Un chenapan au Far-West

I realize that a short story, unless it's part of an anthology, is difficult to use as a TV or movie story without a certain amount of padding but I think there is just a bit too much padding. It's a good and fun family movie, I'll give it that, but I was hoping it would stick a bit closer to the short story. There were times I felt they'd used the title, character names, and a few of the incidents from the story and that's it.

It's best for someone who is not expecting it to be the same as the short story.

I think the 1975 version was much better and it still played rather fast and loose with the story. Being shorter it didn't have a chance to play _quite_ so fast and loose, though.

I guess I'm just disappointed that they felt they had to change so much of O. Henry's story.

I'm keeping it around for my grandson who will enjoy it but I'll also introduce him to the source story. He's almost 10 so it won't be a problem with his attention span and also will help him to realize that if you've read a jacket or cover blurb (or even seen the movie) you haven't read the story. He tends to base his book reports on blurbs.

A nice cast was assembled and they all gave good performances. Christoper Lloyd and the late Michael Jeter are very dependable and a pleasure to watch. Child actors, by their very nature, are often a bit cutesy and the boy should have been a couple of years older with a certain rough and readiness about him but I think they managed to make him a bit annoying, which is almost as good.

I saw this movie in Language Arts and it's a well acted, well written, generally funny. There are some very corny cliché' jokes at the beginning (bad guys falling into mud, been there, done that). It's based on O Henry and of course the storyline and especially the ending is fantastic (he is famous for those ironic twist endings, like THE GIFT OF THE MAGI. Girl sells hair to buy husband chain for watch but husband sold watch to buy girl combs. Classic.) This film does have some great jokes and really surprisingly great acting. I was surprised to find out this was only a TV movie! The plot basically is that a troublemaking little boy is kidnapped by two bad guys (your average bumbling, kinda stupid, yet nice,) trying to make some money when their recent purchase of a mine fails. Since the boy is a trouble maker so, naturally, the parents don't believe him at first. I can't spoil the ending now can I?

You walk into class, and your teacher states that you would be watching short stories that were developed into movies over the next couple of weeks. Your response: Yippe (in a sarcastic way). You finally get to 'Ransom of Red Chief' and it already sounds boring. This happened to me. I didn't really start paying attention until some of my classmates started giggling. Actually, nobody was watching it until it appeared to be a great movie. It was a comedy, about two guys trying to make a quick buck. They had this master mind plan about raising money by kidnapping a man by the name of Ebenezer Dorset's little boy. One would think that the boy, AKA Red Chief would get hurt, but it was the criminals who did. At the end our sides were split listening to it! Have fun with it, and believe me when I say that it is worth while.

I thought this movie was indeed a little bland at points, but overall it's a good movie to watch, sitting at home with your family, and gives a sense of warmth into the picture. I have always liked Christopher Lloyd (Back to The Future, Dennis The Menace, etc.) and I feel that he has done well in this movie. Haley Joel Osment (I'll Remember April, The Sixth Sense, Forrest Gump etc.) has always been one of my favourite child-actors, (next to Trevor Morgan of course), and does an explicitly wonderful job. I can admit, maybe he was a little too soft and, the little boy he played, is anything but nice. A dastardly, mischievous, little wretch, who enjoys nothing more than breaking the rules, (and no, no-one imagined Alex Linz playing the role of the little boy in a previous movie, he did, and played the role with much more trouble in him) but, I can say, that I did enjoy this movie immensely. And so did my kids, sat through it and watched it the whole way through without any interruptions. (Which is actually quite of a miracle, because usually all they enjoy watching is cartoons and The Disney Channel). I say well done, apart from the mishaps, and unfortunate casting in some parts (that I won't mention) a feel-good movie that I enjoyed, and would watch again! Also, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a little mischief, and also, quite some feeling.

'Red Chief', one of O.Henry's most engaging stories, has been filmed at least three times. (I can find no record of the Alex Linz version several have referred to; it does not appear in his IMDb biography.) This version strikes me as the poorest of the three: too much slapstick, too many extraneous characters (the housemaid, the sheriff/narrator) who only slow down the action.

The story was first filmed in 1952 along with four other stories in 'O.Henry's Full House'. The kidnappers were played by the brilliant radio comedian Fred Allen and the equally brilliant pianist/comedian Oscar Levant so it should have been a winner but somehow it failed to click, to me at least. (Lee Aaker of 'Rin Tin Tin' played the boy.) But amazingly the truest and funniest version of this quintessentially American story was filmed in France. 'Le grand chef' (1959) featured Fernandel, then France's leading comic, and Gino Cervi, a prominent Italian actor. 'Red chief' was played by an enchanting youngster named Papouf. Downloadable copies are available but so far I haven't seen one with subtitles. You can use it to brush up on your French or just to enjoy the action.