Kidnapped

While Robert Stevenson was directing Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Walt Disney visited the set and suggested that the next project they tackle should be Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. Disney had already adapted another Robert Louis Stevenson book, Treasure Island, in 1950 and the film had done very well for the company. Disney was hoping the same would be true for the novel about a young boy who has been sold into indentured servitude by his miserly uncle, but escapes into the Scotland with the help of a unlikely ally. Stevenson re-read the novel and was enthused about the project. He ended up writing the a treatment for the film while visiting the Scottish highlands after Darby wrapped. Stevenson would turn the treatment into a full screenplay within a few months. Incidentally he is of no relation to the famous author. 

For casting, James MacArthur was the obvious choice to play the young David Balfour. MacArthur was Disney's current young star, as he had leading roles in The Light in the Forest, and Third Man on the Mountain. Top billing, however, went to British/Australian actor Peter Finch who portrayed the Jacobite Allan Breck Stewart. Finch already had history with Disney because he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men (1952). After that Finch starred in movies  like The Elephant Walk (1954) where he played opposite to Elizabeth Taylor and The Dark Avenger (1955) opposite Errol Flynn but it wasn't until he starred opposite of Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story (1959) that he reached international acclaim. Unfortunately, Finch is probably more well known today to general audiences for being a piece of trivia. He was posthumously awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for Network (1976) after dying from a heart attack at the age of 60 before the Oscars took place in 1977. He was the only actor to win an Oscar posthumously until Heath Ledger in 2009. The most well-known actor of the film, however, is Peter O'Toole. This would be his first released film role and the most notable thing he does is have a bagpipe duel with Finch's Stewart. Though O'Toole only had a bit part in the film, Stevenson and the cast realized that O'Toole was destined for greater things. Stevenson himself said that O'Toole "will make a very important mark within five years." Stevenson didn't realize how right he was. O'Toole would shoot to super stardom two years later when he landed the starring role as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Rounding out the cast was Bernard Lee as Captain Hoseason, who is most well known for portraying M for the first eleven James Bond films, and John Laurie as Ebenezer Balfour, whom he had already played in Ebenezer in a TV version a few years earlier. Laurie had also starred in Disney's version of Treasure Island (1950).

The story takes place in 18th century Scotland, where young David Balfour is taking a letter of introduction from his recently deceased father to the House of Shaw, which is his uncle's house. While trying to find the house, he meets some of his uncle's neighbors who all seem to loathe the man. His uncle on his father's side, Ebenezer does not give him a warm welcome. David is curious about a few things and starts to asks questions about his family. Ebenezer attempts to have David killed by sending him up to the upper part of the house that has fallen into disrepair, hoping that he will fall to his death. Ebenezer claims he didn't know about the decrepit situation and David lets it go. Though David is suspicious of his uncle, he trusts him enough to meet with a Captain Hoseason, an individual who does business with Ebenezer, who wants to show him his ship. Hoeseason gains David's trust by telling him that Ebenezer means him harm but he can't tell him any more until they are alone on his ship. David goes with Hoseason and it's not until he's on the ship that the crew capture him. David realizes too late that this has all been a ploy by his uncle and he is going to be sold into indentured servitude. 

Hoseason's boat runs into a smaller boat while stuck in fog and they rescue the only survivor, Alan Breck Stewart. Alan pays for his passage. Little does Alan know that Hoseason means to kill him for the rest of his money. David hears of the plot and warns Alan, who both fight and overcome the crew. Alan is able to negotiate with Hoseason to drop them off at the next port but the boat runs into some rocks and sinks. David washes up on shore and finds himself on a smaller island off the mainland. He finds from speaking to locals that Alan has already been this way and has instructed him to meet him further inland. David runs into soldiers who happen to be part of the Campbell clan, who are the rivals of Alan and the Stewart Clan. Out of nowhere, the King's Regent, Colin Roy Campbell, who was questioning David is shot and killed and the soldiers accuse David of setting them up. David is saved by Alan who had been fishing nearby. David is suspicious of Alan and thinks he was the one who murdered the King's Regent. Alan convinces David to trust him and that they have to go to someplace safe to avoid more soldiers. David learns that Alan is a Catholic Jacobite, someone who supports the exiled royal Stuart family. This puts David and Alan at odds since David is a Protestant Whig. They are able to get over those differences, however, and begin to trust each other. Alan takes them to James of the Glen, who gives them supplies, but tells them that he must pin the murder on them or else he will be blamed. Alan understands this as James is an important part of the Stewart clan. The two battle their way back to the lowlands, where Alan can confront his uncle. They are able to make it back and they meet with David's family lawyer, who luckily believes the tale of his uncle's deception. It turns out that David's father and his uncle had a disagreement over a woman. They finally came to an agreement that David's father would be able to marry the woman, while Ebenezer would claim the House of Shaws and all its money, though Ebenezer is not the eldest. This finally explains to David why Ebenezer wanted him gone so badly. Since the agreement between his father and uncle is not legally binding, the House of Shaw rightfully belongs to David. The trouble is, they have to have proof that Ebenezer tried to sell his nephew, so the group come up with a plan. Alan goes to the House of Shaws and pretends to be a Highlander who found David and wants to sell him back to Ebenezer. Ebenezer at first says he doesn't want the boy, but Alan tells him that they will kill the boy if Ebenezer does not pay them. Now not wanting the boy to be killed, Ebenezer haggles with Alan over the price, but in the process reveals what he had done to the boy before with Captain Hoseason. David and his lawyer reveal themselves and David is able to regain his inheritance. 

Disney decided to film in Scotland with some interior shots done at a studio in England. Since this film was not relying on any fancy camera tricks like Darby, they didn't feel the need to keep the production local and rely on matte paintings. Since parts of the story were based on historical fact, mostly having to do with Alan Breck Stewart and the murder of Colin Roy Campbell, the King's Regent, Stevenson attempted to film in the same exact locations where the events took place. While he was able to in most cases, he couldn't use the spot where Campbell was murdered, as that spot was now home to a forest of Norwegian pines. The film premiered on February 24th, 1960 and unfortunately was met with tepid reviews. One notable review, from New York Times reviewer Eugene Archer, claimed that "Either Mr. Disney, who made a vigorous Treasure Island ten years ago, has lost his touch in the intervening decade, or the kids have been spoiled by Gunsmoke and Peter Gunn." Critics couldn't argue with the beauty of the locale or the faithfulness to the novel, but they could complain that the movie just wasn't that exciting for a Robert Louis Stevenson novel. I personally don't really like either the book or the movie. They're both fine, but I find Treasure Island to be superior in almost every way. The whole Jacobite and Whig thing is honestly hard to follow for those not versed in European history. That's just me, so I'm sure there are plenty of people who enjoy this story a lot. This is yet another film that if you want to watch it, you'll have to rent it since it's not on Disney Plus.

Treasure Island

Walt Disney's first fully live action film was born out of necessity more than anything else. Both Disney and RKO had money "frozen" in Great Britain from film revenues there, and they could not be spent anywhere else but England. Disney was still hurting from World War II and so leaving money in Great Britain was not the answer. Walt's solution was to make a movie there, but since he was considered as American as apple pie he wanted to make it a British story so as not to receive resistance from the country. It would have been too expensive to bring over animators and set up a new studio in England so this basically forced Walt's hand into making his first fully live action film. Walt would make three more movies in England to use the frozen funds, but his first would have to be a story that was British, but well known to American audiences. That story would end up being Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Story Background

Treasure Island is probably one of the better known stories that the Disney company had adapted for live action. The story concerns a young boy named Jim Hawkins, who finds himself inexplicably whisked away on a treasure hunt that involves pirates, mutiny, and murder. The book's original title was The Sea Cook: A Story For Boys, so I think we should all be thankful that Stevenson changed it to Treasure Island. Seafaring books about military men, pirates, and explorers were all popular during the 1800's, and Stevenson basically borrowed themes and ideas from many of those books that came before his. That being said, many of the stereotypical things we associate with pirates came from Treasure Island, including treasure maps with an X to mark the spot, parrots on shoulders, peg-legs, tropical locales, and the Black Spot. First released as a serial in the children's magazine Young Folks from 1881-1882, it was later released as a book in 1883 under the title Treasure Island, or the Mutiny of the Hispaniola.Treasure Island proved to be a massive hit for Stevenson, who went on to author other classic stories like The Strange Case of Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped. Treasure Island has been adapted countless times since it's publication and remains Stevenson's seminal work.

Production Background

Walt had been thinking about adapting Treasure Island for quite a few years, but it was meant to be an animated film. Once the issue with frozen assets came about, it ended up being the perfect opportunity to adapt the movie, but in live action instead. Unfortunately, Disney did not own the rights to adapt Treasure Island, so Walt had to make a deal with MGM, the studio that did own the rights, to be able to make his film.RKO, which in the past had only distributed Disney films, partnered with Disney since they also had frozen funds they needed to use too. RKO became a partner production company with Disney, forming the RKO Walt Disney British Productions LTD. Walt was a bit more hands-off with the production, only visiting every once in a while due to the distance. Luckily, Walt trusted the direction of Byron Haskins, who would go on to direct The War of the Worlds (1953) and Long John Silver (1954).Walt had still wanted to include some animation in the film, and planned on having Long John Silver tell Jim Hawkins the story of Reynard the Fox. Obviously this did not happen, but concept drawings for this animated segment would later be used for Disney's animated version of Robin Hood. Of what little drama there was with the production, it all came from the film's pint sized star, Bobby Driscoll. Driscoll was the lone American actor on the film, something that Disney had done on purpose to help appeal the movie to American audiences who had seen Driscoll in Song of the South and So Dear To My Heart. Driscoll did not have a permit to work in England, and incidentally could not receive one since he was under fourteen. Disney was refused in court to allow Driscoll to work, though Disney put in an appeal. Though Driscoll was ordered not to work, production continued and they filmed all of his scenes as quick as possible. By the time the appeals court went back in session and they upheld the original verdict, Driscoll was already done working. The judge was not pleased, as you would imagine, and all the trouble led Walt to scrap the thought of bringing Driscoll back into the country to do a live action Robin Hood. Many of the wide shots that are supposed to be Driscoll are in fact his body double.

Cast

Bobby Driscoll, in his third Disney role, played Jim Hawkins. Driscoll would only go on to do one more project for the Disney company, voicing Peter Pan in the 1953 animated film. After this point he was abruptly dropped from his contract. Walt, who had always been fond of Driscoll, was starting to see the young boy as not a plucky main character, but a young bully. Officially the reason for his canning was a bad case of acne, which necessitated heavy makeup to be used in any production he was in. Driscoll's life quickly fell apart after being let go by Disney and he would die from a heart attack brought on by drug use in 1968. I would highly recommend looking into his whole story if you have the time. Robert Newton plays the menacing but magnetic Long John Silver. Newton plays Long John with such overexaggerated gusto that you can't help but focus in on him when he is on screen. Newton can be thanked for what we know as the "pirate accent". The accent that is now attributed to pirates at large was really just an exaggerated West Country accent, which is where Newton grew up in southwest England. Newton would be so highly regarded for the role of Long John Silver that he would reprise the role in Long John Silver (1954), which was not made by Disney, and a TV miniseries based on that movie.

Release

Much was done to promote the film, with the most ambitious being a country-wide treasure hunt in the U.S that involved more than 400 retailers in 30 cities. The studio provided merchandise, along with a treasure map, and kids could collect items from participating stores to win prizes. In the end, Disney shelled out over $250,000 in prizes. The BBC aired a serial of the story with vocal excerpts from Driscoll and utilized music from the film. The film had its premiere in London on June 22nd, 1950 and was released to a wider audience on July 29th. The film ended up being a smash hit for Disney, with critical reception mostly positive. British film critics weren't fond of Driscoll in the film, seemingly because of him being the sole American in the cast. British critics also considered it a watered-down version of Treasure Island, though it ultimately didn't hurt the film too bad. Praise was heaped on Newton's performance, which would lead to more pirate roles for him in the future, somewhat type-casting him.

The film was actually aired on television in 1955 on The Magical World of Disney before it would be re-issued theatrically in 1975. The MPAA asked for cuts to be made to the film in order to achieve a G rating. The MPAA voluntary film rating system wouldn't be implemented until 1968, so they didn't have the ratings when Treasure Island first came out. The MPAA thought that the film contained just enough violence to warrant a PG rating, which Disney was vehemently against. PG really did mean that you needed parental guidance back in the day, so this would have tarnished Disney's squeaky clean reputation. Disney begrudgingly agreed to the cuts to the film to achieve a G rating. The movie was released on video in its edited form in 1981 and 1986, but restored it to its original form for the 1991 release. Unfortunately for Disney, they forgot to change the rating on the video tapes to PG and got in trouble with the MPAA. Disney had to send out a bunch of stickers to cover up the G rating. Though Disney would relax their no PG ratings on films in the late 70's they would end up retroactively having their very first fully live action film be rated PG. Disney would later adapt the film again, though it ended up being a little bit different. Treasure Planet not only was an animated movie, but also ditched the classic tropical setting for space.