If most people are asked what story by Robert Louis Stevenson they are acquainted with, more than likely they will say either TREASURE ISLAND or DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE or KIDNAPPED. KIDNAPPED is a close second to TREASURE ISLAND as Stevenson's most popular complete novel (DR. JECKYLL is a novella). Like THE MASTER OF BALLENTRAE it deals with the great trauma of Scotland's 18th Century history - the failure of the 1745/1746 Jacobite Rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie which came so close to success. But it does not deal straight with the events of those years, but rather with the aftermath for Scotland, for England, and for Scottish society.
David Balfour (James MacArthur) is a lowlander - he is from the urban centers of Scotland like Glasgow and Edinburgh and Dundee. These commercial centers play a serious role in his story, for David is returning to the home of his ancestors, which is also a business run by his uncle Ebenezer(John Laurie). He is met by a stingy miser who is hardly welcoming - actually he is quite hostile for awhile. But he gradually acts more quietly, if not more friendly to the nephew. At one point he asks him to retrieve some item in an upstairs section of the house they live in, and the stairs is in disrepair (nearly causing David to fall to his death). That settles it, and David just demands his inheritance and he'll be quit of this inhuman uncle. David goes to bed, and is awaken violently: he unknown men. They kidnap David (hence the title of the novel), and he is soon on board a ship commanded by the frequently drunken Captain Hoseason (Bernard Lee - "M" in the Sean Connery "James Bond" films) and his first mate Mr. Shaun (Niall MacGinnis). Soon David finds the ship (which is headed for America, where he may be sold as an indentured servant) has picked up a small boat, containing a single man, one Aleck Breck (Peter Finch). Breck is quite secretive of his being alone in such a desolate area, but Hoseason and Shaun suspect he is involved in some type of Jacobite treason.
KIDNAPPED is set in the year 1752. Most people think that Jacobite activity ended with the defeat and destruction of Charlie's Highlander army at Culloden in 1746, and the "clearances" in the Highland of Charlie's supporters. It didn't. Jacobite activities would continue into the period of the Seven Years War.
Stevenson shows that the tide has turned against the hard core of the Jacobites in Scotland - the strength were the Highland Clans, and they were purposely decimated . The lowland clans had hedged about their support (as in THE MASTER OF BALLENTRAE). But most, especially the Campbell family, went fully for the German Hanovarian Royal Family. The Campbells were rewarded, becoming the dominant noble family in Scotland (to this day). And that is the basis for the tragedy that is at the center of the story. A true tragedy and a murder mystery that has never been explained.
Alec is actually Alec Breck Stewart, a relative of the Old Pretender and his son Bonnie Prince Charlie. He is in Scotland to contact surviving Jacobite leaders. This does not really sit well with David, a lowlander who had little use for the Highland clans or their leaders. But they become close friends and allies against Hoseason and his crew, and in surviving in Scotland's Highland area (where David is totally at sea). But David is also realistic enough to note his friend's two worse habits: he's a heavy gambler and he drinks too much.
They have to make their way south, to get Alec through his mission and back to France, and for David to settle his accounts with Uncle Ebenezer. But they happen to meet with one of the most hated men in Scotland, Colin Campbell, known as "The Red Fox". He has been appointed by his cousin the Duke of Argyle to collect rents and help in the clearances. David has separated from Alec when he meets the arrogant Red Fox in the forest of Appin, and he is present when, from out of the forest, a shot is fired killing this man. David flees, and shortly is confronted by Alec. And David, despite his best endeavors, remains uncertain that Alec's secret mission was not tied to this assassination.
The "Red Fox's" murder was never solved, although a major judicial murder, the hanging of James "of the Glen" Stewart, followed within a year (before a judge and jury entirely of Campbells). But it turns Alec and David into fugitives, increasing their dangers immensely. They might end up dangling from English ropes.
I'll leave it at this point. Finch and MacArthur make a good pair of friends and adventurers, with Finch also showing Breck Stewart's failings (his temper, his loud mouth, his alcoholism, and his gambling). MacArthur (Helen Hayes' adopted son) also had a great scene regarding a dangerous confrontation with a greedy Highlander (Duncan Macrae) at a river in the highlands. The best recalled scene in this version is a bagpipe contest before one of their hosts (Finlay Currie) that was won by Currie's kinsman, a youngish man who movie goers would see more of later: Peter O'Toole. John Laurie is properly despicable (yet comical, in a pathetic way) as Ebenezer. Although there is a trace of more dignity in the Freddy Bartholemew - Warner Baxter KIDNAPPED from the 1930s, this one is actually the best movie version.
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