Many consider World for Ransom a dry run for Aldrich's great nihilistic noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955). The premise is more or less the same - private eye stumbles onto underworld plot involving a nuclear weapon - but the similarities end there. World for Ransom is less like Kiss Me Deadly than it resembles, quite closely, the kind of ultra-cheap but occasionally entertaining noirs and other thrillers cranked out by Lippert Pictures in the early 1950s, albeit minus Sid Melton's comedy relief. Some of Lippert's releases were actually unsold TV pilots retooled as theatrical features. World for Ransom has a similar backstory, one more interesting than the picture itself.

Wikipedia's entry for World for Ransom quotes online reviewer Dennis Schwartz, who calls it a "marvelously understated film noir that parodies all those big budget spy/adventure films," but nothing in the movie even remotely hints at this. Rather, it's simply cheap ($90,000), fast (10-day shoot), and nearly incompetent.

Originally released by Allied Artists and now part of the Paramount library, World For Ransom comes to Blu-ray by way of Olive Films, whose high-def transfer is excellent.

The movie evolved out of Aldrich's association with the now forgotten TV program China Smith (1952-55), a half-hour series set in Singapore (but initially filmed in Mexico) and starring Dan Duryea in the title role, a morally ambiguous private eye. Aldrich directed two episodes, and somehow talked China Smith producer Bernard Tabakin into building a stand-alone feature utilizing that show's sets, costumes, and even Duryea and co-star Douglass Dumbrille. Reportedly, the screenplay was itself an expanded from a story originally earmarked for the show.

I've never seen China Smith - even YouTube offers no clips - but World for Ransom sure sounds like an expanded China Smith in all but name. Dan Duryea again plays a morally ambiguous private eye in Singapore and his character, here called Mike Callahan, again wears a white suit. Dumbrille's character is called Inspector McCollum while on China Smith he was Inspector Hobson, but I'd wager he too wears the same costume he wore on the show.

The convoluted, overly busy plot has Mike working for an old flame, nightclub singer Frennessey March (Marian Carr, of Indestructible Man) whose husband, Julian (Patric Knowles), is involved in a plot to kidnap hydrogen bomb scientist Sean O'Connor (Arthur Shields, lookalike brother of Barry Fitzgerald). Mike somehow believes his helping Frennessey will rekindle their long-ago romance. Julian is clearly up to no good, but he and Mike also have a long history.

Dennis Schwartz's review further claims "Aldrich was upset with censors for lifting the scene where Duryea learns his love interest is a lesbian," but that also may be inaccurate. Apparently a brief bit of Frennessey kissing a woman was cut, but that might have been part of her nightclub act, a blatant steal from Morocco (1930), where she's dressed in a tailcoat and top hat just like Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's film.

(Also at the nightclub is dancer Carmen D'Antonio, doing what's intended as an exotically suggestive number. Only problem is D'Antonio has a face just like Margaret Hamilton, hardly a turn-on.)

Gene Lockhart, normally cast as a gentle, jolly authority figure with a twinkle in his eye, is peculiarly miscast as the picture's ruthless, Sydney Greenstreet-like mastermind. Though Lockhart did occasionally play nervous secondary villains, he's way out of his depth here.

Knowles is much better as the traitorous, increasingly desperate Julian, while Reginald Denny makes the most of a clichéd part, a British Intelligence major. This was ex-Dr. Watson Nigel Bruce's last film role, playing Singapore Governor Sir Charles Coutts, while Keye Luke has a small part as a photographer who accidentally gets in the villains' way. Two couldn't-be-more-different actors turn up unbilled as British soldiers: Strother Martin and, a real surprise, Patrick Allen, each at the beginning of long, prolific careers.

Also unbilled is Aldrich himself: the film has no director credit at all, though Aldrich did allow himself to be listed as one of World for Ransom's producers. By January 1954, when the film was released, Aldrich had already begun his association with Burt Lancaster on much bigger and more prestigious productions; Apache and Vera Cruz were released later that year. Considering how cheap and badly directed World for Ransom is, it's no wonder he'd choose to (partially) disown it.

Video & Audio

World for Ransom's cheapness is reflected in the crude title design, which seem formatted for widescreen though the picture appears to have been made just prior to the widescreen revolution, but released when it was in full-swing. As such, the 1.37:1 framing looks correct. The transfer has a few rough patches of badly processed dissolves and the like, but otherwise it looks great, better perhaps than it did in theaters when it was new. The mono audio (English only, no subtitles) is acceptable. No Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

Fans of Robert Aldrich might want to see this but don't expect much. World for Ransom is quite bad, though it's still a welcome release from the always interesting Olive Films, and I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to see it once, even if never again. Rent It.

Stuart Galbraith IV is the Kyoto-based film historian and publisher-editor of World Cinema Paradise. His credits include film history books, DVD and Blu-ray audio commentaries and special features.