![]() ![]() Ironic, considering how hard Edison had tried to make talkies stick in 1913. A slick narrative is nothing to sneeze at.Ĭrosland is probably best remembered for his work in sound he directed both Don Juan and The Jazz Singer, which were instrumental in popularizing synchronized scores and then talking pictures. This may sound like odd praise to modern eyes but this was one of director Alan Crosland’s very first directing jobs, if not his first, and he was just twenty-two at the time. “The continuity of the story as picturized is remarkable for its smoothness of action,” the review adds. Motion Picture News was enthusiastic for Raymond McKee and Robert Cain’s performances as David Balfour and Alan Breck. Reviews for this film adaptation had similar praise. It’s an exciting time period, it has colorful characters and Stevenson knew how to keep the action moving. There’s a reason why Kidnapped is still considered to be one of the finest adventure books. David and Alan escape to the shore where they are implicated in an assassination and have to go on the run. Hoseason and his men mean to murder Alan for his money but David warns him and, as it turns out, a whole crew of cutthroats is no match for Alan’s sword. And Captain Blood would be a great double feature with Kidnapped.) Turns out, they picked the wrong victim. Kidnapped opens six years after Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated. Charles, who was the grandson of James, tried to disengeorge Britain but was defeated. In any case, James II was kicked out, William and Mary replaced him and opened the door to Anne and just a ton of Georges. (The Jacobites were the supporters of the descendants of James II, who was dethroned for the crime of exiling Captain Peter Blood… I am informed that I have been getting too much history from the movies. Of the coast of Scotland, the ship hits a smaller vessel and the sole survivor is Alan Breck (Robert Cain), a Jacobite rebel who is carrying a generous supply of cash. When the cabin boy is murdered by one of the crew in a drunken fit, David is made to take his place, which strikes me as asking rather a lot of a kidnappee. This plan goes off without a hitch and David finds himself sailing away with the brutal Captain Hoseason (Franklyn Hanna) and his crew of cutthroats. ![]() Kidnapped AND forced into a customer service job? The noive! After Ebenezer’s attempt at a MWAHAHA “accident” fails, he decides to hire a ship of brigands to kidnap David and sell him in the Carolinas. The plot of Kidnapped involves David Balfour (Raymond McKee, you probably already know him from either Down to the Sea in Ships or Sennett’s Smith Family comedy series) trying to get his inheritance from his Uncle Ebenezer (Joseph Burke playing to the cheap seats). New York and New Jersey locations stand in for Scotland but the Edison team did obtain what was described as an “old brig” and launched it off the coast of Sandy Hook for the nautical scenes. Kidnapped is the earliest known feature-length adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s popular novel set just after the Jacobite Rebellion. Nothing better than a ship battle on an actual ship. Edison’s features often showed remarkable ingenuity and at the very least, they were a solid night’s entertainment. There is a common narrative that Edison’s later films, made long after the glory days of Edwin S. The attempt to spark a talkie revolution with Kinetophone technology had failed, there had been a nitrate fire and motion pictures had firmly embraced feature films, something Edison and many of the other pioneering studios had failed to anticipate and so they were playing catch-up. In 1917, the Edison film studio was on its last legs. So, please read this review with that fact in mind. So, I am not exactly a disinterested party and have the films practically memorized (while authoring the DVD, I had to watch the entire program from beginning to end every time I made even the smallest change in order to check for any flaws). ![]() The campaign was a success and the film is now available to the general public. Charlie is My Darlingĭisclosure: In November of 2017, I launched a Kickstarter to release Kidnapped and the four short films that originally accompanied it on DVD. Home Media Availability: Released on DVD. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |