Kidnapped (1971)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (based on "Kidnapped" and "David Balfour")
Jack Pulman (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 March 1973 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

Plot:

When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance his relative...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Alan Breck
Lawrence Douglas	...	David Balfour
Vivien Heilbron	...	Catriona Stewart
Trevor Howard	...	Lord Advocate
Jack Hawkins	...	Captain Hoseason
Donald Pleasence	...	Ebenezer Balfour
Gordon Jackson	...	Charles Stewart
Freddie Jones	...	Cluny
Jack Watson	...	James Stewart
Peter Jeffrey	...	Riach
Roger Booth	...	Duke of Cumberland
Geoffrey Whitehead	...	Lt. Duncansby
Andrew McCulloch	...	Andrew
Claire Nielson	...	Barbara Grant
John Hughes	...	Simon Campbell

Runtime:

USA:100 min | UK:107 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Sweden:15 | USA:G | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Omnibus Productions

Trivia:

A number of books on Michael Caine have alleged that cast and crew were not paid because of cash problems.

Movie Connections:

Version of Schüsse unterm Galgen (1970)

Soundtrack:

For All My Days

Very Entertaining

I enjoyed this movie very much. It is loosely based on two Robert Louis Stevenson novels, Kidnapped and its sequel Catriona. Those who would religiously stick to the contents of these novels will be disappointed in the adaptation. However, the film has, as it should IMHO, a world and plot of its own. Moreover, the plot is engaging and quite exciting.

The film movingly portrays a culture and political cause on the verge of destruction and the politics behind it. To a certain extent, it has to modify the plot of the two novels to effectively do so. Now it might have been nice if we could have heard the Scottish language spoken amongst the Highlanders. This absence makes it harder to portray the cultural conflict which was important both in the period and in the novels. However, we can forgive the film's makers by remembering that such was rarely done in the early 1970s.

The plot may not be entirely accurate in detail (the Appin murder, etc), but the portrayal of the Jacobite Rebellion is both very accurate and insightful, surprisingly so for a big-time film. The ending is a terrific and original attempt to convey the thoughts and psychology of a man through the medium of film.

All that aside, it is a historical adventure. One either likes that genre or doesn't. If the former, then the chances are you will like this.