Anatomy of an Action Sequence. Don’t Look Behind You was a 1999 American made-for-television thriller drama film directed by David Winning and starring Patrick Duffy and Pam Dawber. It premiered on Fox Family on July 25, 1999. It is based on the novel of the same name by Lois Duncan.
Jeff Corrigan (Patrick Duffy) is a dutiful CFO of an international corporation who knows too many secrets: His boss, Eric Loftin (Dominic Raacke), has been using the books to hide illegal activities, relying on Jeff to keep everything quiet. However, fitted with a wire and carrying a disc full of evidence, Jeff leaves the office one afternoon prepared to ruin Loftin with the FBI’s assistance; led by agent Ellie Foster (Anne Marie DeLuise), the law enforcement team moves in and arrests Loftin, but not before he threatens Jeff’s estranged family.
Foster immediately secures Jeff’s wife Liz (Pam Dawber), daughter April (Tanja Reichert) and son Bram (David Kaye), keeping them secluded without any outside contact. This all comes as a surprise to the family since Jeff never told them he had been working in cahoots with the FBI. Loftin escapes, and along with his colleagues, spends his energy on finding the Corrigans and wiping them out. The victims move from hotel to hotel until they are eventually placed in a relocation program, forced to become one big happy unit while assuming a new identity. April, who will do anything to see her boyfriend again, runs away and risks everyone’s safety. Forced to emerge in order to save her, Jeff confronts Loftin in a final showdown.
The film was shot quickly in 15 days, and Winning was asked to add some action sequences; cliffhangers and act-enders to the production. The director worked with Duffy and the crew to create some elaborate set pieces as the Corrigan family tried to escape assassination and raced to their new life of hiding in Virginia. Shot two years before 9/11 in simpler times, the crew managed to stage an elaborate shoot-out with machine gun fire in the active baggage claim at Vancouver’s main airport terminal. This obviously would never be permitted today. Winning was reunited with veteran character actor Blu Mankuma from Cannell’s Street Justice days, playing the fateful FBI Director George Reeder.
Produced by Shawn Williamson, Rosanne Milliken, Lance Robbins and James Shavick. Director of Photography Patrick Williams. Music by Michael Whittaker. Edited by Lara Mazur. Production Designed by Andrew Deskin. Stunt Coordinator Scott Ateah. Released by Fox Family Channel in association with Shavick Entertainment.
