The Ransom of Red Chief

This film came as a shock to me, i found this extremely funny and intelligent (not including bill.) Good performances by the cast and an excellent screenplay make this a must see film. Bill, the bumbling side-kick has his share of laughs, and Andy's father gets a lot of laughs with his sarcasm.

Haley Joel Osment, even though much younger still manages to steal the show with another excellent performance.

A class act all round, top notch film 10/10, and thats only because i can't go higher.

This is the typical TV movie. You can tell from its budget, from its look, from its minimalism...

Seriously, this movie is nothing (and I mean, nothing) special. Although very far from being good, it does offer some fun to its audiences, particularly by Haley Joel Osment (he really is the one who steals the show). This was before Haley got widely known. Even in his early years he already possessed great potential for dramatic roles ('Bogus' is one good example of that) and he is better known for his acting skills in drama rather than in comedy. However, in this TV movie he is hilarious (I never thought I'd say this about him one day), particularly anytime he mimics indians and calls himself Red Chief. Not just that, he is way funnier than gloomy in this movie. This is the living proof that Haley could do comedy as well as he could do drama.

As a movie, it actually deserved a 5 rating, but I gave it a 6 as a gratitude gesture over Haley's fantastic performance in an unusual role for him.

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?

I read this story when I was in seventh grade, and was happy to see this television movie. It flowed nicely with the actual story, and I did not have one complaint. For anyone who has ever wanted to watch or read a family oriented piece, 'Ransom of Red Chief' is a good one.

'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.