''Runaway Daughters'' is a 1994

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix the 1950s-style B movie genre with Counterculture of th ...

that originally aired on the cable television network Showtime as part of the anthology series '' Rebel Highway''. It is a loose remake of '' Runaway Daughters'', an

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

production from 1956, the year in which both the original and the remake are set. Much of the cast of Dante's '' The Howling'' is reunited on this film, including Christopher Stone,

Dee Wallace Deanna Wallace (née Bowers), also known as Dee Wallace Stone (born December 14, 1948), is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Taylor in the 1982 Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster science-fiction film ''E.T. the E ...

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Doctor on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also appeared as Richard Woolsey in the ''Stargate'' franchise, the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach ...

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

, and Belinda Balaski.

Plot

The title characters are Angie Gordon, Mary Nicholson, and Laura Cahn. Their

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...

adventure begins in 1956 when Mary has a pregnancy scare after letting Bob Randolph go too far with her. Mr. Russoff, named for Lou Rusoff who wrote the screenplay of the original version, is a

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for ...

from the wrong side of the tracks, and he seeks to cover his tracks by enlisting in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Angie and Laura accompany Mary in a flight from the suburbs as she decides what to do about her pregnancy. Along the way, they meet bully cops and

redneck ''Redneck'' is a derogatory term mainly applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the southern United States.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American ...

survivalists Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists, doomsday preppers or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, and other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, ...

with rifles.

Cast

Julie Bowen Julie Bowen (born Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer; March 3, 1970) is an American actress. She starred as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom '' Modern Family'' (2009–2020), for which she received widespread critical acclaim. She won the Primetime Emmy A ...

as Angie Gordon * Holly Fields as Mary Nicholson *

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child ...

as Laura Cahn *

as Roy Farrell *

Paul Rudd Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. Rudd studied theatre at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his acting debut in 1991. He was included on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 li ...

as Jimmy Rusoff * Chris Young as Bob Randolph

Production

The Gordons are played by the Stones, the Nicholsons by Balaski and ''

Innerspace ''Innerspace'' is a 1987 American science fiction comedy film directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell, inspired by the 1966 film ''Fantastic Voyage''. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Robert Picardo, and Kevin ...

Joe Flaherty Joseph Flaherty (born Joseph O'Flaherty, June 21, 1941 – April 1, 2024) was an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy '' SCTV'' from 1976 to 1984 (on which he also served as a write ...

, and the Cahns played by Picardo and

Wendy Schaal Wendy Schaal (born July 2, 1954) is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films, such as '' Innerspace'', '' The 'Burbs'', and '' Small Soldiers''. Her other film credits include starring in '' Where the Boys Are '84'', '' Creatur ...

, also both late of ''Innerspace''. Dick Miller plays Roy Farrell, a private detective hired to find the girls. Also in small roles are Dante regular Mark McCraken and the producer of the original version, Samuel Z. Arkoff.

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

, along with his wife, Julie Corman, play the parents of the boyfriend of one of the title characters. The script was written by Charles S. Haas and in many ways is a companion piece to his previous collaboration with Dante, '' Matinee''. Fabian Forte, who was under contract to AIP in the sixties, has a small role.

Release

The film originally aired on Showtime on August 12, 1994.

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in March 2005.

References

External links

* {{Joe Dante 1994 television films 1994 films 1990s English-language films 1990s comedy road movies American comedy road movies Remakes of American films American television films Films directed by Joe Dante Films scored by Hummie Mann Films set in 1956 Films set in San Diego Films produced by Debra Hill Rebel Highway 1990s American films