jeffhaller125
Good actors like Wallace Ford. Selena Royle and Shelley Winters cannot save a script that plays as if they made it up as they went along. The main character is psychotic and has not a drop of sympathy. He isn't evil simply because Gladys George was a bad mother. Winters' character is pathetic: a mousy girl still living with her overprotective parents and kid brother. She comes off as semi mentally retarded. There really isn't any understanding of Garfield's behavior since the script gives us only tiny pieces about his past. The movie looks great. Wonderful photography and a very gritty atmosphere, but the 77 minutes eventually feels a lot longer. It's a shame that Garfield's swan song was probably his worst picture.
Claudio Carvalho
The uptight and dumb smalltime thief Nick Robey (John Garfield) and his partner and only friend Al Molin (Norman Lloyd) robber US$ 10,000.00 from a man, but the heist goes wrong. Al Molin is killed by a policeman and Nick shots him deadly in the spine. He hides out in a public swimming pool and meets the shy spinster Peggy Dobbs (Shelley Winters) in the water. Nick uses Peggy to lie low and leave the plunge. He offers a ride in a taxi to her and she invites him to enter in her apartment, where she introduces her family to him. When Nick discovers that he killed the cop, he decides to use Peggy's apartment as hideout to wait the police manhunt cool down, forcing the family to lodge him. When Nick finds that Peggy loves him, he invites her to leave the town with him and asks her to buy a used runaway car. However, the paranoid Nick cannot trust anybody and believes Peggy has betrayed him.The film-noir "He Ran All the Way" is the last movie of John Garfield in the role of a man that does not know the meaning of love or family, therefore he cannot believe in a woman in love with him. The storyline is very simple and claustrophobic and four years later, William Wyler made "The Desperate Hours" that has a similar storyline, with a gang that breaks in suburban house and threatens the household. This movie has not been released on Blu-ray, DVD or VHS in Brazil and is only available in cable television. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Por Amor Também Se Mata" ("For Love, It Also Kills")
wes-connors
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
Michael_Elliott
He Ran All the Way (1951) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Disappointing thriller about a thug (John Garfield) who kills a cop and then takes a family hostage until he can figure out what to do. Sadly, this film was Garland's last and this here is really the one thing that makes the film interesting. He delivers a good performance but it's no where near the best of his career or even near the top. Shelley Winters plays the girl who Garland meets and eventually takes hostage while Wallace Ford plays her father. The supporting performances are good but the screenplay doesn't allow any of the actors to do very much. We get countless speeches on why Garfield should do the right thing but we've heard this in countless movies so it comes off old and tired here.
AD
