He Ran All the Way *** (1951, John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle, Gladys George, Bobby Hyatt, Norman Lloyd) – Classic Movie Review 7988

Director John Berry’s 1951 film noir crime thriller He Ran all the Way is based on the novel by Sam Ross and stars John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle and Gladys George, along with Bobby Hyatt [Robert Hyatt] and Norman Lloyd.

After a payroll heist, the law is chasing cop killer Nick Robey (Garfield), who meets factory worker Peggy Dobbs (Winters) when he goes undercover in a swim pool, and hides in her family home. The parents (Ford, Royle) and little brother (Hyatt) are Garfield’s hostages.

The movie is too static and over-emphatic, but the acting and some of the directing (the hold-up, the climax) are fairly classy and impressive, as is the noir cinematography by James Wong Howe. George and Lloyd are outstanding in brief roles as Garfield’s mom and his heist criminal partner, Al Molin.

Also in the cast are Keith Hetherington, Clancy Cooper, Vici Raaf, Robert Karnes, Jimmy Ames, Ralph Brooks, Dale Van Sickel, Lucille Sewall, Cameron Grant, Mark Lowell, John Morgan, Renny McEvoy and James Magill.

He Ran all the Way is directed by John Berry, runs 78 minutes, is made by Roberts Pictures Inc, is released by United Artists, is written by Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler, based on the novel by Sam Ross, is shot in black and white by James Wong Howe, is produced by Bob Roberts, John Garfield (uncredited) and Paul Trivers (associate producer), is scored by Franz Waxman and is designed by Harry Horner.

The real-life long shadow of Fifties political oppression hangs over the film. It is Garfield’s last film; he was dead from a heart attack the next year, aged 30. Garfield, writers Dalton Trumbo and Hugo Butler (it was credited as written by Guy Endore), and director Berry were blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Berry, blacklisted after being named as a member of the Communist Party by Hollywood 10 member Edward Dmytryk, went into exile in France and finally returned home in the Seventies, while Dymytrk was allowed to resume his Hollywood career.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7988

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