The Ransom - Recap

Dan is (apparently) at his home playing billiards when gangster Frank Egan and his henchmen come in. Egan tells Briggs that he has Sandy Forrester, the daughter of Dan’s friend George. Egan tells Dan that he must free Augie Gorman, a key witness against him, or he’ll kill the girl.

Dan assembles the usual team plus Dr. Ira Green, and Steve, who looks like Gorman. In the briefing Dan warns that they can’t tell the D.A. what’s going on or he’ll simply increase the security on Gorman’s hotel room where the police are keeping him. Their plan: get the police to give Gorman to them.

Dan talks to George who agrees to let Dan handle things for now. They get in contact with Egan and demand to talk to Sandy, confirming she’s alive. They go over the plans of a hospital and Dr. Green confirms that he has Gorman’s x-rays.

They go to a hotel room above Gorman’s and Willy curs off the water from the basement. Barney cuts open the water pipe and they lower a pouch of a drug that will give Gorman stroke-like symptoms when he drinks it. And then… they wait. Gorman doesn’t take a drink at first, so Dan turns off the air conditioning. When that doesn’t work, Dan pretends to be a drunk and makes noise outside of Gorman’s door, yelling his name. The police usher him away but the nervous Gorman takes some sleeping pills and Barney releases the drug.

Gorman collapses and is rushed to the helicopter under police guard. Cinnamon is there as a nurse and gets Gorman to the x-ray room where Dr. Green is waiting. They administer several x-rays and when the police detective is behind the lead screen, Cinnamon triggers a switch that rotates the table surface, switching Steve for Gorman. They take Steve to a hospital room and put him in an oxygen tent, while Rollin (disguised as a doctor) and Cinnamon try to get Gorman out. However, the police detective notices something is amiss and orders a lockdown. Dr. Green uses the x-ray plates of the real Gorman to convince him that Steve is the real Gorman.

Egan calls Dan and sets up a meet in the warehouse district, but Dan suspects a trap. On the streets, Egan has his men drive by with Sandy in the car, and Dan shows him Gorman unconscious in a phone booth. Egan immediately has his man hidden in the trunk shoot Gorman, only for Dan to reveal it’s a dummy. Now Dan warns Egan they’re going to do the trade for real, and if Egan tries to betray them again he’ll kill the gangster.

Dan sets up a new rendezvous at a railway station and hauls the unwilling Gorman along after threatening to kill him as well if he doesn’t cooperate. Dan and George drive Gorman to the spot, with an electronic tracking device. They meet with one of Egan’s men who escorts them to a warehouse. Barney and Cinnamon follow the van electronically and let Rollin know where they’re going.

Egan leaves from his house to head for the warehouse but Willy (disguised as a patrolman) pulls him over. At the warehouse, Dan and George make the switch, get Sandy, and hide outside. Egan arrives, demands to see Gorman, and then ruthlessly guns him down. He orders his men to leave… and then the real Egan shows up. The first Egan is Rollin, disguised and using a rigged shotgun to fake Gorman’s death. Dan and Rollin hold Egan at gunpoint and stop George from killing the gangster, noting that he has a date with the grand jury. A grateful George and his daughter are reunited.

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