• Production Dates: 3 Jan-mid-Mar 1938 • The film's credits open with a picture of Robert Louis Stevenson lying in bed writing. • The screen credit for the title reads, "Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped: The Adventures of David Balfour." • In his autobiography, Otto Preminger recounts that he was surprised when, after having directed only two films in Hollywood, he was assigned to
Kidnapped, a big-budget film. Preminger, who was not familiar with the book, read the script and complained to his friend, Gregory Ratoff, who was acting as Zanuck's assistant, that he did not want to direct the film because he had no understanding of the people in the part of the world where the story took place. Ratoff, however, persuaded him to accept. When Zanuck saw some of the rushes, he accused Preminger of cutting out a portion of the script without permission. During a heated argument, Preminger denied the charge, and when Zanuck yelled at him, Preminger yelled back. Preminger subsequently refused to apologize, and, according to the autobiography, because of the incident, he was prevented from working in Hollywood. He returned to stage direction and did not direct another film until 1943. • Other films based on the same book include a 1948
Monogram release starring
Roddy McDowell and
Dan O'Herlihy and directed by
William Beaudine; a 1960
Walt Disney production directed by
Robert Stevenson and starring
Peter Finch and
James MacArthur; and a
1971 American International Pictures version, directed by
Delbert Mann and starring
Michael Caine and
Lawrence Douglas. ==See also==