouds.

MAP CAN HELP YOU FOLLOW IN JAKE'S FOOTSTEPS

Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in 'Chinatown.'

There's something about iconic films that make fans get dizzy. When a movie so inspires a legion of followers to dress up like the film's characters, and perhaps talk like them, when kindred spirits communicate at parties by exchanging sharp, witty lines of dialogue that they know by heart ... well, then you've got yourself a cultural phenomenon there, buddy.

If you're a "Chinatown" fanatic, you'll want to trace the movements of one Jake Gittes, the private eye who unravels the complex yarn of scandal, murder and deception that unfolds in Roman Polanski's 1974 classic film.

The folks at Curbed L.A. can help you do that, with their online Ultimate Chinatown Filming Location Map of Los Angeles. Some of the filming locations aren't exactly in the same location that they're supposed to be in the film. Immaterial.

What's important is that you can walk in the footsteps of "Chinatown" stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston. You'll see such locations as:

Los Angeles City Hall, the scene of a Water Department meeting, where an angry sheepherder crashes the party with his charges.
The Oak Pass reservoir -- actually the Stone Canyon Reservoir, where Hollis Mulwray takes the big sleep.
The Brown Derby, where Nicholson and Dunaway meet to talk turkey.

And the list goes on. So, pack a lunch and gas up the car. It's "Chinatown" — remember it!

IT'S A NOIR KIND OF WEEKEND

TV Movies Network’s film noir lineup this weekend – June 7-8 -- looks good. The listings are all East Coast times starting early Sunday morning in the East, or Saturday evening in L.A. (KCOP-TV).

12:25AM / I Wake Up Screaming (1941) TV-PG
A young promoter is falsely accused of the murder of a beautiful actress he "discovered" while working as a waitress.
Featuring: Betty Grable, Victor Mature

2:10AM / The Burglar (1957) TV-PG
A jewel thief's big heist is upended when his half-sister is kidnapped by a crooked cop who demands the loot in exchange for her safe return.
Featuring: Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield

4:10AM / Human Desire (1954) TV-PG
A Korean War vet returns to his job as a railroad engineer and becomes involved in a sordid affair with a co-worker's wife and murder.
Featuring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Case

6:10AM / Pickup on South Street (1953) TV-PG
A pickpocket unwittingly lifts a message destined for enemy agents and becomes a target for a Communist spy ring.
Featuring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters

JOHNNY DEPP SHOWS HIS BEST GANGSTER FACE

DEA Agents raid Whitey Bulger's South Boston headquarters.

I know ... Whitey Bulger's ties to L.A. are tenuous. His career as boss of the Irish mob in Boston is not the stuff L.A. legends are made of. But, indulge me a bit. He was arrested here, or, in Santa Monica to be more precise, in June 2011, after years of being on the lam.

So, the news is that after some delay, filming of the Scott Cooper directed "Black Mass" is getting under way in Boston. The first shots of Johnny Depp in full Whitey Bulger makeup have been leaked, and the look seems at first glance fairly authentic.

The film is based on Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill's book, "Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal."

Johnny Depp, center, in Whitey makeup.

In addition to the tome in which the movie is based, Lehr and O'Neill co-authored another book about the life of James "Whitey" Bulger that covered the crime boss's ascent as a career criminal and eventual downfall. Whitey's  prison terms, including one at Alcatraz, are detailed in the book. Also discussed is his participation in an early test of the drug LSD.

Movie folks are reportedly busy mocking up a Triple O's set in Cambridge, Mass., that will be used for shooting exterior scenes. The real Triple O's, a South Boston bar Whitey used as his headquarters, no longer exists.

So, what are the chances that "Black Mass" will hit it out of Fenway Park, so to speak?

Cooper's previous crime writing-directing assignment, last year's "Out of the Furnace" scored a paltry 52 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

We'd better hope for some of that good Irish luck.

A Touch of Orson: Venice Beach as Border Town

Orson Welles prepares a crucial scene in "Touch of Evil"

Downtown L.A.'s refurbished Million Dollar Theater recently screened the Orson Welles classic dark tale of corruption and murder, "Touch of Evil." The film was originally released in 1958 after the studio took control of it from Welles. There’s a recut and redubbed version in circulation these days that is largely restored to the version that Welles intended thanks to a 40-plus page memo he sent the producers protesting changes made to the film. Using the memo as a guide, restorers fixed much of the damage done by studio meddling 50 years after the original release. 
Film historians consider "Touch of Evil" to be the last film of the classic noir era, which began with "The Maltese Falcon" in 1941.
"Touch of Evil" is set in a Mexican border town, but Venice Beach, with it's Spanish style colonnades, stood in for a jerkwater berg overlooking our neighbor to the south.
Welles co-wrote the script, directed and co-starred along with Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Marlene Dietrich. Also, playing supporting roles are Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dennis Weaver.
Below, a video about the "Touch of Evil" restoration:



See the photo at top, and note how the crane shot is used in a clip from the film's opening:

BEHIND THE SCENES: 'DOUBLE INDEMNITY'

Barbara Stanwyck, third from left, and Fred MacMurray await their cues.

"Double Indemnity" recently had its 70th anniversary. The Billy Wilder directed film is a top contender for best noir of all time.  It features great performances by Fred MacMurray (Walter Neff), Barbara Stanwyck (Phyllis Dietrichson) and Edward G. Robinson (Barton Keyes) and is packed with classic dialog:

Walter Neff: I was thinking about that dame upstairs, and the way she had looked at me, and I wanted to see her again, close, without that silly staircase between us.

Phyllis: We're both rotten.
Walter Neff: Only you're a little more rotten.

Edward S. Norton: That witness from the train, what was his name?
Barton Keyes: His name was Jackson. Probably still is.

The terrific script unfolds mainly in flashbacks. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the James M. Caine novel of the same title. Chandler, a dean of Los Angeles crime fiction, makes a cameo appearance in the film -- see the clip, below:

 Check out the clip below, in which Walter spills the details of his crimes:

Below, another rarely seen production shot from the film:

Police guard the wartime rationed canned goods used on the set.

LA Noir: The Bryson

A place where Philip Marlowe would feel at home:

Mike's Historic Buildings: LA Noir: The Bryson: "He drove down to Wilshire and we turned east again.  Twenty-five minutes brought us to the Bryson Tower, a white stucco palace with fr...