Let's be realistic.

A Disappointing Continuation

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"He Ran All the Way" turned out to be John Garfield's final film before his death from a heart attack in 1952. In the film, Garfield turns in one of his greatest performances.He plays small time hood Nick Robey, a loser looking for that big score. Together with his partner Al Molin (Norman Lloyd), they plan to rob a $10,000 payroll (a considerable sum in 1951). A cop happens on the scene of the robbery and wounds Molin during the escape. Robey in turn, wounds the cop during his getaway.Trying to blend in with the crowd, Robey bumps in to Peggy Dobbs (Shelley Winters) at a public swimming pool. To cover his escape, Robey plays up to the innocent Peggy, taking her home and then inviting himself into her home.Meeting her parents (Wallace Ford, Selena Royale) and little brother (Bobby Hyatt), Robey sees an opportunity to hide out in their home until the robbery blows over. However the wounded Molin identifies his partner when the wounded cop dies. Desperate, Robey turns the situation into a hostage situation and..........................................Garfield was never better. His nervous, untrusting and paranoid Robey is compelling. Shelley Winters, who never got the recognition she deserved, plays the spinterish Peggy who falls in love with Nick, to perfection. Veteran Wallace Ford is excellent as Peggy's father. Selena Royale also stands out as the nervous mother. And Gladys George has a nice bit as Nick's boozy uncaring mother.It is believed by some that the pressure Garfield was facing at the time, being under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) contributed to his pre-mature death at age 39. He adamantly denied being involved with the Communist party right to the end.Norman Lloyd, who was still alive at age 102 at this writing, was a long time associate of Alfred Hitchcock. Shelley Winters and Wallace Ford would appear together again in "A Patch of Blue" (1965).One can only wonder what future gems we would have seen from John Garfield, had he lived.

The picture starts with Nick (this is last movie of John Garfield ) and his colleague Al Molin (Norman Lloyd) stage a payroll holdup . Al is murdered, along with a police officer . Nick hides out in a plunge , and into a locker hides the robbed cash ; later on , he meets Peg Dobbs (Shelley Winters) . They go out from a public pool and return to her apartment and then Nick forces her family , father (Wallace Ford , John Ford's brother) , mother (Selena Royle) and child to hide him from the police chase .This enjoyable film contains a relentless manhunt , thrills , suspense , violence and some elements of Noir cinema . Most actors , screenwriters , director were pursued by American government during ominous period of Mccarthismo. Interesting writing credits , written under pseudonyms , by Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler , front Guy Endore ; being based on a novel by Sam Ross . Very good acting by John Garfield as a violent and desperado delinquent . Garfield had a sad as well fruitful life , as he signed a contract with Warner Brothers, who changed his name to John Garfield. Won enormous praise for his role of the cynical Mickey Borden in Four Daughters (1938). Appeared in similar roles throughout his career despite his efforts to play varied parts , being his best film : Body and soul . Active in liberal political and social causes, he found himself embroiled in Communist scare of the late 1940s. Though he testified before Congress that he was never a Communist, his ability to get work declined. While separated from his wife, he succumbed to long-term heart problems, dying suddenly in the home of a woman friend at 39. His funeral was mobbed by thousands of fans, in the largest funeral attendance for an actor since Rudolph Valentino.Atmosheric and appropriate cinematography in black and white by James Wong Howe who along with John Alton and Nicolas Musuraka are the main cameramen of Noir genre . Thrilling as well as evocative musical score by the classic Franz Waxman . The motion picture was well directed by John Berry . Director John Berry and co-scripter Hugo Butler's names were removed from the credits for a time after release, due to the blacklisting of supposed Communist sympathizers at the time. Assistant director Emmett Emerson is thus often credited as the film's director . Berry Was named as a member of the Communist Party by Hollywood 10 member Edward Dmytryk in Dmytryk's 1951 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, when the blacklisted director "named names" to revive his Hollywood career and effect a return from exile in Europe. After Dymytrk's testimony, the formerly disgraced director, who had served a prison term for defying HUAC in 1947, was allowed to resume his Hollywood career and direct movies in America, but Berry was blacklisted and went into exile in France. Ironically, Berry had directed the documentary The Hollywood Ten . Berry directed interesting films , such as 1955 Headlines of Destruction , 1949 Tension 1949 , 1948 Casbah ,1946 Cross My Heart and 1946 From This Day Forward , among others .

This is John Garfield's last film, made by the star's own company, which means he bowed out with a dignified vehicle which finds him in his most congenial element. Unfortunately, he would die of a heart attack on the eve of his HUAC hearing the next year at the young age of 39; ironically, the premise of a hounded petty criminal (hiding out in an apartment block) actually seems to be a tragically prescient parable for his current personal plight! Anyway, here the star is ably supported by the likes of Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford and Norman Lloyd.Though essentially routine (not to mention overly familiar), the film is undeniably well-made, reasonably slick for an independent production – though, of course, not quite in the same league as the star's earlier BODY AND SOUL (1947) and FORCE OF EVIL (1949) – and, at a mere 77 minutes, thankfully it does not overstay its welcome. Suspense is nicely sustained throughout (from the opening payroll robbery which snowballs into murder, to a scene where an argument escalates into hysteria and results in a hand injury to the heroine's mother, and the effective – if contrived – downbeat ending). A memorably hard-boiled moment constitutes perhaps the most hilarious order ever given at gunpoint – Garfield to Ford: "Carve the turkey!" Among the notable credits are scriptwriters Hugo Butler and Dalton Trumbo (both boasting associations to my favorite auteur Luis Bunuel!), cinematographer James Wong Howe (making the most of the enclosed setting), production designer Harry Horner (ditto), editor Francis D. Lyon and dialogue director Arnold Laven – interestingly, the last 3 all eventually graduated to the director's chair (while both Trumbo and Howe would try their hand at it just once). Also worth mentioning is the fact that, apart from Garfield, director Berry and the afore-mentioned scriptwriters (with Guy Endore 'fronting' for Trumbo) were similarly targeted by the so-called "Red Scare".

My ultimate wish is that this film be released on DVD. If not for anything but a tribute to the genius of John Garfield. Nick Robey (Garfield) and his cohort in crime botch a robbery. The title is from the fact that he has to keep ahead of being arrested by the police. He meets Shelley Winters is who that falls in love with him. But he uses her to plot his escape. The action is fast-paced and the ending is an enigma or a prophecy. John Garfield had all intentions of continuing his film career despite his being investigated by the House Unamerican Activities Committee in the 1950's which blacklisted many film actors, directors, and writers. In fact, because Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted, his screenplay for this film went uncredited. Sadly to say also, perhaps because of the HUAC, Garfield died a year after this film's release. But he left us with his greatest masterpiece.