Please don't spend money on this.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

"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 .

I just wanted to add my voice to the host of reviewers who have noted that this is a great film with a great last performance by John Garfield. The beautifully shot scenes by James Wong Howe of New York reminded me of "Dead End" and the many television series and movies shot in the 1950's and early 60's in New York. This film is evidence that the House Unamerican Activities Committee was a blight on the land that badly damaged cinematic art in this country. HUAC and the Hays Moral Code were the two worse catastrophes to hit Hollywood in the 20th Century. Excellent performances and solid Hollywood production values send it to the top of the must see Film Noir list.

The opening chase through the streets and rail yards of LA is dynamically filmed as Garfield flees after killing a cop in a holdup. The pool scene, where he hides out, may not make much sense (why risk the money being stolen from the locker), but is an unusual and eye-catching venue. However, once the movie sets up shop in the Winters family apartment, the dynamism subsides and I'm reminded of one of those Playhouse 90 melodramas of the time. They were interesting stage plays for TV, but too static for a screenplay. And despite director Berry's efforts to build tension from the resulting hostage situation, the film never regains the earlier momentum.What the movie does have is the great John Garfield in unfortunately his last role. Frankly he doesn't look well, but still manages a dynamic performance, without which the film would totally collapse. Snarling one moment and cooing the next, he's still believable as a cynical gunman torn between softer fellow feelings and a desperate sense of survival. The suspense comes from not knowing which side will ultimately dominate. Unfortunately, Shelley Winters plays the hapless girl he picks up at the pool. She's supposed to be emotionally vulnerable, which she is at first, but Winters has a hard time being vulnerable without being pathetic ( for example, "A Place in the Sun", 1951). Thus she soon becomes more annoying than sympathetic. The climax is nicely ironical, yet fails to help move the proceedings beyond the programmer stage. Too bad that Garfield didn't clock out on the wings of a more memorable movie.