The Ransom of Red Chief (1911) User Reviews (2)

O. Henry

[boblipton · 4/10 · 16 January 2017]

Two desperate men kidnap Yale Boss, the son of a rich business, to hold him for ransom. However... Oh, why bother giving a synopsis? This is one of O. Henry's two best-known stories, and if by some chance you're not familiar with it, you're better off taking ten minutes to read it than half a minute reading this review. So go do that and we'll discuss the movie when you come back.

So, how is the movie? There are a few problems with it. First, Yale Boss, in his third movie, is not very good. Second, this one is very title-heavy for an Edison film in this period, and they give away the ending before the actors can show us. Because O. Henry's stories usually had twist endings, this leaves the audience hanging with little in the way of surprise.

A beautiful story about a young boy's coming of age.

[tialdfswntta · 10/10 · 25 April 2014]

Young boy, Red Chief learns that you can't always get what you want through a hard life lesson. When Red Chief's teacher gives him an F on a project he worked very hard on, "Chief" (as his friends call him) breaks down. He starts popping pills and washing it down with hard vodka. This path is bad for Chief and his parents start realizing it. Overall, it's a very heart warming yet gruesome story of the once kid, now serial killer named Red Chief. The town he lives in is full of corruption so Chief learns to do sexual favors for extra pill cash. These scenes are often very graphic with sound and sometimes visuals. It still teaches good messages to young children. O'Henry is a great up and coming author and I can't wait to hear more from his brilliant young mind. I would recommend to any parents who want to show their young children the pros and cons of pills.