Abc Monday Night Movie Have You Seen My Son?

 ((Mon. (8), 8-10 p.m., ABC))

By JOHN P. MCCARTHY

Filmed in Vancouver, B.C., and Newhall, by Gross-Weston Prods. in association with MGM Television Group. Executive producers, Marcy Gross, Ann Weston Begelman; producers, Lisa Hartman-Black, Bob Finkel; co-producer, Vivienne Radkoff; supervising producer, N. John Smith; director, Paul Schneider; writer, Vivienne Radkoff; based on the book by Jack Olsen; camera, David Geddes; editor, Judy Andreson; production designer, Ian Thomas; art directors, Douglassan Menchions, Bruce Miller; sound, Lars Ekstrom; music, Misha Segal. #Cast: Lisa Hartman-Black, Jameson Parker, William Russ, Anne Francis, Scott Solomon, Carmen Argenziano, Sergio Calderon, Alex Doduk, Patti Harras, Cheryl Wilson, Terry David Mulligan, Stephen E. Miller, Eric Hui, Michael Northey, Jayme Knox, Paul McGillion, Mitch Kosterman, Veena Sood, Sue Mathew, Carlos Carrasco, Geoffrey Rivas, Chalo Gonzalez, Victor Campos. The subgenre of TV movies featuring a distressed woman in search of offspring is not particularly well-represented by "Have You Seen My Son?," a flat effort produced by and starring Lisa Hartman-Black. As written, there isn't any issue on which to hang the drama and her character doesn't develop over the course of the ordeal. Villainous forces -- ex-husband and his mother -- aren't given enough camera time. Lael Pritcher (Hartman-Black) is an herb farmer in the Pacific Northwest, legally separated from her husband (Jameson Parker). Custody of their severely asthmatic son Ace (Alex Doduk) has yet to be settled in court, but dad doesn't stand a chance so he kidnaps the boy.
 

This attempt is foiled by her attorney (William Russ) and the state police. The second try is successful: Father and son go deep into hiding in Oregon and the search is on.

The mother-in-law -- given a wicked turn by Anne Francis -- has always been jealous of Lael and aids and abets her son. Finally, his g.f. gives up some info and Lael breaks the law to find a clue that leads to Mexico, where a cholera epidemic has decimated the child population and she finds Ace's grave. Is it real or just a decoy?

Along the way, she and her lawyer become romantically involved almost by default, and she's arrested after mistaking a kid playing Toto in a production of "The Wizard of Oz" for Ace.

Hartman-Black isn't able to muster anything spectacular from her own acting bag, but the perf is pretty even-keeled, considering.

Ditto for director Paul Schneider -- lots of ground is covered but there's no dramatic oscillation. The most viewers will take away from Vivienne Radkoff's script is a sentiment expressed by the attorney, who avoids divorces because "People aren't nice to each other."

But more confrontations between husband and wife and some glimpses of how the boy is being treated (or mistreated) might have heightened sympathy.

Tech-wise, Vancouver sets and scenery are nice, while not much in the Mexico scenes rings true.

And, incidentally, the title comes froma poster, not a milk carton.