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Kidnapped

Play trailer Poster for Kidnapped 1938 1h 30m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
David Balfour (Freddie Bartholomew), a young man in Scotland, is on his way to Edinburgh to live with Ebenezer (Miles Mander), his sinister uncle. Along the way, David becomes unwillingly attached to rebel Alan Breck (Warner Baxter) and his accomplices, including James (Ralph Forbes), whom David witnesses murdering a tax collector. Now on the run, the small group of renegades must work together in order to evade British lawmen and make their way to a new home, wherever that may be.

Critics Reviews

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Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine Kidnapped is fair historical melodrama, but the original Stevenson parts that survive seem to show that Robert Louis Stevenson could write better for the screen than four Hollywood writers put together. Oct 9, 2019 Full Review John Beifuss Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) The highlight is its character actor hall of fame: John Carradine, C. Aubrey Smith, E.E. Clive, Reginald Owen and Nigel Bruce, who manages not to mangle even such mouthfuls as: 'If it's helping Scotland, no daughter of mine would do aught but say 'Aye.'' Rated: 2.5/4 Jul 30, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Excellent movie based upon RL Stevenson's book - which was based on recent recent Scottish political events of it's day. Unfortunately, rumors were considered adequate sources for news reports of those days. Still, most of the historical incidents portrayed here are true. Solid script, camerawork, and actors who could hit their marks. A must see if you're of Scottish decent: the American revolt might have been different had those Highlanders not protested so vehemently a few decades earlier! Have pride in you'rn tartan with sporran and garters! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member I saw this on TCM. I've never read the book, so I wasn't familiar with the story. This is the second movie adaptation, and the first with sound. I was expecting something similar to Treasure Island. Because of the time period and a bit of seafaring adventure it did share some things in common with Stevenson's more famous novel. Freddie Bartholomew is very good as the young lead. Old Hollywood was always adding romantic subplots whether one was present in the original story or not. Like I said, I didn't know how much of this film adaptation matched the book source. Jean MacDonald and Warner Baxter have good chemistry as a couple though. I thought it worked, especially when the three main characters pass themselves off as a family. There were a couple instances where I questioned if distances traveled and time passing made logical sense. However the story is constructed fairly well and the characters are all well developed. From what I understand, this film contains a talented collection of many of the British character actors of the day. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member good adaption of the classic robert louis stevenson book. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Kidnapped

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Kidnapped

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Movie Info

Synopsis David Balfour (Freddie Bartholomew), a young man in Scotland, is on his way to Edinburgh to live with Ebenezer (Miles Mander), his sinister uncle. Along the way, David becomes unwillingly attached to rebel Alan Breck (Warner Baxter) and his accomplices, including James (Ralph Forbes), whom David witnesses murdering a tax collector. Now on the run, the small group of renegades must work together in order to evade British lawmen and make their way to a new home, wherever that may be.
Director
Alfred L. Werker
Producer
Kenneth Macgowan
Screenwriter
Sonya Levien, Ernest Pascal, Edwin Blum, Eleanor Harris
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 20, 2012
Runtime
1h 30m