United
Artists, 78m 1s
The
obvious film noir qualifications of HE RAN ALL THE WAY are carved
forcefully into the opening sequence within a neglected tenement apartment
littered with empty beer cans, dirty dishes and overflowing garbage. On what
appears to be a particularly hot summer morning, Nick Robey (John Garfield)
would sleep the day away were it not for his mouthy mother (Gladys George), who
reminds her son of his persistent lack of achievement. The hard woman slaps her
loser son, who merely notes his ol' ma does not possess the strength she once
did. Despite his thick skin, seasoned film
noir fans will recognize Robey as the hopelessly doomed noir protagonist, trapped in a boiling
urban hell that threatens to consume him.
The
unemployed Robey meets up with the more ambitious Al Molin (Norman Lloyd), who
has devised a $10,000 payroll holdup to take place while employees patiently
await their salaries. Robey's intuition tells him today will not be his day,
but he reluctantly goes along with Molin's plan. In a familiar film noir train of thought about the
honest working class, Molin scoffs before the crime, "Squares waitin' for
their pay..." As the viewer should expect, the heist goes quite poorly,
with Molin taking a bullet and an unlucky police officer (Dale Van Sickel) shot
by triggerman Robey.
Suddenly
in attendance at a public pool in an endeavor to lose police, Robey encounters
Peg Dobbs (Shelley Winters), a perfectly nice but painfully naive young woman
who deserves to meet a much more together fellow than Robey. Although their
exchange is awkward at best, Robey manages entry into the Dobbs apartment,
where Peg lives with her parents (Wallace Ford and Selena Royle) and little
brother Tommy (Robert Hyatt). Unnecessarily as it turns out, the hotheaded
Robey holds the family under lockdown.
Set
in Southern California over a 72-hour time frame, HE RAN ALL THE WAY is a tense and spirited film noir in which John Garfield proves he could be just as tough
as the likes of Charles McGraw (THE
THREAT [1949]) and Lawrence Tierney (BORN
TO KILL [1947]). Most assuredly Garfield's turn as the existential Nick
Robey anticipates ruffians portrayed by Ralph Meeker (KISS ME DEADLY [1955]) and especially Humphrey Bogart (THE DESPERATE HOURS [1955], the more
well-known home invasion narrative). Not long after he meets Peg, Robey is
appallingly rough with her. As his sense of paranoia intensifies, he becomes
more physically insensitive to members of the Dobbs family. As portrayed by
Garfield, Robey resembles a cornered, crazed animal whenever he senses that
policemen are just moments away. Robey is not a completely rotten apple,
though; notice the compassion he instinctively shows when Peg's mom injures
herself.
Robey's
eventual downfall is brought about by his mostly deplorable treatment of
others, lack of religious belief, and above all else, his stubborn inability to
trust others. "Nobody loves anyone," he says. Though far from a femme
fatale, Peg accelerates Robey's downward trajectory when she gets all dolled up
in front of him after her street-smart female coworker Marge (Vici Raaf)
suggests Peg could use her appearance
to manipulate a man. Ultimately Robey collapses into an appropriate landing
spot within the unforgiving, distinctly urban noir terrain from which there is no escape. In that respect, the
Robey character recalls Frank Bigelow (Edmond O'Brien) marked D.O.A. (1950), "Dix" Handley
(Sterling Hayden) enveloped by THE
ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) trapped between NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950), and so many
other similarly defeated noir protagonists.
HE RAN ALL THE WAY
establishes its film noir atmosphere
with a minimum of nocturnal sequences; quite unusual for the genre. The
cinematography was handled by the legendary James Wong Howe, who also covered
Garfield in the exceptional noir
boxing narrative BODY AND SOUL
(1947). Howe's other film noir
accomplishments include HANGMEN ALSO
DIE! (1943), NORA PRENTISS
(1947), PURSUED (1947) and the
classic SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
(1957). His excellent work in HE RAN ALL
THE WAY shows his inclination toward tight close-ups, especially those that
reveal the brutal summer heat that seems to be as much a character as any of the
players.
A
film noir with an equal measure of
clever visual set-ups and punchy dialog, the script was an adaptation of the
novel of the same title by Sam Ross. The screenplay is credited to Guy Endore
and Hugo Butler, while uncredited contributor Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted at
the time. Endore was a registered Communist, and also found himself blacklisted
by certain film studios. He sometimes sold his screenplays under the pseudonym
Harry Relis. Director John Berry's credit was removed from the film's initial
theatrical run due to blacklisting. Prior to HE RAN ALL THE WAY, Berry helmed the appropriately taut film noir TENSION (1949), which features standout performances from Richard
Basehart and Audrey Totter. Berry also directed the documentary short “The
Hollywood Ten” (1950) about the group of screenwriters and directors who stood
their ground against the House Un-American Activities Committee. Trumbo was
among the 10.
Though
John Garfield denied any communist party affiliation, he found himself
blacklisted by major studio bosses. Perhaps the stress associated with pressure
from the House Un-American Activities Committee contributed to the death of the
long-term liberal, who died from heart complications May 21st, 1952 at the
sadly premature age of 39. HE RAN ALL
THE WAY proved to be his last film.
The
Blu-ray disc available from Kino Lorber presents this underappreciated film
remastered in high definition. The original theatrical scope of 1.37:1 is
observed and the technical flaws are few. Other than trailers for HE RAN ALL THE WAY, A BULLET FOR JOEY (1955) and WITNESS TO MURDER (1954), the disc is
without supplemental material.
HE RAN ALL THE WAY
aired on TCM recently as part of their Noir Alley program hosted by Eddie
Muller.
