Backett expresses his wish that families would not pay ransoms, because assenting to kidnappers' demands encourages more kidnappings. Telfer explains that even if Dave pays the ransom, there is no guarantee that Andy will be returned alive, as he is evidence of the kidnapper's crime, and that Andy's fate will be the same regardless of what Dave decides to do.

With his brother and business partner Al, Dave collects the ransom money. The police trace the phone call to a phone booth and arrive in time to find the kidnapper's cigarette still burning. The kidnapper demands a $500,000 ransom and instructs Dave to signal his intention to pay by having a popular television host wear a white jacket on the next evening's broadcast. The doctor sedates Edith, and she is asleep upstairs when the kidnapper finally calls. When the principal of Andy's school arrives and demands not to be held responsible for Andy's abduction, Edith attacks her with a fire poker. Newspaper reporter Charlie Telfer enters the house and meets hostile resistance from Dave but is allowed to remain. Police chief Jim Backett organizes a search and has an additional telephone line installed in the Stannards' house in order to keep the main line free should the kidnappers call with a ransom demand. Dave realizes that Andy has been kidnapped and calls the police. Dave contacts the doctor and is told that the doctor had not requested to retrieve Andy. Andy's school principal calls to inform the Stannards that the family doctor's nurse has collected Andy from school with an infection. Young Andy Stannard is the son of wealthy executive father Dave Stannard and mother Edith. The 1996 film Ransom, directed by Ron Howard and starring Mel Gibson, was loosely based on Ransom!. ĭirected by stage and television veteran Alex Segal, the film stars Glenn Ford, Donna Reed and Leslie Nielsen (in his first film role). Written by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume, the film is based on a popular 1954 episode of The United States Steel Hour titled 'Fearful Decision' starring Ralph Bellamy. Ransom! is a 1956 American crime drama film about the kidnapping of the son of a wealthy couple.

The ransom trilogy