John Garfield delivers a magnificent, haunting performance in this, his last film, and one of his more difficult roles—a petty con grown numb to all emotion but fear and trapped in a miserable corner of his own making. Commanding a rare soulfulness from Shelly Winters, blacklisted director John Berry conjures the oppressive heat of a New York August to create an incredible, oppressive tension that carries the film to its unforgettable end. He Ran All the Way frighteningly echoes the terrible circumstances that led to Garfield's premature death by a stress-induced heart attack just days after the film's production ended and following his persecution for his Leftist leanings by both the FBI and the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Like Fritz Lang’s Fury, Try and Get Me is a potent vision of an America ruled by mob mentality. U nemployed WWII veteran Howard Tyler ( Lovejoy), desperate to feed his family, falls in with a cold-blooded criminal (Bridges), but their spree of robberies soon turns to murder. The direction of young Communist Cy Endfield reveals a cool, clear rage at the economic and social injustices that are the nightmare behind the American dream. Shortly after this film, Enfield was blacklisted and spent the rest of his career in England. Bridges’ later career as a television star has obscured what a fine actor he was; here he is believably chilling as both predator and victim.