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The Kidnappers
The Kidnappers (US: The Little Kidnappers) is a 1953 British film, directed by Philip Leacock and written by Neil Paterson.
The movie was financed by the Rank Organisation. According to producer Frank Godwin, J. Arthur Rank, chairman of Rank, "rarely expressed any feelings about individual films, but there was one film that he absolutely loved, The Kidnappers." He said John Davis, managing director of Rank, "would always refer to it as 'your movie, Arthur'."
"It was certainly the film I enjoyed the most," said director Leacock.
The Little Kidnappers has been called the best movie from Group Film Productions, Rank's main production arm in the 1950s.
In the early 1900s, two young orphaned brothers, eight-year-old Harry and five-year-old Davy Mackenzie are sent to live at a Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia, Canada with their stern grandfather and grandmother after their father's death in the Boer War. The boys would love to have a dog but are not allowed, Grandaddy holding that "ye canna eat a dog". Then they find an abandoned baby. Living in fear of Grandaddy, who beats Harry for disobeying him, they conceal it from the adults. They view the baby as a kind of substitute for the dog that they have been denied; Davy asks his brother: "Shall we call the baby Rover, Harry?”
Grandaddy is having problems with the Dutch settlers who have arrived at the settlement in increasing numbers after leaving South Africa at the end of the Boer War. He has had a long-running dispute with Afrikaner Jan Hooft over ownership of a hill and refuses to accept a legal ruling that the land belongs to Hooft. He also keeps a close rein on his adult daughter Kirsty and is reluctant for her to make a life for herself. She is in love with the local doctor Willem Bloem, who left Holland for Canada for reasons he will not disclose. He does not seem to return her affections, but it transpires that this is because he thinks himself too old for her.
To make matters worse, it turns out that the "kidnapped" baby is Hooft's younger daughter. When found out, Harry is tried at a court set up in the local trading store. He is suspected of taking the baby as a result of the tensions between the two families but states that he did not know her identity. Surprisingly, Hooft speaks up in his defence, stating that no harm had come to her and his older daughter should have been looking after her, but also says that it was his and his wife's fault for putting too much responsibility on the older daughter. The court official suggests that Harry be sent to a corrective school, and is immediately threatened with shooting by Grandaddy. The clerk climbs down, merely suggesting an investigation into the location of these schools in case a further kidnapping should occur. Afterwards, Grandaddy thanks Hooft for speaking up for Harry.
The film ends with Grandaddy, who had never learned to read or write, instructing Harry to write to a mail order company to order the red setter they had set their hearts on. He had found the flyer for the dog in one of his best boots, where the boys had hidden it. They had noticed that he sometimes walked without these boots, slinging them over his shoulder, to save wear and tear. To pay for the dog, Grandaddy had sold them – a prized item among his few possessions. Davy is now able to say, "I think we'll call him Rover, Harry."
The Kidnappers
The Kidnappers (US: The Little Kidnappers) is a 1953 British film, directed by Philip Leacock and written by Neil Paterson.
The movie was financed by the Rank Organisation. According to producer Frank Godwin, J. Arthur Rank, chairman of Rank, "rarely expressed any feelings about individual films, but there was one film that he absolutely loved, The Kidnappers." He said John Davis, managing director of Rank, "would always refer to it as 'your movie, Arthur'."
"It was certainly the film I enjoyed the most," said director Leacock.
The Little Kidnappers has been called the best movie from Group Film Productions, Rank's main production arm in the 1950s.
In the early 1900s, two young orphaned brothers, eight-year-old Harry and five-year-old Davy Mackenzie are sent to live at a Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia, Canada with their stern grandfather and grandmother after their father's death in the Boer War. The boys would love to have a dog but are not allowed, Grandaddy holding that "ye canna eat a dog". Then they find an abandoned baby. Living in fear of Grandaddy, who beats Harry for disobeying him, they conceal it from the adults. They view the baby as a kind of substitute for the dog that they have been denied; Davy asks his brother: "Shall we call the baby Rover, Harry?”
Grandaddy is having problems with the Dutch settlers who have arrived at the settlement in increasing numbers after leaving South Africa at the end of the Boer War. He has had a long-running dispute with Afrikaner Jan Hooft over ownership of a hill and refuses to accept a legal ruling that the land belongs to Hooft. He also keeps a close rein on his adult daughter Kirsty and is reluctant for her to make a life for herself. She is in love with the local doctor Willem Bloem, who left Holland for Canada for reasons he will not disclose. He does not seem to return her affections, but it transpires that this is because he thinks himself too old for her.
To make matters worse, it turns out that the "kidnapped" baby is Hooft's younger daughter. When found out, Harry is tried at a court set up in the local trading store. He is suspected of taking the baby as a result of the tensions between the two families but states that he did not know her identity. Surprisingly, Hooft speaks up in his defence, stating that no harm had come to her and his older daughter should have been looking after her, but also says that it was his and his wife's fault for putting too much responsibility on the older daughter. The court official suggests that Harry be sent to a corrective school, and is immediately threatened with shooting by Grandaddy. The clerk climbs down, merely suggesting an investigation into the location of these schools in case a further kidnapping should occur. Afterwards, Grandaddy thanks Hooft for speaking up for Harry.
The film ends with Grandaddy, who had never learned to read or write, instructing Harry to write to a mail order company to order the red setter they had set their hearts on. He had found the flyer for the dog in one of his best boots, where the boys had hidden it. They had noticed that he sometimes walked without these boots, slinging them over his shoulder, to save wear and tear. To pay for the dog, Grandaddy had sold them – a prized item among his few possessions. Davy is now able to say, "I think we'll call him Rover, Harry."