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Nice effects though.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The acting in this movie is really good.

Despite having seen him mentioned in a number of posts on IMDb's Film Noir board,I have somehow never got round to seeing a title by director Robert Aldrich.Taking a look at Film Noir movies released in 1954 recently,I was happy to spot a near-forgotten Aldrich film,which led to me excitingly getting ready to see the world being held for ransom.The plot:Singapore-Heading to a bar, Mike Callahan is gripped by Singapore leading racketeering gangster Johnny Chan.Planning to control the entire rubber industry in the city by keeping his stock hidden in a near by jungle,Chan reveals that he suspects Callahan is up to some dirty tricks,due to Callahan's friend Julian March and psychotic thug Guzik having recently taken over the location.Explaining to Chan that he has not seen his friend for ages,Callahan gets Chan to give him some time to find out what his friend has gotten involved in.Hoping to find info by meeting Marchs wife (and his former sweetheart) Frennessey March Callahan is shocked to find that Julian has completely disappeared from sight.As Callahan starts to search round the city for Julian,Julian sets his sights on kidnapping one of the world's leading nuclear scientist.View on the film:Filmed for 10 days, (with Aldrich taking the odd day off so that he could film some adverts in order to pay for post-production!) on a $90,000 budget and using most of the cast and sets from the TV series China Smith/Captain China,director Robert Aldrich gives the movie a tremendous Asia atmosphere,thanks to Aldrich using stark lights which transform the TV set into a boiling hot Singapore.Along with the heated atmosphere,Aldrich and cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc expertly use mirror shot angles to show the non-ruthless Film Noir world which Callahan desires to be in.Whilst the screenplay did sadly suffer some cuts from the ratings board, (which included an important lesbian subplot)Lindsay Hardy and Hugo Butler (who was uncredited,due to being blacklisted) is still able to include some sly satirical nods to the Allied occupation of the far East during WWII,and also show themselves to be rather ahead of their time,by keeping away from featuring clichés associated with titles set in Asia at the time.Along with the satirical shots,the writers also create an excellent Film Noir world where Callahan soon discovers that friendships can turn into dusts in mere seconds.Looking round the smoke filled streets of Singapore, Dan Duryea gives a strong performance as Callahan,with Duryea showing Callahan's war scars to run deep in his murky relationship with Julian.Being Julian and Callahan's object of affection,the very pretty Marian Carr gives a wonderfully icy performance as femme fatale Frennessey March,whilst Patric Knowles gives an extremely charming,brash performance as Julian,with Knowles showing Julian to slowly lose his sanity,as he prepares to hold the world for ransom.

For some reason, the actors in this film, particularly Dan Duryea, found it necessary to speak as if they were in an amphitheater in "World for Ransom," a 1954 film directed by Robert Aldrich. If I had to describe this film in one word, I'd say "loud."Mike Callahan (Dan Duryea) is a good friend of Julian Marsh (Patric Knowles), and is also in love with Julian's wife Frennessy (Marian Carr), who met Julian while boyfriend Mike was away in the service. Julian is up to something no good, and Mike promises Frennessy that he'll get him out of it and bring him home. Frennessy admits that she's unhappy with Julian, but that she won't be able to leave him and go off with Mike while he's in trouble. Turns out Julian has involved himself with a man named Alex Pederas (Gene Lockhart), a bad guy, and is part of the kidnapping of a nuclear scientist, one of the three men in the world who know how to detonate the H bomb. They're planning on making some big money. Julian has made a mistake in driving a route where he is well known, and he's been photographed by a street photographer. So there's a panic to get the photo and the negative to cover his mistake.Others on the board have said this is a template for "Kiss Me, Deadly" and that it also is reminiscent of "The Third Man." I see similar plot elements but that's about it. Comparing this to either film is a stretch.A good start for Aldrich, who was still in his early career and uncredited for this film. I think he did the best he could given the material.

I taped World For Ransom when BBC2 screened it during the early hours recently. This is the time when they usually show these sort of movies and I found this one quite good.Set in Singapore, a group of people plot to kidnap a nuclear scientist who is one of only three people in the whole world who knows how to detonate the H-Bomb. We get to see plenty of people being killed, especially during the final scenes. There is also blackmail, double crossing and punch-ups.The cast includes Dan Duryea, Patric Knowles (How Green Was My Valley, The Wolf Man), Gene Lockhart (Lost In Space star June's dad) and Nigel Bruce (Dr Watson from the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies) in his last movie.World For Ransom is quite good and is worth checking out.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

World For Ransom(1954) is an odd item from filmography of Robert Aldrich as it is not as well known as some of his other movies. This is an overlooked movie that would provide a sketch for Kiss Me Deadly(1955). Dan Duryea gives a very good performance as well as Patric Knowles and Marian Carr. The plot of the film recalls The Third Man(1949) because its also about a friend of the protagonist who may be villainous and the woman who torn between her husband and her friend. It is well paced and filled with action and intrigue. World For Ransom(1954) is an exciting movie by a man who would later do terrific films like Kiss Me Deadly(1955) and The Dirty Dozen(1967).