Watch He Ran All the Way For Free

I love this movie so much

Truly Dreadful Film

One of my all time favorites.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Filmed in the Shadow of HUAC and the Communist Witch Hunt and Blacklist, this Film-Noir is a Strikingly Photographed, dreadfully Atmospheric, Downbeat of a Movie that is Pure Noir and John Garfield's Last Movie.The Pain in the Performance can be seen as a Physical (heart trouble) and Mental (hounded by the McCarthyites) Breakdown occurring On Screen and in Real Life. It is a Powerful Portrayal by Garfield.The Opening Act is Gloomy as Garfield is living with a Mom from Hell in a God-Awful apartment in the Slums. One of the opening Lines of Dialog...Mom: "If you were a Man you'd be out looking for a job."...Garfield: If you were a Man I would kick your teeth out."There is more Noir Nastiness. A botched Payroll Robbery and a Chase through the Train Yards that leads to a Public Swimming Pool, all Filmed with Gritty Noir Realism by Cinematographer James Wong Howe. The Script was Fronted but Written by Dalton Trumbo (HUAC) and Directed by John Berry (HUAC),This is as Bleak as Noir gets with an Ending that is the Genre at its most Definitive. A Must See for the fine Cast, Crackling Dialog and Shadowy Style. It is a Great Exit for Garfield and is a True representation of the Actor and the Man's Feelings articulated in His Art, Symbolic of His Philosophy and Politics.

Small-time hood (John Garfield), on the run after shooting a cop during a robbery, meets an unsuspecting girl (Shelley Winters) who invites him back to her apartment. There he takes her and her family hostage while he figures out his next move.John Garfield's last film features another fine performance from him. This probably wasn't a very challenging role for Garfield. It's similar to the types of roles he played early in his career. Perhaps a little edgier and lacking charm or humor. This character's a paranoid wreck. The rest of the cast is good, with Wallace Ford a standout as Winters' father. It's a decent thriller with a fairly routine plot, elevated by the James Wong Howe photography and an exciting score by Franz Waxman.

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.

John Garfield ("Nick Robey") started his stage-career at a very early age and with an unusual talent of really getting into his characters. Unfortunately, Hollywood didn't do too well in casting him in better roles. Because he was so young, he was somewhat of a "pretty boy", except his youth was spent on the tough streets of NYC. He had the experience behind his tough-guy roles. During his stage-career - pre-Hollywood - he was a sure winner for "Golden Boy", a dramatic story of a young violinist with just as much punch in the boxing-ring. That role didn't come till much later; William Holden played the original. When Garfield finally played it, he studied with Isaac Stern (who did the real fiddlin'). Garfield's acting was truly convincing; this would have been a wonderful, final film. It was not to be. He moved back and forth between NYC and Hollywood, which couldn't cast him right, although he was a major star at his death. Good looks and a beautiful smile will get you lots of places."He Ran all the Way" was another version of minor crime-stories for so many of Hollywood's young actors. Garfield had an edge over most of them, because he was a very good actor. Unfortunately, a very weak heart and extreme good looks done him in.......he died at 39. TCM did an original "letterbox," with his daughter doing the narration, with lots of pictures.Director John Berry was excellent following the plot written by black-listed Dalton Trumbo (original book, Sam Ross) following the ritual of early cops-and-robbers films. "Robey" pulls-off a petty robbery; he wounds a cop; his partner gets shot; "Robey" begins running into the crowd on the streets. Garfield did an excellent job of portraying a frightened crook with major paranoia. He follows the crowd into a public swimming-pool where he meets sexually repressed "Peggy Dobbs" (Shelley Winters). Predictably, he winds-up in her home, taking her family hostage for a hide-out. "Peggy's" mom and dad (Wallace Ford, Selena Royle) seem to be really glad some guy has finally found her attractive; they don't know how to handle the hostage situation, but did very good acting. Again predictably, "Peggy" falls for "Robey", but is torn between terror for her family and love for him. It becomes apparent that "Robey" was pretty-much finished with running......Although Garfield threw himself into this role, his disappointment in its finished product - and his constant philandering - he most probably knew his career was coming to an end. The movie-industry dropped him when the committee hunting-down communists among Hollywood stars disclosed he had had dealings with those radicals for a long period, and his wife was a party-member. He refused to testify, but did not learn that Clifford Odets testified for him - he died first. Many careers and lives were ruined by The House un-American......Too handsome, genuine too macho-hunky made John Garfield a misfit for Hollywood. He excelled in the roles he was given there, but realized his niche was on the stage in NYC. Who knows how many great films he could have made, had not Hollywood and "the committee" done a job on him. Watch this film with respect for a very good actor whose potential was barely shown. "He Ran all the Way" was Garfield's last run.