Kidnapped (1938)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
Sonya Levien (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 May 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

In the late eighteenth century David Balfour's evil uncle arranges for him to be kidnapped and sent to sea where he meets exiled Breck...

Plot Keywords:

Scotland | Uncle | Cabin Boy | Dart Game | Ruse

Cast

Warner Baxter	...	Alan Breck
Freddie Bartholomew	...	David Balfour
Arleen Whelan	...	Jean MacDonald
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Duke of Argyle
Reginald Owen	...	Capt. Hoseason
John Carradine	...	Gordon
Nigel Bruce	...	Neil MacDonald
Miles Mander	...	Ebenezer Balfour
Ralph Forbes	...	James
H.B. Warner	...	Angus Rankeiller
Arthur Hohl	...	Riach
E.E. Clive	...	Minister MacDougall
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Dominie Campbell
Montagu Love	...	Col. Whitehead
Donald Haines	...	Ransome

Also Known As:

Kidnapped: The Adventures of David Balfour (USA) (long title)

Runtime:

90 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #4052) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Although the film was released in sepia tone, the print on the Fox Movie channel was in black-and-white.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Freddie Bartholemew is walking to Edinburgh, he passes a road sign showing "Edinboro" which would be an Americanized spelling of the city.

Movie Connections:

Version of Kidnapped (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rule Britannia

Robert Louis Stevenson Adventure Film

A young Scotsman, on his way to becoming laird of his family property, instead finds himself in the very thick of his country's rebellion against the English, hunted & harried & in constant peril, after his evil uncle has him KIDNAPPED.

This is a fairly good adventure film which, now and again, actually includes some of the original plot as penned in the famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Action scenes are well done, but the wholly unnecessary romantic subplot gets very much in the way.

Warner Baxter is completely miscast as the great literary hero, Alan Breck; he doesn't even attempt to act Scots and his accent is pure Yankee. One wonders what Fox Studio had in mind. In the supporting cast was a star from silent screen days, British actor Ralph Forbes, who could have given the role more authority & punch. Instead, Forbes is given a tiny part & disappears quickly.

Freddie Bartholomew does a fine job as young David Balfour and there is an excellent supporting cast of sterling character players of the period: John Carradine, Nigel Bruce, Mary Gordon, Halliwell Hobbes, E. E. Clive, Montague Love, H. B. Warner & Eily Maylon. Reginald Owen is especially good as an old rapscallion of a sea captain, while Sir C. Aubrey Smith scores as a wise old duke.