Baby Snatcher

This is a TV movie and in its way, it is a cut above average. First of all, it has Veronica Hamel and Michael Madsen, two very good actors. Secondly, it's a true story, making it all the more outrageous.

Veronica Hamel plays a total nut job who basically has no use for kids. She does the usual baby-stealing bit we've seen so many times to give her husband a child which she conveniently delivers by herself at home. When Madsen comes home after the "delivery," Veronica looks gorgeous as the baby lies in her arms, like something out of a magazine. Madsen's character is just a tad naive, as we learn as the story continues. For instance, he tells his friends that the baby is something like three months, when it's obvious the baby is more like nine months.

Hamel's character isn't particularly far thinking. She manages to stay married to her husband while faking pregnancy. After nine months she makes a call from a phone booth and tries to adopt a baby for like the next day. It's a riot! Veronica, you should have started making plans a LOT earlier. So she has no choice but to steal one - and it's not exactly a newborn.

I really recommend it - it's a hoot and holds your interest.

This is one of those "real" movies that one can relate to. The acting was superb. It was like watching a real event happen in front of me. I was "in" that film and quite frustrated when the commercial breaks interrupted it. I was totally absorbed throughout "Baby Snatcher." I feel this film is excellent viewing about some real problems plaguing our society. It was real, sincere, gripping, intense. Great direction by Joyce Chopra. I feel this film should have been in movie houses, not just a TV movie. The performances by the leading four actors: Veronica Hamel, Nancy McKeon, Michael Madsen and David Duchovny were excellent. I would have given Nancy McKeon an academy award for her performance in "Baby Snatcher" and I'd love to see David Duchovny in a "Harrison Ford" type epic drama. He would make the film and the industry proud! I hope "Baby Snatcher" is not shelved and that it will be shown again or made available to those who want it. The only thing I would have changed is the title. Examples: "Where Is My Baby", "Bring Back My Child", "Empty Cradle".

It's been a decade since I saw this, but my ex-wife and I could not help but comment on how unbelievable the details were and how far both Veronica Hamel and Nancy McKeon had fallen. (Nancy seems to have recovered, at least.) In hindsight, it's a wonder this didn't damage Michael Madsen's career.

Who would believe that a divorced waitress with a child, pregnant by her married and not wealthy lover, would live in a single-family house and drive a late-model Volvo station wagon? That just shows how out of touch Hollywood people were with how ordinary people lived.

This true story was shown on the tv series, Lt. Joe Kendra, Homicide Hunter. He was the detective played by by David Duchovny! It was neat to see it from a detective's point of view!

Not bad at all. Good acting and good story. Back then they made very good based on true story movies. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Karen Williams (Nancy McKeon) has to return to work at the end of her maternity leave. Her mother, Ruth (Penny Fuller), is looking after the baby for her. Ruth is also interviewing people to find a babysitter for all of Karen's children, including Rachael Ann White, a daughter by a married man, David Anderson (David Duchovny), who used to be Karen's boss.

Another couple, Bianca Hudson (Veronica Hamel) and her husband Cal Hudson (Michael Madsen), are experiencing marital problems. He informs her that he has filed for divorce. Bianca had an abortion a few months earlier for medical reasons. She believes getting pregnant again will save her marriage. As Cal is about to leave her, Bianca tells him that she is pregnant again. Bianca fakes the pregnancy, and when it is time for the imaginary baby to be born, she goes out to look for a baby to steal.

Disguised, Bianca shows up for an interview for the position of babysitter for Karen's children. When Karen's mother, Ruth, steps into another room, Bianca walks out with the baby. Bianca takes the child home and tells her husband that she went into labor, went to a local hospital, had the baby, and returned home, all in one day.

Karen realizes that Bianca is a suspect and decides that the best way to find her daughter is to appeal to the media and put out flyers. Cal's boss and wife make a surprise visit to the Hudson home, where they plainly see that the baby is much older than four days, and they alert the authorities. Police arrive, arrest Bianca and Cal, and return the baby to its rightful home.