Ransom Money (1970)

A detective uses electronics to rescue a boy held for $1 million by a kidnapper.

Director:

Dewitt Lee

Writers:

Verland Whipple (story by), Verland Whipple (screenplay by)

Stars:

Broderick Crawford, Rachel Romen, Gordon Jump

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Broderick Crawford	...	Inspector Joseph Medford
Rachel Romen	...	Mrs. Joanne Patrick
Gordon Jump	...	Det. Capt. Hampton
Randy Whipple	...	Ronny Patrick
Robert Cain	...	Det. Phillips
Sebastian Stuart	...	Malcom Stewart
Tracy Marlow	...	Ms Marnot - Police Decoy
Jack Deal	...	Al Harper - Pilot
Mal Bernstein	...	Officer Bailey
Ray Frushay	...	Officer Smith
Grenade Curran	...	The Kidnapper

Storyline

A detective uses electronics to rescue a boy held for $1 million by a kidnapper.

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Plot Keywords:

kidnapping | theme song | skeleton | policeman | police inspector | 

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Genres:

Crime

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Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

My Mom & I
Written by Hank Levine and Penni Lane
Sung by Bob Engemann

User Reviews

Maybe "Grenade" pulled the pin too soon..

Looks suspiciously like an unfinished film, its lauded name-star Broderick Crawford essentially disappears from the script before the end, and a vaguely-related conclusion has been grafted thereupon with producer Grenade Curran inserted in the Las Vega$ scenes to provide an ending.

The film itself is paper-thin on plot, outlining the unsuccessful attempts of the local detectives (Jump and Cain) to locate an abducted boy (Whipple), taken from the Grand Canyon while his mother (Romen) is distracted. The abductor extorts the wealthy widow for a million $$ to secure the boy's release, but there are complications with the delivery of the ransom, and the boy's safe release. Crawford appears as an FBI adviser flown in as a specialist, though his value add is pretty non-existent.

Dubious is the main word I use to describe this farce - recycled scene fillers and staging coupled with tedious dialogue exchanges fails to mask the reality that this is just a concept without a developed (or at least properly executed) plan. The first 75 minutes are laborious, and the last ten are just nonsensical rubbish. Some abominable acting (Stuart - what is he doing?) further compounds the mess, which in spite of committed performances from Romen and Jump, never rises above amateur rank.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bomba de tiempo

Filming Locations:

Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canyon Country Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1