Trivia / Kidnapped

The novel:

• Inspiration for the Work: Stevenson's wife wanted to write a play with a trial scene set in the Old Bailey of the eighteenth century. The couple got hold of all the accounts of eighteenth-century trials they could (mainly for the purposes of "following the brilliant career of a Mr. Garrow") and eventually came across the trial of James Stewart for the Appin murder.

Adaptations of the novel in general:

• Fake Scot: Very few of the actors to play Alan and David are actually Scottish.
  • 1917: Raymond McKee (American) as David.
  • 1938: Freddie Bartholomew (English-American) as David and Warner Baxter (American) as Alan.
  • 1948: Roddy McDowall (American) as David and Dan O'Herlihy (Irish) as Alan.
  • 1960: James MacArthur (American) as David and Peter Finch (Australian) as Alan.
  • 1971: Michael Caine (English) as Alan.
  • 1995: Armand Assante (American) as Alan.

The 1960 film:

The 1971 film:

• Adaptation Expansion: As well as adapting Kidnapped, it adapts the first half or so of the sequel.

The 1995 film:

• What Could Have Been: Christopher Reeve was cast as Alan. After his terrible accident he was replaced with Armand Assante.

The series:

• The Danza: Otto is played by Otto Sanchez.
• Dueling Shows: Vanished had a similar sounding premise (though the shows were different) and aired at the same time on a different network. Neither of them survived beyond a half season, even though both of them weren't really set up as shows that could go on beyond a single season.
• Fake American: Linus Roache as Agent Archer.
• What Could Have Been: It's quite apparent watching the finale that end conclusion isn't what was intended and clearly just quickly put together resolution for the series.

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