A Thief in the Night is a 1972 Christian film regarding the rapture, tribulation, and second coming of Christ though the eyes of one who has been left behind. The film is considered pioneering as it brought rock music and elements of the horror genre into the Christian film industry which was largely dominated by family friendly evangelicalism. The film is the first in a series being followed by A Thief in the Night II: A Distant Thunder (1978), A Thief in the Night III: Image of the Beast (1981), and A Thief in the Night IV: The Prodigal Planet (1983).
Plot[]
Patty Jo Myers is a young woman who awakens one morning to a radio broadcast about how millions have suddenly disappeared and that the rapture has occurred. She finds that her family has disappeared and that she has been left behind. The United Nations sets up an emergency government system called the United Nations Imperium of Total Emergency (UNITE) and those who do not receive the Mark identifying them with UNITE will be arrested.
Then several flashbacks occur to times in Patty's life before the rapture has happened. The flashbacks also show her two friends and their different approaches to Christianity, one who considers Christ her savior and the other, Diane, who does not take it seriously. Patty considers herself a Christian because she occasionally reads her Bible and goes to church regularly, where the pastor is really an unbeliever. She refuses to believe the warnings of her friends and family that she will go through the tribulation if she does not accept Jesus. One morning, she awakens to find that her family and millions of others have suddenly disappeared.
Patty seems a strange breed of person who both refuses to trust Christ as her Savior and also refuses to take the Mark. Patty desperately tries to avoid the law and the Mark but is captured by UNITE. Patty escapes but, after a chase, is cornered by UNITE on a bridge and falls from the bridge to her death.
Patty then awakens, and the entire film's plot is revealed to have been a dream. She is tremendously relieved; however, her relief is short-lived when the radio announces that millions of people have in fact disappeared. Horrified, Patty frantically searches for her family only to find them missing too. Traumatized and distraught, Patty realizes that the rapture has indeed occurred, and she's been left behind. In the ensuing plot the questions are whether or not she will be caught, as she was in her dream, and whether or not she will take the mark to escape execution.
Production[]
Cast[]
- Patty Dunning as Patty Myers
- Mike Niday as Jim Wright
- Colleen Niday as Jenny
- Maryann Rachford as Diane Bradford
- Thom Rachford as Jerry Bradford
- Duane Coller as Duane
- Russell Doughten as Rev. Matthew Turner
- Clarence Balmer as Pastor Balmer
Crew[]
- Directed and Produced by Donald W. Thompson
Music[]
This film includes Larry Norman's composition "I Wish We'd All Been Ready", one of the earliest Christian rock hits and one of Norman's best-known releases.