Essay On The Ransom Of Red Chief
The Ransom of Red Chief is a short story written by O. Henry in 1907. It was adapted into a short television film in 1952 as a part of the film series O. Henry’s Full House. Though the film tends to stay true to the original, there are many differences. In this essay I will go over the similarities and differences of the original story and the short film adaption.
O. Henry’s story stars Johnny Dorset, a rascal of a little boy. He’s a mischief-maker, tiring out his parents with all his pranks and games. However, in the film, Johnny goes by his initials, J.D. The story of Johnny is told only in the perspective of Bill, who alongside his partner, Sam, kidnaps the little boy and requests a ransom for his return. Instead of using just one perspective, the film is switching perspective between characters constantly. The viewers are shown the story from the perspective of Bill, Sam, J.D., J.D’s parents, and the townsfolk.
The change of Johnny’s name causes no problems to the story, so …show more content…
In the story, they are not shown at all, except for in the letter Mr. Dorset leaves for Bill and Sam. Whereas, in the film, they appear multiple times reacting to the hostage situation. Including his parents added humor to the scenes that would have otherwise been bland on screen, so I saw no issue with the change. Their characters were handled very well by the scriptwriters and actors as well. I do like it the way it is told in the story, but again, things have to be changed to fit the screen.
Overall, I think the film adaption of The Ransom of Red Chief was handled very well. It didn’t stray too far from the original while still making changes necessary to adapt it for film. While some people may argue that it was changed too much, I disagree. Literature and television are two very different medias, and adapting a book, especially a short story, is a difficult thing to do. I definitely enjoyed both versions of the
O. Henry’s story stars Johnny Dorset, a rascal of a little boy. He’s a mischief-maker, tiring out his parents with all his pranks and games. However, in the film, Johnny goes by his initials, J.D. The story of Johnny is told only in the perspective of Bill, who alongside his partner, Sam, kidnaps the little boy and requests a ransom for his return. Instead of using just one perspective, the film is switching perspective between characters constantly. The viewers are shown the story from the perspective of Bill, Sam, J.D., J.D’s parents, and the townsfolk.
The change of Johnny’s name causes no problems to the story, so …show more content…
In the story, they are not shown at all, except for in the letter Mr. Dorset leaves for Bill and Sam. Whereas, in the film, they appear multiple times reacting to the hostage situation. Including his parents added humor to the scenes that would have otherwise been bland on screen, so I saw no issue with the change. Their characters were handled very well by the scriptwriters and actors as well. I do like it the way it is told in the story, but again, things have to be changed to fit the screen.
Overall, I think the film adaption of The Ransom of Red Chief was handled very well. It didn’t stray too far from the original while still making changes necessary to adapt it for film. While some people may argue that it was changed too much, I disagree. Literature and television are two very different medias, and adapting a book, especially a short story, is a difficult thing to do. I definitely enjoyed both versions of the