Greenbriar Gone Raft-ing Again

George Raft Onstage and In A Dangerous Profession (1949)

Ella Raines is past flame to George Raft's bail bondsmen in this thicket of an RKO nearly-noir. She was an actress whose appeal I don't quite fathom. Word is that girlfriend-ing Howard Hawks and later his (super) agent Charles K. Feldman got Raines entree. Couch-casting played greater part in Gold Age starmaking than even candid biographers (let along autobiographers) care to admit. Raft was headed for shoals by 1949, A Dangerous Profession the second of his for RKO that lost money. The star would play tough customers till cows came home, but seldom outright crooks, that getting too close to real-life bone. George wasn't tall, had a thick middle, and ears that needed only winged accompany to qualify him for Disney work, but there was, for a long time, happy expectation among patronage as to what a Raft vehicle entailed, that being fist-work, a little gunplay, and double crosser dames for salt. GR, while no thesp, was wise to it all, his an authentic whiff of the pavement. The ad at left was for a Cleveland personal appearance circa 1940. Raft would have put on a good show, what with dancing capability demonstrated in pre-stardom and from earliest film work, competing with Cagney in Taxi!, followed by the Bolero/Rumba pair with Carole Lombard. There was not need for this performer to fall back on a tough-guy's limited repertoire when on stage.