Where Are the Children? (1986) [R]

Featuring:
Jill Clayburgh, Max Gail, Harley Cross

Written by:
Mary Higgins Clark
Jack Sholder

Directed by:
Bruce Malmuth


Release Date:
December 12, 1986

Original Title:
Where Are the Children?

Genres:
Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Production Companies:
Braun Entertainment Group
Columbia Pictures
Delphi V
Rastar Productions

Production Countries:
United States of America

Ratings / Certifications:
US: R 

Runtime: 97

Who is the killer? What is the reason? Why did he take them?

In Cape Cod, Missy and Michael, the two children of Nancy Eldridge, are kidnapped by a man who has disturbing intentions for them. Local police chief Ed Coffin wrongfully suspects that Nancy is behind the disappearances.

On her birthday, San Francisco resident Nancy Harmon's two kids Peter and Lisa disappear, later to be found dead. The police wrongfully accuse a devastated Nancy of being the killer. Nancy is found guilty and sentenced to the gas chamber, but her attorney manages to get her conviction overturned. Much to the District Attorney's dismay, Nancy can't be put back on trial because key witness Rob Legler has left the country. And Nancy's husband, college professor Carl Harmon, commits suicide. Seven years later, Nancy has relocated to a town in Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Nancy has changed her identity, re-colored her hair, and has married a realtor named Ray Eldridge, with whom she has two kids named Michael and Missy, and the terrible pain from what happened to Peter and Lisa has begun to heal. But today is Nancy's birthday. She has allowed Michael and Missy to go out to play in the back yard. Nancy opens the newspaper and is stunned to find, in the local section of the paper, her picture and all of the details of the murders of Peter and Lisa. Nancy rushes out to the back yard to get Michael and Missy and bring them back into the house, but Nancy finds only one of Missy's red mittens...and Nancy knows that the nightmare is beginning again. Because of the disappearance and murder of Peter and Lisa, Nancy is understandably concerned about finding Mike and Missy before they are hurt the way Peter and Lisa were. Local police chief Jed Coffin, who has read the newspaper, wrongfully sees Nancy as a suspect in the disappearance of Michael and Missy. When people in the town read about Nancy in the newspaper, virtually everyone suspects her of murdering Mike and Missy. But Mike and Missy have been kidnapped by a man named Courtney Parrish. In the desperate search for Mike and Missy, everyone will discover the devastating truth as to who Courtney Parrish really is. And there is also another question -- was it Parrish who killed Peter and Lisa years ago?

Additional information:

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Rankings and Honors

Where Are the Children? (1986) on IMDb
Internet Movie Database 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes 33%

Assistant Sound Editor:
Chris Ksanznak

Casting:
Bonnie Timmermann

Construction Coordinator:
Jim Pigott
Biff Stulgis

Costume Design:
Mary Ellen Winston

Director:
Bruce Malmuth

Director of Photography:
Larry Pizer

Editor:
Roy Watts

Music:
Sylvester Levay

Novel:
Mary Higgins Clark

Producer:
Zev Braun

Production Design:
Robb Wilson King

Property Master:
Deborah Wierum

Script Supervisor:
Jeanne Talbot

Set Decoration:
Jane Cavedon

Special Effects Coordinator:
Peter Chesney

Writer:
Jack Sholder

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