He Ran All the Way

He Ran All the Way is a 1951 American film noir crime drama directed by John Berry, starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters.[2]

He Ran All the Way
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Berry
Produced byBob Roberts
Screenplay byHugo Butler
Dalton Trumbo
Based onHe Ran All the Way
1947 novel
by Sam Ross
StarringJohn Garfield
Shelley Winters
Music byFranz Waxman
CinematographyJames Wong Howe
Edited byFrancis D. Lyon
Production
company
Roberts Pictures
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • June 19, 1951 (1951-06-19) (United States)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1 million (US rentals)[1]

The film was Garfield's last, as he was blacklisted following accusations of his involvement with the Communist Party USA and his refusal to disclose names while testifying before the HUAC. He died less than a year later at age 39.

During the film's initial run, director John Berry and writers Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler were uncredited as they had also been blacklisted.

Plot

Petty thief Nick Robey botches a robbery, leaving his partner Al severely wounded as Nick escapes with over $10,000. He meets bakery worker Peg Dobbs, and when Peg takes Nick to her family's apartment, he takes the family hostage until he can escape.

As a manhunt for Nick begins outside, he becomes increasingly paranoid. Peg's initial attraction to Nick is replaced by fear. Her mother and father plead with Nick to leave, to no avail. Nick permits Mr. Dobbs to leave for work, warning him of the consequences should the police be contacted.

Still confident that Peg will run away with him, Nick gives her $1,500 to buy a new car. He refuses to believe her when Peg returns and insists that the car will be delivered to the front door because the headlights needed repair. Nick violently pushes her down the stairs toward the exit, terrifying her. Mr. Dobbs, who had been waiting outside, shoots at Nick. When Nick's gun drops beyond his reach and he orders Peg to hand it to him, she shoots him instead. A mortally wounded Nick crawls outside to the curb just as his new car arrives.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther praised Garfield's work, writing: "John Garfield's stark performance of the fugitive who desperately contrives to save himself briefly from capture is full of startling glints from start to end. He makes a most odd and troubled creature, unused to the normal flow of life, unable to perceive the moral standards of decent people or the tentative advance of a good girl's love. And in Mr. Garfield's performance, vis-a-vis the rest of the cast, is conveyed a small measure of the irony and the pity that was in the book."[3]

More recently, film critic Dennis Schwartz has also written positively of Garfield's performance: "He Ran All the Way was the last film made by the brilliant John Garfield ... Garfield gives a terrific chilling performance as someone who is less like a cold-blooded killer than someone who has been rejected all his life by family and the outside world, and like a wounded animal goes on the run as a desperate man in search of someone to trust in this cold world."[4]

See also

References
  1. 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952.
  2. He Ran All the Way at the TCM Movie Database.
  3. Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, June 21, 1951. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
  4. Schwartz, Dennis Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, December 16, 2004. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
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