Kidnapped (1938 Film) - Production Notes

Production Notes

• 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, 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, directed by Delbart Mann and starring Michael Caine and Lawrence Douglas.