The Promise is directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Terry George. Empires fall, love survives. When Michael (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant medical student, meets Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), their. Mark Harmon plays an itinerant Depression-era carpenter in the made-for-TV After the Promise. When his wife dies, Harmon is declared an unsuitable parent purely on the basis of his financial situation, and his four children are made wards of the Court. Fighting against the seemingly invulnerable legal system of the era, Harmon struggles to regain.

A naive Depression-era widower who applies for welfare is robbed of his family by state child protection bureaucrats. Story inspired by actual events. [ After the Promise credits: Dir: David Greene/ Mark Harmon, Diana Scarwid, Rosemary Dunsmore/ 93 min/ Drama/ Abuse of Power, Incompetent Government]

“We are here to help. Our only concern is with the children’s well-being.” So says a social worker as she sets in motion a chain of events that ultimately ends in every father’s worst nightmare: the forcible removal of his children. Of course, once children are in the grip of the state, their well-being may fall through the cracks now and then, and that is just what happens in After the Promise.

As this story begins, the mother of this Depression-era family has recently died, leaving behind her husband and four boys. The father, a low-paid construction worker, can’t afford a baby-sitter so he applies for government assistance to hire one. Unfortunately, the social worker he is assigned decides instead that his kids would be better off in a foster home, and off they go.

What an effective tear-jerker! Every separation and every reunion of the kids from their father and from each other is played for all it’s worth. And it is made all the more touching by the fact the story was inspired by actual events.

Mark Harmon gives a sympathetic performance as the widowed father who must fight a sea of red tape to retrieve his children, one by one, from forced institutionalization, and some of the kids’ performances are also commendable. In most artistic respects After the Promise is a typical made-for-TV movie, but the story overwhelms all flaws.

How to See It

Amazon (DVD)
YouTube Video Search
Google Video Search

Links

IMDB
Wikipedia
Google
More Films About: Abuse of Power
More Films About: Incompetent Government

After the Promise (11-Oct-1987)

Director:David Greene

Writers: Robert W. Lenski; Sebastian Milito

Keywords:Drama

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death
Mark Harmon	Actor	`2-Sep-1951`	NCIS
Blu Mankuma	Actor	`5-Jul-1948`	Capt. Joe Reese on Forever Knight
Diana Scarwid	Actor	`27-Aug-1955`	Mommie Dearest

After The Promise Movie Download Subtitle

REVIEWS

Review by Catherine June Armstrong Inscore (posted on 21-Mar-2005)

I am the granddaughter of the man depicted in this movie. Mark Harmon played my grandfather very well. I wish a sequel could be done of the devastation that lifestyle left in its wake. None of the boys ever had a good life, none could ever be a loving father. This damaged lives for several generations. Someday, perhaps, I'll write the sequel. Thanks for filming this, but I wish we could get deeper into the real tragedy of it all.

Review by anonymous (posted on 7-Mar-2006)

I came across the film bychance around 15yrs ago, and was devastated by the inhumane way thechildren and family were treated.The whole sequence of events was heartrendering, I am trying to find this film again without much luck,nobodyI have asked has heard of it, hence me coming onto the internet andfinding this website.I will continue with my search, and when you getthis 'revue' maybe you can assist me with a site for me to purchase,..carol (UK)

After The Promise Movie Download Full

Review by anonymous (posted on 5-Aug-2006)

The movie itself highlightedsome obvious gross errors in the Canadian Government legislation atthat time. Among others such as the quintuplets and the evacuation ofhundreds of children from England, my husband's uncle being one ofthese boys. Pier 21 held the answers to many questions when we visitedCanada but this alone could not show the actual devastation caused byseparating siblings and shipping them off to strangers, some of whichwere treated as second class citizens. This movie portrayed just hownarrow minded officials were and how cruel the system was to cause suchinjustice to so many. Once again the Canadian Government had a lot toanswer and a sequel SHOULD be made to show of the irreprable damagedone to the then future generation and their descendants.

Review by Karen Barba (posted on 6-Jul-2007)

I saw this movie when it first aired, and it haunted me for some time afterward. I felt so angry when I watched it, and for weeks afterwards whenever it came to mind. It's one of those great, tragic movies that you can only bear to watch once. Mark Harmon did an excellent job of making you feel his frustration, his hopelessness, his relief at finding his boys, and his simultaneous sadness at their condition, ill-treatment, and years lost. This is also one of those movies that you would think very contrived were it not a true story. I have searched the internet to try and find something about the real life family and how they faired afterwards, with no luck until now. I am deeply saddened to hear that none of the boys recovered from their tragic circumstances.

Have you seen this film? We would love to see your review.
Submit your review for this film

After The Promise Movie Download Online

After The Promise Movie For Sale

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile