Singapore intrigo internazionale

This is an odd little film that is probably most notable for being the last screen appearance of the avuncular, endearing British character actor, Nigel Bruce. In truth, he doesn't have a great deal to do despite his fifth billing. He plays the British governor of Singapore and has a short scene abut 30 minutes in followed by a lengthier one about 15 minutes later. His role is a sedentary one, sitting behind a desk and instructing millitary types before confronting the chief villain of the piece Gene Lockhart (Miracle on 34th Street/Carousel). He is more than competent but it isn't a role he can shine in. Sadly, too, it was released after his death. The genre is Crime/Film Noir and the plot concerns a shady gang kidnapping a scientist (Arthur Shields; The Quiet Man/The Corn Is Green/National Velvet), who has the knowledge to put a hydrogen bomb together, and ransoming him to the British and her allies or failing that, the communists! It does, sometimes betray its low budget and often looks more like a televsion episode than a feature film. The script is also clunky, at times. The lead is Dan Duryea, unkown to me, but he had a prolific stage career and a long screen resume. He is likeable but is caught acting on a number of occasions and tends to over project his dialogue. He is a Rick Blainesque anti-hero and is caught between a sultry, morally dubious young woman (Marian Carr) and her criminal husband (Patric Knowles; The Adventures of Robin Hood/The Wolfman/ Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman). The action is a bit ho hum until Duryea, in the company of a British Major (Reginald Denny; Rebecca/Sherlock Holmes &The Voice of Terror/Cat Ballou) goes to rescue the scientist at the gang's hideout. A slightly above average effort, then and aside from all the character actors mentioned above there are also roles for Keye Luke (Charlie Chan series of films/Kung Fu/Gremlins) and ex heavyweight prizefighter Lou Nova. Spotting the well known faces is perhaps the chief pleasure in this film. Strother Martin and Patrick Allen also pop up in bit parts.

World For Ransom(1954) is an odd item from filmography of Robert Aldrich as it is not as well known as some of his other movies. This is an overlooked movie that would provide a sketch for Kiss Me Deadly(1955). Dan Duryea gives a very good performance as well as Patric Knowles and Marian Carr. The plot of the film recalls The Third Man(1949) because its also about a friend of the protagonist who may be villainous and the woman who torn between her husband and her friend. It is well paced and filled with action and intrigue. World For Ransom(1954) is an exciting movie by a man who would later do terrific films like Kiss Me Deadly(1955) and The Dirty Dozen(1967).

For some reason, the actors in this film, particularly Dan Duryea, found it necessary to speak as if they were in an amphitheater in "World for Ransom," a 1954 film directed by Robert Aldrich.

If I had to describe this film in one word, I'd say "loud."

Mike Callahan (Dan Duryea) is a good friend of Julian Marsh (Patric Knowles), and is also in love with Julian's wife Frennessy (Marian Carr), who met Julian while boyfriend Mike was away in the service.

Julian is up to something no good, and Mike promises Frennessy that he'll get him out of it and bring him home. Frennessy admits that she's unhappy with Julian, but that she won't be able to leave him and go off with Mike while he's in trouble.

Turns out Julian has involved himself with a man named Alex Pederas (Gene Lockhart), a bad guy, and is part of the kidnapping of a nuclear scientist, one of the three men in the world who know how to detonate the H bomb. They're planning on making some big money. Julian has made a mistake in driving a route where he is well known, and he's been photographed by a street photographer. So there's a panic to get the photo and the negative to cover his mistake.

Others on the board have said this is a template for "Kiss Me, Deadly" and that it also is reminiscent of "The Third Man." I see similar plot elements but that's about it. Comparing this to either film is a stretch.

A good start for Aldrich, who was still in his early career and uncredited for this film. I think he did the best he could given the material.

World for Ransom (1954)

This movie is a Robert Aldrich strain. It's not quite raw enough or exotic enough to rise above its low budget, but it's not for lack of trying. One problem is several so-so actors. But the great asset is the one actor who's pushing his limits, not as a film noir lead, but as a guy lost in the shuffle around him and a little at a loss. Dan Duryea. If you don't know him, this isn't the best place to get a sense of his unique, slightly languid, nice boy, sarcastic style. He's wonderful in his own way. And he's the core of the movie.

We are in Singapore. There is an impossibly convoluted plot about hydrogen bomb secrets and a group of thugs out to steal either the secrets or the bomb itself. The chief bad guy is a little improbable, the great character actor Gene Lockhart (the judge in the classic "Miracle on 34th Street"). He's just not bad enough, or interesting enough. One of the good guys is another character actor, the peculiar and wonderful Nigel Bruce (who you might remember in Hitchcock's "Suspicion" with Cary Grant).. The lead female (Marian Carr) isn't quite a femme fatale or a steamy love interest. She's blonde, of course, and good, overall, but she isn't given much to do.

It doesn't mean much to us to know this but this is basically an extension of a television series along the same lines (same sets, same characters) starring Duryea. It has better production values, I hear (probably due to Aldrich) but it's still hampered by its formulaic television roots, for sure.

Oddly for Aldrich the camera-work is often very stable. Everything looks good, great sets and light, but it's static. And the plot keeps barreling along, adding new minor characters from the administration toward the end (just when we've had enough minor characters). There is drama, and the whole affair is slightly raw and slightly exotic. And there are steamy smokey nights and impersonations and cheesy nightclub acts and of course, the bomb, looming every so subtly.

So it's not half bad, Duryea making the most of his role. Could have been great, but a lot of little pieces are not falling into place.

I taped World For Ransom when BBC2 screened it during the early hours recently. This is the time when they usually show these sort of movies and I found this one quite good.

Set in Singapore, a group of people plot to kidnap a nuclear scientist who is one of only three people in the whole world who knows how to detonate the H-Bomb. We get to see plenty of people being killed, especially during the final scenes. There is also blackmail, double crossing and punch-ups.

The cast includes Dan Duryea, Patric Knowles (How Green Was My Valley, The Wolf Man), Gene Lockhart (Lost In Space star June's dad) and Nigel Bruce (Dr Watson from the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies) in his last movie.

World For Ransom is quite good and is worth checking out.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.