In lighting prison scenes, John Alton recommends, "the stronger the light outside, the gloomier is the inside." The inverse, however, is not necessarily true, as Dennis O'Keefe's Joe Sullivan finds when he breaks jail and kidnaps his social worker (Marsha Hunt) as a hostage. "They hightail it up to Frisco for Joe to avenge himself. Ann is seduced into Joe's world of violence and mayhem, and when she shoots his assailant in the back, they realize their love for each other. But it's too late for Joe. Raw Deal features the Mann-Alton eerie half-lighting, cluttered landscapes and bizarre violence, and provides a neat twist on the classic film noir: this time it's a straight dame who falls for an homme fatal." (Sally Syberg, PFA)