The Child Stealer

Though David (Beau Bridges) and Jan (Blair Brown) Rodman are going through the mental and emotional shock of being recently divorced, it's their two children who are really caught in the middle. While Jan has custody of nine-year-old Andrea (Lauri Hendler) and six-year-old Pam (Tracey Gold), David's visitation rights are limited to one day per week. When David announces his intentions of marrying his current girlfriend, Karen Thomas (Cristina Raines), Jan counters by moving the girls to Phoenix despite David's objections. Determined to have his kids, David kidnaps them and starts a life on the run. Jan has trouble getting the authorities to pay attention to the situation, so she hires Lew Beck (Eugene Roche) to steal the girls back. Newly remastered.

The child stealer of the title is Beau Bridges, the self-centered ex-husband of Blair Brown. She has custody of the kids, and he has been slapped with a restraining order. Bridges waits until Brown's guard is down and kidnaps his two daughters. Told by the authorities that there's little they can do, Brown seeks out her fugitive "ex" on her own. Of minor interest in this made-for-TV tract is the fact that future GROWING PAINS costar Tracey Gold plays one of the daughters.