''He Ran All the Way'' is a 1951 American
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
and
film noir directed by
John Berry and starring
John Garfield
John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
and
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
. Distributed by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
, it was produced independently by Roberts Pictures, a company named for Garfield's manager and business partner, Bob Roberts, and bankrolled by Garfield.
The film was Garfield's last. He was "
greylisted" following accusations of his involvement with the
Communist Party USA. Testifying before the
House Committee on Un-American Activities
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
(aka
HUAC), he repudiated communism, denied party membership, and claimed that he did not know any members of the Communist Party during his entire time in Hollywood, "because I was not a party member or associated in any shape, way, or form."
He testified on April 23, 1951, just two months before ''He Ran All the Way'' was scheduled to open, on June 19. Garfield died less than a year later, on May 21, 1952, at age 39.
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), ''Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) ...
had signed to write the screen adaptation of Sam Ross's novel just weeks from starting the jail term resulting from his own testimony to HUAC, in 1947. According to Trumbo's son,
Christopher,
Guy Endore
Samuel Guy Endore (July 4, 1901 – February 12, 1970), born Samuel Goldstein and also known as Harry Relis, was an American novelist and screenwriter. During his career he produced a wide array of novels, screenplays, and pamphlets, both publish ...
did some revisions to Trumbo's script, as did director Berry. In a 1997 letter to the
Writers Guild of America West
The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 mem ...
, which was determining the restoration of credits to
blacklisted members, Trumbo's widow Cleo stated that their friend and fellow writer
Hugo Butler
Hugo Dansey Butler (4 May 1914 – 7 January 1968) was a Canadian-born screenwriter working in Hollywood who was blacklisted by the film studios in the 1950s.
Biography
Born on 4 May 1914 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, his father, Frank Russel ...
had been asked by Trumbo to ensure that the script not be altered while he was incarcerated, and Butler restored much of the original material, adding some of his own.
The film opened in June 1951, the screenplay credited to Endore and Butler, and John Berry credited as the director.
Just prior to the premiere, Berry and Butler were subpoenaed by HUAC, and producer Bob Roberts removed their names from advertising, first in the trade press, and then in the general press as the film circulated.
Trumbo was paid $5,000 and five percent of the producers' profits on condition that the picture would cost no more than $400,000, with the possibility that it might cost $100,000 less than that, but he complained to Roberts that the costs had grown to about $650,000, adding, "and that came right out of my pocket."
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reviewer "Bron." observed, "Production budget seems limited to insure safe returns," and predicted, "pic should do biz."
At the end of the year, the trade paper estimated that ''He Ran All the Way'' would gross $1 million in the domestic market (i.e., USA and Canada), its threshold for reporting the "top grossers" of the year. Less than a month after Garfield's death in May 1952, United Artists announced it would rerelease the title, among three others, in summer of that year.
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
*
John Garfield
John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...
as Nick Robey
*
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...
as Peg Dobbs
*
Wallace Ford
Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-fac ...
as Mr. Dobbs
*
Selena Royle
Selena Royle (November 6, 1904 – April 23, 1983) was an American actress (of stage, radio, television and film), and later, an author.
Early life and career Actress
Royle was born in New York City to playwright Edwin Milton Royle and actress ...
as Mrs. Dobbs
*
Gladys George
Gladys George (born Gladys Clare Evans; September 13, 1904 – December 8, 1954) was an American actress of stage and screen. Though nominated for an Academy Award for her leading role in '' Valiant Is the Word for Carrie'' (1936), she spent most ...
as Mrs. Robey
*
Norman Lloyd as Al Molin
* Bobby Hyatt as Tommy Dobbs
* Keith Hetherington as Captain of Detectives
Reception
Critical response
When the film was released, ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' film critic
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
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.[Crowther, Bosley](_blank)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', film review, June 21, 1951. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
''Variety'' called the film "a taut gangster pic," adding, "Good production values keep a routine yarn fresh and appealing. Film is scripted, played and directed all the way with little waste motion, so that the suspense is steady and interest constantly sustained." Reviewer "Bron." commended both Garfield's and Winters's performances, as well as an "unusually good" supporting cast, and, among other personnel, singled out composer
Franz Waxman
Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...
("Pull of pic is further hyped by a strong music score...) and
director of photography
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
James Wong Howe
Wong Tung Jim, A.S.C. (; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976), known professionally as James Wong Howe (Houghto), was a Chinese-born American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the most soug ...
, for "some markedly effective camera shots...."
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.Schwartz, Dennis
. ''Ozus' World Movie Reviews'', film review, December 16, 2004. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
See also
*
List of films featuring home invasions
There is a body of films that feature home invasions. Paula Marantz Cohen says, "Such films reflect an increased fear of the erosion of distinctions between private and public space... These films also reflect a sense that the outside world is mo ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
''He Ran All the Way''informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:He Ran All The Way
1951 films
1951 crime drama films
American crime drama films
Film noir
Films scored by Franz Waxman
Films based on American novels
Films directed by John Berry
Films set in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Dalton Trumbo
United Artists films
American black-and-white films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films