The film is based on the 1886 novel Kidnapped and the first half of the 1893 sequel Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The film begins in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden with the troops of the Duke of the Cumberland ruthlessly suppressing the Jacobite Rebellion.

Ebenezer is having none of it, however, so he first tries to murder him, then has him kidnapped by sea captain Hoseason, with whom he has "a venture for trade in the West Indies".

Subsequently, Breck, David and Catriona quickly flee the scene, but the seriously injured James, being assumed dead, is abandoned and then captured.

They are visited by the Lord Advocate and his daughter who explain to them that a New Scotland is in the making as part of the Union with England, so therefore rebellions by the Highland Clans in the future are not necessary.

Unbeknownst to the Lord Advocate, Breck, hiding in a large cupboard, was listening in to their conversation in anger and still wished to carry out a future rebellion.

Finally Catriona meets Alan out in the Scottish countryside and pleads with him to reconsider rebelling against England, as Scotland is no longer interested in fighting.

Alan Breck is then left to himself, viewing the countryside and has memories of the people being killed in the futile Battle of Culloden.

Omnibus made four classical adaptations of novels, all of which were directed by Delbert Mann: Heidi (1968), David Copperfield (1970), Jane Eyre (1971) and Kidnapped.

"[10] Mann says a number of actors had to be looped because American audiences would not understand the thick Scottish accents.

[11] Pauline Kael said "Jack Pulman has drawn a trim, craftsmanlike screenplay" and the director "keeps everything comprehensible, though he doesn’t seem to know how to make the narrative stirring.

Fortunately, Michael Caine acts Alan Breck with a mixture of swagger and intelligence that keeps the movie alive.

"[12] In April 1972 Sam Arkoff called the film "a good, opulent movie but business has only been medium."