Without a Trace (film)
Encyclopedia
Without a Trace is a 1983 dramatic film. It is based on the Beth Gutcheon novel Still Missing, which is loosely-based on the real-life disappearance of Etan Patz
. The film stars Kate Nelligan
, Judd Hirsch
, David Dukes
and Stockard Channing
.
professor at Columbia University
. She lives in a Brooklyn brownstone with her six-year-old son Alex (Danny Corkill
). One March morning, Susan sees Alex off to school, which is only two blocks away. Alex turns to wave to his mother, then disappears around the corner...
Susan returns home after a day of teaching, and becomes increasingly alarmed when Alex is late coming home. She calls her friend and neighbor Jocelyn Norris (Channing), whose daughter is a classmate of Alex's, and finds out that Alex never got to school. The NYPD is immediately called and officers descend on the townhouse, led by Lieutenant Al Menetti (Hirsch). Susan is questioned closely on all aspects of her life and her son's, and police zero in on Susan's estranged husband Graham (Dukes), a professor at NYU
who hasn't been seen for hours. When Graham finally turns up, he produces an alibi, ruling him out as a suspect.
Susan's case generates a lot of attention from the New York City media, with citizens helping in the search by distributing posters. Susan is also initially criticized for allowing her son to walk to school by himself, but a polygraph
test clears her as a suspect. Numerous leads are checked out, including several reports that Alex may have been seen in the back seat of a blue 1965 chevy. A psychic
is also called in, but each lead fizzles.
The investigation drags on, and Graham is at odds with Menetti after budget cuts force Menetti to dismantle the command center in Susan's apartment and run the case from the precinct. Menetti's attention is soon diverted to other cases, but the Selky case is always a priority. At one point, Graham takes matters into his own hands after he gets a ransom call. He heads to a location the caller directs him to, but is cornered and beaten, prompting a hospital stay.
A break in the case finally happens on the Fourth of July, when Susan's housecleaner, Philippe (Keith McDermott
), is arrested as a suspect. A pair of Alex's bloody underpants was found in his apartment, where the gay Philippe was picked up with a male prostitute. Susan visits Philippe in jail, and he tells her that the bloody underpants came about when he used them to stop bleeding after he cut himself washing dishes in Susan's house. Convinced Philippe is innocent, Susan tries to persuade Menetti to drop the charges, but he refuses, citing physical evidence he won't discuss.
The renewed media coverage generated by Philippe's arrest dies down, and Susan is facing increased pressure to drop the matter and accept that Alex could be dead. Susan's feelings come to a boiling point when a magazine cancels an article she wrote about Alex (because a gay man was arrested) and even her friend Jocelyn tells her it's time to give up.
Susan tries to resume her normal routine, although she never loses faith that her son is alive. One day, she receives a phone call from a woman in Bridgeport, Connecticut
named Malvina Robbins (Louise Stubbs), who says Alex is alive and living with neighbors. Menetti tells Susan that he has also heard from Robbins, but Bridgeport police told him the woman's just a crank, or in Menetti's words, "a lonely old booby". The investigation is closed, he says, and Philippe goes on trial within weeks.
On a day off, Menetti is taking a drive with his son (David Simon). When he sees a sign for Bridgeport, Connecticut, he decides to check out the lead personally. He recruits his young son as his partner on the case. Once he is sure that the lead is false, Menetti hopes to browbeat Robbins from ever disturbing Mrs. Selky ever again. When Menetti arrives at Robbins' address, he is shocked to see a blue chevy(in which witnesses had reported seeing Alex) parked in the driveway of the neighboring house. Realizing that Robbins was telling the truth, he uses her phone to contact the Bridgeport police. They find Alex alive and unharmed. His kidnapper wanted the boy to care for a disabled woman in the house.
Menetti drives Alex back to New York with a huge police escort, and the New York media is tipped off that he's been found, converging on Susan's Brooklyn house. Susan returns from grocery shopping in time to see Alex stepping out of Menetti's car. In front of delighted bystanders and reporters, mother and child are reunited.
and Judd Hirsch
.
The movie's screenplay was written by novelist and screenwriter Beth Gutcheon, who kept the film relatively faithful to her novel Still Missing. The novel was loosely based on the actual case of Etan Patz
, a six-year-old boy from New York City who disappeared while on his way to school alone in 1979, prompting wide media coverage and an intense manhunt. Patz has never been found, and was declared legally dead
in 2001.
The one glaring difference between the book and the film is that the book was set in Boston, while the film was set and filmed in New York. The film was originally supposed to be titled Still Missing, but was changed by the studio to avoid confusion with the 1982 film Missing
.
Etan Patz
Etan Kalil Patz was a kidnapped American child. He was 6 years old when he disappeared in lower Manhattan, New York on May 25, 1979. At the time, news coverage of Patz's disappearance was made into a media circus in the New York City area. He is arguably the most famous missing child of New York...
. The film stars Kate Nelligan
Kate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
, Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch is an American actor most known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs.-Early life and education:...
, David Dukes
David Dukes
David Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
and Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
.
Plot
Susan Selky (Nelligan) is a well-known EnglishEnglish studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
professor at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She lives in a Brooklyn brownstone with her six-year-old son Alex (Danny Corkill
Danny Corkill
Danny Corkill is an American child actor who saw early success in such films as Without a Trace and D.A.R.Y.L. He was born in Park Ridge, Illinois, and, now retired from acting, lives in the Chicago area....
). One March morning, Susan sees Alex off to school, which is only two blocks away. Alex turns to wave to his mother, then disappears around the corner...
Susan returns home after a day of teaching, and becomes increasingly alarmed when Alex is late coming home. She calls her friend and neighbor Jocelyn Norris (Channing), whose daughter is a classmate of Alex's, and finds out that Alex never got to school. The NYPD is immediately called and officers descend on the townhouse, led by Lieutenant Al Menetti (Hirsch). Susan is questioned closely on all aspects of her life and her son's, and police zero in on Susan's estranged husband Graham (Dukes), a professor at NYU
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
who hasn't been seen for hours. When Graham finally turns up, he produces an alibi, ruling him out as a suspect.
Susan's case generates a lot of attention from the New York City media, with citizens helping in the search by distributing posters. Susan is also initially criticized for allowing her son to walk to school by himself, but a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test clears her as a suspect. Numerous leads are checked out, including several reports that Alex may have been seen in the back seat of a blue 1965 chevy. A psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
is also called in, but each lead fizzles.
The investigation drags on, and Graham is at odds with Menetti after budget cuts force Menetti to dismantle the command center in Susan's apartment and run the case from the precinct. Menetti's attention is soon diverted to other cases, but the Selky case is always a priority. At one point, Graham takes matters into his own hands after he gets a ransom call. He heads to a location the caller directs him to, but is cornered and beaten, prompting a hospital stay.
A break in the case finally happens on the Fourth of July, when Susan's housecleaner, Philippe (Keith McDermott
Keith McDermott
-Biography:Born September 28, 1953 in Houston, Texas. Graduate of Ohio University Theatre School. In the 1970s lived with author Edmund White in New York City. Appeared in Equus on Broadway opposite Richard Burton...
), is arrested as a suspect. A pair of Alex's bloody underpants was found in his apartment, where the gay Philippe was picked up with a male prostitute. Susan visits Philippe in jail, and he tells her that the bloody underpants came about when he used them to stop bleeding after he cut himself washing dishes in Susan's house. Convinced Philippe is innocent, Susan tries to persuade Menetti to drop the charges, but he refuses, citing physical evidence he won't discuss.
The renewed media coverage generated by Philippe's arrest dies down, and Susan is facing increased pressure to drop the matter and accept that Alex could be dead. Susan's feelings come to a boiling point when a magazine cancels an article she wrote about Alex (because a gay man was arrested) and even her friend Jocelyn tells her it's time to give up.
Susan tries to resume her normal routine, although she never loses faith that her son is alive. One day, she receives a phone call from a woman in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
named Malvina Robbins (Louise Stubbs), who says Alex is alive and living with neighbors. Menetti tells Susan that he has also heard from Robbins, but Bridgeport police told him the woman's just a crank, or in Menetti's words, "a lonely old booby". The investigation is closed, he says, and Philippe goes on trial within weeks.
On a day off, Menetti is taking a drive with his son (David Simon). When he sees a sign for Bridgeport, Connecticut, he decides to check out the lead personally. He recruits his young son as his partner on the case. Once he is sure that the lead is false, Menetti hopes to browbeat Robbins from ever disturbing Mrs. Selky ever again. When Menetti arrives at Robbins' address, he is shocked to see a blue chevy(in which witnesses had reported seeing Alex) parked in the driveway of the neighboring house. Realizing that Robbins was telling the truth, he uses her phone to contact the Bridgeport police. They find Alex alive and unharmed. His kidnapper wanted the boy to care for a disabled woman in the house.
Menetti drives Alex back to New York with a huge police escort, and the New York media is tipped off that he's been found, converging on Susan's Brooklyn house. Susan returns from grocery shopping in time to see Alex stepping out of Menetti's car. In front of delighted bystanders and reporters, mother and child are reunited.
Reviews/Production
The film was released in North America on February 4, 1983, and received generally favorable reviews, especially for the performances of Kate NelliganKate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
and Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch
Judd Hirsch is an American actor most known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs.-Early life and education:...
.
The movie's screenplay was written by novelist and screenwriter Beth Gutcheon, who kept the film relatively faithful to her novel Still Missing. The novel was loosely based on the actual case of Etan Patz
Etan Patz
Etan Kalil Patz was a kidnapped American child. He was 6 years old when he disappeared in lower Manhattan, New York on May 25, 1979. At the time, news coverage of Patz's disappearance was made into a media circus in the New York City area. He is arguably the most famous missing child of New York...
, a six-year-old boy from New York City who disappeared while on his way to school alone in 1979, prompting wide media coverage and an intense manhunt. Patz has never been found, and was declared legally dead
Death in absentia
Death in absentia is a legal declaration that a person is deceased in the absence of remains attributable to that person...
in 2001.
The one glaring difference between the book and the film is that the book was set in Boston, while the film was set and filmed in New York. The film was originally supposed to be titled Still Missing, but was changed by the studio to avoid confusion with the 1982 film Missing
Missing (film)
Missing is a 1982 American drama film directed by Costa Gavras, and starring Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi and Janice Rule...
.