John Goldsmith (2) (1947–)

This made-for-tv movie betrays its origins in the occasional "commercial break" black-outs, but it plays well as a feature film. The period recreation is very good, and the Scots accents are timeless, but the story is perhaps a bit slow for today's teens, and a bit naïve for adults. Those may be characteristics of the original novel.
The intricacies of Scots / English politics in 1751 are hard enough to follow for an aficionado, and are almost impenetrable for a casual viewer, but the basic show more counterpoint of the rebel highlander Alan Breck Stuart (follower of descendants of King James VII, hence the Jacobites) and the young lowlander David Balfour (heretofore loyal to King George II) are well done. The side-play between the English official Reid and the Redcoat Captain Forbes are also commendable, although solely an invention of the film. Most of David's story (at the beginning and end) follow the novel, but the teleplay only borrows portions of the center action, although remaining true to the spirit of the book.

Wikipedia: "Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886...Kidnapped is set around 18th-century Scottish events, notably the "Appin Murder", which occurred near Ballachulish in 1752 in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745.[2][3] Many of the characters were real people, including one of the principals, Alan Breck Stewart. The political situation of the time is portrayed from multiple viewpoints, and the Scottish Highlanders are treated sympathetically.
The full title of the book is Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; his Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson."

..A sequel, "Catriona," was published in 1893. show less

Outstanding performances and setting, but the girl playing Nell was weak, and abridging the story high-lighted Dickens' emotional manipulations. Tom Courtenay as Quilp was superb, and Peter Ustinov as the Grandfather totally captured the tormented but inescapable anguish of the gambling-addicted old man.

Good Will

Excellent TV version of Rosamund Pilchers' Novel.