Direct adaptations include the 1952 movie The Ransom of Red Chief starring Fred Allen and Oscar Levant (part of O. 'The Ransom of Red Chief' has been adapted many times, directly and indirectly. The ironic situation lies in the fact that the kidnappers have to pay the father to get his son back (or in truth, to actually agree to even accept him back) instead of the father's paying the kidnappers for the return of his son.įirst published in The Saturday Evening Post.

The men hand over the money and the howling boy – who had actually been happier being away from his strict father – and flee while the father restrains his son from following them. The father, who knows his son well and realizes how intolerable he will be to his captors and how eager they will soon be to rid themselves of the delinquent child, rejects their demand and offers to take the boy off their hands if they pay him $250 (equivalent to $7,900 in 2022). The criminals write a ransom letter to the boy's father, lowering the ransom from $2,000 to $1,500, believing that the father won't pay much money for his return. Calling himself 'Red Chief', the boy proceeds to drive his captors to distraction with his unrelenting chatter, malicious pranks, and demands that they play wearying games with him, such as riding 90 miles on Bill's back pretending to be an Indian scout. But the moment that they arrive at their hideout with the boy, the plan begins to unravel, as the boy actually starts to enjoy his kidnappers. Two small-time criminals, Bill and Sam Driskoll, kidnap a kid named Johnny, the red-haired son of Ebenezer Dorset, an important citizen, and hold him for ransom. It has also been often used as a classic example of two ultimate comic ironies – a supposed 'hostage' actually liking his abductors and enjoying being captured, and his captors getting their just deserts by having the tables turned on them, and being compelled to pay to be rid of him.įirst appearance in The Saturday Evening Post. The story and its main idea have become a part of popular culture, with many children's television programs depicting versions of the story as one of their episodes. Eventually, the men are driven crazy by the boy's spoiled and hyperactive behavior, and they pay the boy's father to take him back. It follows two men who kidnap and demand a ransom for a wealthy Alabamian's son. Henry first published in the July 6, 1907, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. 'The Ransom of Red Chief' is a short story by O.

Story the ransom of red chief