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1. When Christopher Reeve had the riding accident that ended his career, he was about to start shooting the part of Alan Breck. The role was eventually filled by Armand Assante, who I've never heard of, so I can't say if he'd have been any more suitable, but frankly, the mind just boggles at the thought of Reeve playing a short, bloody-minded Highlander.
2. Other screen incarnations of Alan Breck have been played by Patrick Troughton (of 2nd Doctor fame), Peter Finch, Michael Caine, David McCallum and Iain Glen. At least two of these represent casting decisions as jaw-droppingly unlikely as Reeve. The New York Times wrote of Caine's performance: "real admiration goes to Michael Caine, who plays the swashbuckling Alan Breck with a refinement of indifference so sublime that it is often difficult to tell whether he has been rapt into stillness by his role or has merely mastered the art of sleeping with his eyes open." Caine himself said of his accent "I hope they [the Scots] will forgive me."
3. David Balfour, by contrast, has been played by a string of nonentities (with the single exception of Roddy McDowall in 1948), who so signally failed to be catapulted to fame by their performance that there's no point listing them, because you will never have heard of them.
4. Stevenson had such extensive knowledge of tidal conditions on the Isle of Erraid because his father was the engineer in charge of building a lighthouse on that stretch of coast. It is still possible to reach it by foot twice a day.
5. The "Breck" part of Alan's name is an epithet, doubtless intended to distinguish him from the numerous other Alan Stewarts in the clan. All the Highland characters have such an epithet, much in the way that early English kings are distinguished (William the Red, Edward Longshanks, King Harald Horrid-locks etc etc). The epithets seem mostly to refer to personal appearance, given that we have no less than three "Roys" (Colin Roy Campbell, Neil Roy Macrob and Rob Roy McGregor), who were presumably all redheads; one "Dhu" (Duncan Dhu MacLaren, in whose house the piping contest takes place, and who presumably has dark hair, since "dhu" = "dark") and two Brecks (which means "pockmarked" or, more charitably, "freckled", both of which regrettably apply to Alan, though at least he is not described as "grotesquely disfigured by the smallpox", like John Breck MacColl, who brings the money from James of the Glens). Robin Oig, as far as I can tell, is "Robin the Young", thus distinguishing him from his father, Rob Roy.
2. Other screen incarnations of Alan Breck have been played by Patrick Troughton (of 2nd Doctor fame), Peter Finch, Michael Caine, David McCallum and Iain Glen. At least two of these represent casting decisions as jaw-droppingly unlikely as Reeve. The New York Times wrote of Caine's performance: "real admiration goes to Michael Caine, who plays the swashbuckling Alan Breck with a refinement of indifference so sublime that it is often difficult to tell whether he has been rapt into stillness by his role or has merely mastered the art of sleeping with his eyes open." Caine himself said of his accent "I hope they [the Scots] will forgive me."
3. David Balfour, by contrast, has been played by a string of nonentities (with the single exception of Roddy McDowall in 1948), who so signally failed to be catapulted to fame by their performance that there's no point listing them, because you will never have heard of them.
4. Stevenson had such extensive knowledge of tidal conditions on the Isle of Erraid because his father was the engineer in charge of building a lighthouse on that stretch of coast. It is still possible to reach it by foot twice a day.
5. The "Breck" part of Alan's name is an epithet, doubtless intended to distinguish him from the numerous other Alan Stewarts in the clan. All the Highland characters have such an epithet, much in the way that early English kings are distinguished (William the Red, Edward Longshanks, King Harald Horrid-locks etc etc). The epithets seem mostly to refer to personal appearance, given that we have no less than three "Roys" (Colin Roy Campbell, Neil Roy Macrob and Rob Roy McGregor), who were presumably all redheads; one "Dhu" (Duncan Dhu MacLaren, in whose house the piping contest takes place, and who presumably has dark hair, since "dhu" = "dark") and two Brecks (which means "pockmarked" or, more charitably, "freckled", both of which regrettably apply to Alan, though at least he is not described as "grotesquely disfigured by the smallpox", like John Breck MacColl, who brings the money from James of the Glens). Robin Oig, as far as I can tell, is "Robin the Young", thus distinguishing him from his father, Rob Roy.
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