The good news, for me at least, is that Bill's review doesn't have any of the errors that have been so common in "historians'" descriptions of what occurs in Raw Deal.

There were so many mistakes by so many "historians" that I felt I had to devote an entire webpage to debunking them. (Elliot Lavine railed against my criticism of him, which he voiced on the Blackboard, but that didn't in the least excuse/correct his misinterpretation that I cited.)

http://www.filmnoirfile.com/raw-deal-historians-errors/

I recognize that Bill MacVicar provided a succinct "review" of Raw Deal, whereas I posted an in-depth analysis of the film in a separate webpage from the one that critiqued the historians. (This post, and its follow-up, were originally provided to The Blackboard as a Noir of the Week.)

Nonetheless, it isn't difficult to see that MacVicar and I treat Raw Deal extremely differently. How? Bill barely addresses the role/impact of Marsha Hunt, whereas I center my analysis of Raw Deal on it.

And, if doing so, it caused me to criticize my esteemed mentor, Bob Ottoson, then so be it. Bob at least made a cogent appraisement that I disagreed with. And Bob, unlike Elliot, didn't berate me for disagreeing with him.

However, Bill's final sentence, "It's hard-core noir, to be sure, sinister and brutal, but shot through with a redemptive touch of poetry," is too ambiguous for me to respond to.

That is, why is Raw Deal "hard-core noir?" (What does "hard-core noir" mean. If we knew what Bill meant, would it be what I've devoted decades of my life to debunking: the "hardcore noir paradigm?")

http://www.filmnoirfile.com/

Furthermore, what makes Raw Deal have "a redemptive touch of poetry?" There's no explanation for this comment whatsoever.

The short-writing format of IMDb leads to such contributions as MacVicar's -- useful if you are curious as to whether the film noir of his review is worth watching; but, given its brevity, his post can't allow us to know what his own full-scale interpretation of the film would be.

http://www.filmnoirfile.com/raw-deal-vs-hardboiled/