La rançon

Love classic film and crime dramas/mysteries even more so. The more than capable cast further added to the interest (Glenn Ford and Donna Reed are always watchable and wanted to see how Leslie Nielson would fare in a very early dramatic role) and the idea was a great one with plenty of room for tension.

'Ransom!' turned out to be a nifty and well above average film. It had room for improvement, on the other hand the good things were numerous and enormous. The Mel Gibson film may be better known, but like many others (although that film was quite well done and particularly worth watching for Gary Sinise), there there is a personal preference for the darker, more mysterious and more suspenseful yet not as flashy and more staid perhaps 1956 film, which today is criminally undervalued and generally has more substance.

Is 'Ransom!' without faults? No. Donna Reed tries her best but the character is underdeveloped and lacks subtlety, causing Reed to overdo the hysteria especially. Occasionally it's a bit static.

Plus it would have been even better if the villains were not as thinly sketched, though that they remained unseen did provide a mysterious edge, and the ending (although slightly touching and thankfully not improbable) less anti-climactic, overwrought and lacking resolve.

However, 'Ransom!' is particularly worth seeing for Glenn Ford who gives a superb performance, very deeply felt, suitably stern and often restrained. Juano Hernandez is a sympathetic and heartfelt moral compass (the subplot gave the film heart), while Robert Keith and Juanita Moore are good support. Leslie Nielson fares well in a dramatic early role though he did go on to better things. The villains could have had more meat to them but they do provide some menace and there is a good amount of tension where one cares for the situation (helped by that the lead character here is better fleshed out), something that Gibson's version didn't quite have.

The story is more deliberate, but there is a real air of suspense and dread without any gratuity or overblown action to cheapen it. It is also generally far more plausible, whereas Gibson's version unravelled in that aspect near the end. The script is taut, lean and thoughtful while the film is competently if not always imaginatively directed. 'Ransom!' looks suitably atmospheric and is very nicely shot.

Overall, good and well done film if not without things that could have done with some tweaking. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Restrained performances and confined locations make this a powerful thriller. Glenn Ford is superb in the role, Leslie Neilson however is a tad over the top. Where this film succeeds is in sticking with the main character and never straying from his confinement or his pain, and when it comes to the hardest decision of his life, you're battered by the argueing group. Gritty and thought provoking.

Having seen the mediocre remake of Ransom, starring Mel Gibson, I was intrigued when I came across the original from 1956 that featured the always great Glen Ford. I'm glad I did, because now I know how the film was supposed to be made.

Ransom! is the story of the wealthy Mr. Stannard (Ford) and his wife (Donna Reed) who are devastated to find out that their son has been kidnapped. Stannard immediately agrees to the kidnapper's terms, but at the last minute turns the tables when he goes on television and announces that the 500,000 ransom is now a price on the kidnapper's head, a decision which shocks the local townspeople and especially his wife.

I have a feeling this film was innovative using television as a platform, it had to have been based on the year the film was made - 1956. Although I had seen it played out before in the more recent version of Ransom, with a mild effect, the use of the medium in this manner was extremely powerful, even slightly shocking. Ford made his career playing fairly tough characters; even his roles in comedies had a slightly rough edge. I have to say that this was the best I have ever seen him. He was steely, yet desperate in his resolution that he was making the wisest decision, no matter what the consequences - and when his vulnerability finally cracked through the surface, you cannot help but absorb some of his pain. Donna Reed was a fairly minor character as the mother - she helped set the tone in the beginning, but was basically used later in the film as fuel for Ford's guilt. Leslie Nielsen was also featured as a newspaper reporter who becomes a kind of sounding board for Ford's character, and did a decent dramatic turn at it. It's still interesting to see him as a dramatic actor when we are so used to seeing him only in comedies for the last twenty years.

While Akira Kurosawa's "High and Low" still remains my favorite film in the "kidnapped" genre, this is definitely a close second. The kidnapping of a loved one has been a pretty common plot device in the first century of cinema, but when a film adds to or even transcends the genre it becomes distinct. Ransom! does just that, and I highly recommend it.

--Shelly

"Ransom!" is an unpretentious film that comes out as an excellent thriller. It is also one of the few movies made by director Alex Segal (who did most of his work for television) and he does a prolix and correct job with the story of a wealthy man whose little boy is kidnapped for ransom and decides not to take the easy way; instead o paying the money demanded by the kidnappers he offers it all for their capture dead of alive.

What is interesting and "catching" here is that all you see of the villains is one hand that holds a cigarette, but there is no need for more to keep tension and thrill high all along.

There's a very good performance from Glenn Ford and Donna Reed as the parents of the abducted kid for whom their happy life turns into hell in a matter of hours. Ford has to deal not only with the kidnappers but also with his wife, family, friends and neighbors who are against the man's decision considered as a risky one for his son's life.

Although probably youngsters will prefer the more recent Mel Gibson/Rene Russo version -more an action film than a real thriller- I think this one is superior with his mysterious villains and truly dark atmosphere all along with not one single gun shot is fired. In any case this version is a more difficult product to achieve since it focuses more on dialogues, desperation and characters psychology.

Not a classic film perhaps but a very good one indeed, most watchable and enjoyable.

Ransom is emblematic of the little, B&W films of the 50s that made up for their low budgets with high mindedness. In a similar context, it reminds me of Twelve Angry Men, made the following year. Both films expanded a profound human dilemma (how to resolve a kidnapping in one case, how to judge the guilt or innocence of a man regardless of popular consensus in another) into a cinematic drama that leaves a greater imprint on your mind than the slam-boom special-effect films of today can possibly accomplish. You leave the theater (or your home TV) thinking over and over, "What would I have done if I were in that situation?" Because of the kiddie-market mentality of modern film producers and the international demand for plots that are high in action and low in thought content, we will never see films of this kind being produced again (at least not by the majors). Savor this film and others like it.