L'enlèvement de David Balfour

I know an honest appraisal when I see one. Add to that droits_de_l_homme is from Scotland so he knows what he is talking about. I just know I have always loved this movie. I have always been a fan of classic writers like Stevenson and Dickens. This Disney movie is long overdue for putting on DVD. Why such a great piece of work with a stellar cast has not been put on DVD before now is beyond me. I bought the VHS many years ago and I am glad I did as it is OOP now. If you are lucky enough to catch it on TV I am sure you will agree it is a masterpiece of family entertainment with an accurate depiction of Scottish history thrown in for good measure. I always hoped this would come out on DVD with Disney talking about the story behind it as he often did when these were made for the Disney TV show.

This a rollicking good story and even if you not seen the movie for many years you are in for a pleasant surprise. The scenery is wonderful and there are wonderful characters in the film and plenty of excitement. The scenes of the grand old ships on the mighty ocean really do look rather like boats in a bath tub but forget all that its a finely paced adventure movie. There are a few of Disneys favourite young actors in it and they are all very good but its Peter Finch who brings that special distinction to the film. He was a brilliant actor and even though its a Disney kids flick he gives it all he has got. Finch is brilliant and it is his film. There is a lovely scene with the incredibly handsome Peter O Toole.

Equating Disney movies to "family entertainment" is a bit trite, but here it works. Young men looking for adventure in their lives will be as pleased with this film as parents looking for a quality movie to which they can take their kids. This is the brilliant Scottish raconteur Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of two Scotlands, Highland and Lowland, as personified by the dour young Mr. David Balfour and the spirited Highlander Alan Breck Stewart (who proudly "bears a King's name"). On the run for their lives in their own native country of Scotland, now occupied by English redcoats and their Hessian merceneries, the protagonists must overcome their mutual distrust of one another, which is based primarily on political differences (but also on cultural differences as well). In fighting to keep their health and lives, they come to respect and even appreciate one another, in part because (ironically) they are from different worlds. The acting is simply first-rate; the producers could not (and did not) rely on special effects to make this movie work. The scenery of the Scottish Highlands is breathtaking. But it's the plot and character development made so viable by the brilliant acting of Peter Finch and James MacArthur that make the movie a stand-out. Rent it, bring it home, and watch it with your girlfriend, your boyfriend, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, friends, parent, grandparents, or perfect strangers. By the end of the movie, you'll value the friendship that young Mr. Balfour and the spirited Highlander find for themselves.

Robert Louis Stevenson, born in Scotland in 1850 and sick with tuberculosis most of his adult life, was one prolific author of books of travel and adventure that are read and enjoyed even today. The imagery he creates in his books is so vivid that cinematic adaption is real easy. In fact this version of Kidnapped won high praise in the British Isles for being remarkably faithful to the book.

The story was also filmed on location in Scotland lending a real authenticity to the story. A whole slew of Scots players got work in this one and Australian Peter Finch and American James MacArthur fit right in with them.

Impossible for me to believe, but this Walt Disney film did not do as good in America as in Europe. I suppose it was both the accents and the knowledge of the political situation in Scotland post the rising in 1745 that Americans did not appreciate or were ignorant of. This American certainly did.

Young David Balfour the heir to the manor of Shores has one big problem collecting his inheritance, the presence of his uncle who is the reigning laird. Uncle Ebenezer who is deliciously played by John Laurie arranges a snatch by a sea captain friend of his and David (James MacArthur) is to be sent to the Carolinas in the American colonies as an indentured servant.

On the boat young David whose politics and heritage make him a supporter of the Hanoverian George II who is the reigning King of Great Britain finds himself having to make common cause with Scottish soldier of fortune Alan Breck Stewart who is played by Peter Finch and boasts proudly of bearing the name of the true House that ought to be running things. He's a Jacobite, a supporter of the claim of James III, who is exiled in France and who fought at Culloden with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

These unlikely allies affect an escape from the ship and make their way back to the House of Shores to set things right. Being a Jacobite and by dint of that, a traitor in Hanoverian eyes makes it all the more dangerous for both of them.

James MacArthur, son of playwright Charles MacArthur and Helen Hayes, was a young Disney star during that period, doing a whole bunch of roles for Disney on the small and big screen. Peter Finch makes his second and last appearance in a Disney film, he was memorable as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Disney's Robin Hood film. They have a good easy chemistry between them and if it were not so the film wouldn't have worked at all.

Three other players of note here are Bernard Lee as the sea captain who kidnaps Balfour, Finlay Currie as a fellow Jacobite clan leader who gives Finch and MacArthur shelter, and Peter O'Toole who bests Finch in a bagpipe playing contest.

Robert Louis Stevenson died in Tahiti in 1894, but in his short life left us a remarkable output of literature like Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Master of Ballantrae, and so much more. Though he went to the South Seas for health reasons and a love of adventure, if that can be combined in one individual, his love of Scotland was never shown better than in Kidnapped and in this classic adaption of that story.

I loved the book, and began watching this Disney treatment quite sceptically, expecting huge changes in the plot and a completely different ending. But to my surprise it follows Stevenson's original text virtually to the letter. A number of events were left out, for reasons of budget and screen time, I suppose. But everything you see in the film is in the book with minimal variations.

The Scottish locations are fantastic, the art direction is excellent, the cameos by Currie, Malleson and Laurie are a joy to watch, and the pipe playing contest between Finch and O'Toole is unforgettable. It is obvious that James MacCarthur is in the film only because he was a raising star at Disney's at the time and they wouldn't use an unknown British boy instead. It makes sense, but of course we still would have liked to see a native Scot with a real accent instead of an American painfully trying to sound like a Scot. But he manages to get along anyway.

A perfect adventure film for a Saturday/Sunday matinée.