Of the many TV movies of veteran director David Greene …And Then She Was Gone (1991) comes as a well-done thriller dealing with child abduction. Originally titled In a Stranger’s Hand, it walks the audience through some of the dark corners of organized trafficking of children.
Popular TV star Robert Urich plays Jack Bauer, a businessman who has to take subway one day only to get himself in trouble as he spots a little Carla, who was recently declared missing, on the train with a woman. If that wasn’t enough, he leaves the girl’s doll at her mother’s apartment – landing himself squarely in the child abduction case. As he befriends Laura (Megan Gallagher), Carla’s mom, he is compelled to offer assistance in the search for the suspect.
The story by Matthew Benjamin and Matthew Bombeck is tightly written and filmed well with few dull moments and a decent balance of sensation versus emotion. The people involved in the abduction and their motive makes the audience question the safety of children in a system where the wolf in a sheep’s clothing is often the guardian of the herd.
Greene’s …And Then She Was Gone has its comedic relief moments with the punches that Jack takes at times, and has to suck it up every time. The movie can be seen as a failed romance for the most part with Jack’s character that of a guy whose career priorities always undermine his romantic relationships. The story makes great use of this failure as motivation for Jack to fight hard even at the expense of his business career to save Carla, not difficult to see the father in him when he couldn’t be one in his personal life. But don’t give up on hope till you see the ending!
