Million Dollar Ransom
Cast & Crew
Murray Roth
Phillips Holmes
Edward Arnold
Mary Carlisle
Wini Shaw
Andy Devine
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
King of the Beer Trade, Vincent Shelton, gets out of prison after the repeal of Prohibition having served three years for tax evasion and tells his old gang of racketeers, led by "Doc" Carson, whom he believes turned him in, that he is through with the criminal life. Stanton Casserly, a young millionaire who wants to stop his mother Elita from marrying gigolo Leon Pascal, an adventurer living in Paris, hires Vince to kidnap him to keep his mother from sailing to Europe. As part of the deal, Vince demands $250,000, but promises to return the money after the heist. Meanwhile, Vince's daughter Francesca has returned from school in Paris to greet her father upon his release, and Vince asks his friends, Mom and Pop McGarry, to take care of her. Vince is trying to marry nightclub singer "Babe," but will only do so once Frances is back in Paris. Stan hides out in an old liquor warehouse next to the McGarrys' farm and falls in love with Frances. Doc, meanwhile, suspects that Vince is in on a kidnapping scheme with the Casserlys and tries to get part of Vince's take by killing Vince's informant, "Careful," and kidnapping Stan and Frances. Vince agrees to give Doc half the take and pretends not to know Frances. When Stan tells Vince he would marry Frances right away if he could, Vince tells Doc that the girl is willing to keep her mouth shut about the kidnapping if Stan marries her. Consequently, Doc's mugs, "Stormy" and "Innocence," take the couple to a New Jersey justice of the peace, who marries them. Elita, meanwhile, gets a cablegram sent to Stan by the detective he hired to look into her fiancé and learns that Leon was extradited by Scotland Yard for forgery and that a woman claiming to be his wife was responsible for the arrest. Vince has Babe return the money to the Casserlys and offers his share to Stan and Frances as a wedding present, then calls the police to meet him at 11:30, when he is supposed to give Doc half his take. Before the police can arrest Doc, he shoots Vince, then his car falls in a ditch and burns. Babe runs to Vince as he dies and hears him comment on the irony of being shot after he had finally gone straight.
Director
Murray Roth
Cast
Phillips Holmes
Edward Arnold
Mary Carlisle
Wini Shaw
Andy Devine
Robert Gleckler
Marjorie Gateson
Edgar Norton
Bradley Page
Huey White
Charles Coleman
Henry Kolker
Dorothy Christy
Spencer Charters
Jane Darwell
Al Hill
Joyce Compton
Knute Erickson
Hugh Enfield
Arthur Hoyt
Maidel Turner
Wilbur Mack
Jay C. Flippen
Gordon De Main
Billee Van Every
Crew
E. M. Asher
Archie Buchanan
Walter Donaldson
Connie Earl
John P. Fulton
Ben Grauman Kohn
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle
William R. Lipman
M. F. Murphy
George Robinson
Ben Ryan
Murray Seldeen
Joe Torillo
Peggy Vaughn
Edward Ward
Harrison Wiley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Credits and plot for this film were taken from a studio cutting continuity and dialogue script. A Call Bureau Cast Service sheet dated July 12, 1934 lists the working title as Ransom One Million Dollars. The title card for this film reads, "Damon Runyon's Million Dollar Ransom."
