Menace dans la nuit

Shot on what was clearly a small budget, this "noir" style thriller is a little "loose limbed" in the writing department, but good direction, good location cinematography, Waxman's superb score (you know this is an above average film score from the first notes) and some of the best screen acting on film pull it off in style.

The director manages to mesh the differing acting styles (Garfield and Winter's more internal, "method" influenced style, Royle's more technical approach and Ford's purely instinctive playing) and creates a real ensemble. One can read the actors' minds just from a telling turn of the eye, curl of the lip. Wonderful. Everyone impresses, but Winters is most sensational, showing us the character's mixed-up feelings about the magnetic, sexy character Garfield plays right from the first accidental encounter.

After a heist goes wrong, cop killer John Garfield (as Nick Robey) is on the run. Taking cover in a public swimming pool, Mr. Garfield meets plain Shelley Winters (as Peg Dobbs). Flattery gets him everywhere; and, Garfield uses Ms. Winters for getaway cover. Starved for the manly affection, Winters mistakes his advances for interest. Soon, Winters has Garfield in her apartment, to meet the family. When he feels the police closing in, Garfield holds up in Winters' apartment, holding the family hostage. Desperate hours ensue…

It's difficult to understand Winters' continued naivety; and, the "family held hostage" plot doesn't ring quite true. Still, Garfield's paranoia, and Winters' character development make it well worth watching. Sadly, this was Garfield's final film; he died within a year, at age 39. Director John Berry and photographer James Wong Howe make it look great. "He Ran All the Way" boasts a fine supporting cast, led by Wallace Ford. And, the ending grows with an exciting, thought-provoking intensity.

******** He Ran All the Way (6/19/51) John Berry ~ John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Selena Royle

"He Ran All The Way" is John Garfield's final film and he doesn't disappoint his fans. He is dynamic as a cop killer who is on-the-lam and hiding out in the apartment of a middle class family. The film is a taut thriller with many tense moments and Garfield pulls no punches while he devises an escape plan. The captive family is well played by Shelley Winters who falls for the thug, Wallace Ford and Selena Royle her parents and Bobby Hyatt the little brother. There is also a gem of a cameo performance from Gladys George as Garfield's mother and also by Norman Lloyd as his partner in crime. Alas Garfield displays all his bad boy mannerisms and gut wrenching force that we came to expect from him...and what also made him a star.

John Garfield's last film was "He Ran All the Way," about a payroll robber who hides out at a young woman's apartment, frightening and intimidating her family. Shelley Winters, Gladys George, Norman Lloyd, and Wallace Ford also star. This looks to be a small film, written by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo under another name, but I found it very tense and very good with a wonderful performance by Garfield. He's an unwilling robber due to a scary dream the night before, but his friend, Norman Lloyd, forces him to go through with it on the day planned. When Garfield shoots a policeman, he runs to an indoor public swimming pool to get rid of the briefcase and hide. There he meets Shelley Winters. He sticks with her, ends up in the apartment she shares with her parents and her brother and decides to stay.

Ruggedly handsome Garfield portrays a man capable of brutality due to his fear but who is basically good. Unfortunately the family doesn't understand how unloved he feels, and his friendly signals are rejected, causing him to act out. Winters handles a difficult role beautifully - a young woman without much life experience, attracted to this man and terrified for her family. Is her goal to get him away from them, or does she really care for him? Wallace Ford, as the frustrated father who is unable to protect his family, is excellent.

Like another poster, I would have wished for a bigger film as Garfield's last, but in the end, he handed in another excellent performance and elevated the movie. What was ahead for him? Well, he was blacklisted - perhaps his friend Clifford Odets' affirmation that Garfield had never been a member of the Communist party would have helped him, but we'll never know. Garfield died the day after Odets' testimony.

John Garfield's character in this movie makes his character in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE look like Mr. Easy Going. He's tight as a drum from the opening scene with his nasty mother, through the holdup (with snaky Norman Lloyd as his partner), his flight, and the long scenes with Shelley Winters' family.

Winters is appealing in her role as the plain girl who can't find a man. She falls for the dangerous and casually violent Garfield; but is she really in love with him or trying to assist in his capture? That's where the tension lies in this short thriller. Dalton Trumbo (uncredited as screenwriter) creates good dialog for all the cast members, and pulls together an exciting final 5 minutes with a few plot twists and a gut-wrenching ironic final shot. Catch it if you can, if you're a noir fan.